Volkswagen Passat passenger exterior door handle

broken or damage rod guides inside the door panel remove and check for operation of the rods and links and look for anything that could be broken

We have exactly the same problem today with our 2006 Passat estate - front passenger door will not open from the outside, but does open OK from the inside. Would be interested to hear how you manage to resolve it.

This might help you ,

http://www.taligentx.com/passat/maintenance/doorlockmechanism/

Had exactly the same fault on my 06 Passat, with two of the doors. The fault turned out to be with the actual mechanism not returning to the fully closed position rather than a PCB fault as described at:
http://www.taligentx.com/passat/maintenance/doorlockmechanism/

To fix the fault the mechanism had to be removed (see above website). The plastic housing holding the PCB also holds the springs and levers behind a lid with 2 screws. I gave it a good clean and re-greased, the main culptit being the main lever with a spring attached being obstructed with old grease and corrosion (didn't take much to cause a fault).

hi i have a big problem with my vw passat estate 2007 my passenger side back door will not open from outside or inside as child lock is locked from inside and the handle will not work outside any idea on how i can sort this can you take handle of door and fix it if not and panel needs takeing of how can this be done as you need door open to take panel of some 1 please help

I fixed this problem (lee390) tonight and this is how I did it. Problem was same that to access internal workings of door and handle mechanism you have to take door panel off which you can't do if child lock on and can't open door at all. I followed instructions to take door panel off as far as I could. This basically meant I could take bolts out that you find hidden behind handle in door. You just couldn't take anything else off. I also read that the top of the door panel sits down into a groove. And so, after i had loosened the aforementioned bolts (which would defintely have helped), I applied some measured force and was able to lift the top of the door panel out of its groove and then peel back the door panel from the top. The first thing I could see was cable attached to inner door handle- I played with the cable and tried the exterior door handle and it worked. It hadn't worked at all before that. I fitted everything else back and everything works great - and I have taken childlock off now. Maybe I was lucky but this saved £250 mentioned at VW