Rear door no longer opens

[pvenuti]

Last week the rear door on my 2000 Disco stopped opening. When I look into the problem I discovered that the external handle was not returning with the spring. I fiddled with it to get it open and then took it apart to clean the rust from the spring and retention it. The door worked for about a week and all day today then it just stopped. The external handle is operating properly in that the spring is retuning it to it's normal position. The door is stuck shut but I was able to pop the inside panel off enough to confirm that the internal linkage was al connected and moving when the external handle was actuated. I have disconnected the linkage and moved the lever(inside the door panel) by hand in hopes of opening the door for service but still no go. Can someone please tell me what I need to do to release the door from the inside to determine what the new problem is. Also I have noticed that the door release handle on the inside of the rear door only seems to unlock it it does not seem to actuate the lever required to open it, is this normal ?

Thanks in advance.

 

[pvenuti]

Can somoeone confirm for me if the handle on the inside of the door should open the door and not just unlock it ?

Thanks

 

[joey]

Yes it should open the door, I know on my 1997 it doesn't unlock the door, you have to unlock it manually.

 

[pvenuti]

Ok, thanks.

 

[cobra29]

I had this same problem. What you need to do is get the rear door open. Take all the speakers and padding off. Clean and spary with WD 40. Operate it a few times and you should be good to go.