Ducato - Side / sliding door handle not working

[UFO]

Vehicle: Ducato based Adria Twin campervan first registered in June 2009.

Problem: Exterior handle of the side / sliding door does not open the door. Interior handle working ok. The exterior handle will unlatch the door when it is ‘locked’ in the fully open position. Previously the exterior handle could not be pulled out but after some jiggling with the interior handle it can now be pulled out to its full and normal extent.

I am thinking that there is a cable from the exterior handle to the locking mechanism at the opposite end of the door and that this has either broken or become detached. As the interior handle works does this mean there are separate cables for the interior and exterior handles or are the interior and exterior handles linked together?

I have also posted this on the Fiat forum.

Thank you in appreciation of your help.

 

[Tezza33]

Earlier Ducatos were rods with a plastic ball joint or a clip on the end but Fiat did fit cables on later models, it had two separate ones, if you take the door card off you should see where it is broken, they are not cheap though

1617340780 - DOOR LOCK RIGHT Sliding Door - PEUGEOT Boxer CITROEN Relay Genuine | eBay

 

[Roger Haworth]

Exactly the same thing happened on my Adria Twin during the recent cold weather. Once the temperatures returned to normal the door could be opened from the outside.

 

[UFO]

Thanks for the responses

Terry - what do you mean by

the door card

I did start to take the panel off the inside of the sliding door but from a quick look the back of the exterior handle is not too accessible, but I will need to take the panel off completely to investigate fully.

Roger - it has now warmed up but the handle still does not open the door.

 

[Tezza33]

Thanks for the responses

Terry - what do you mean by the door card

A door card is the panel you have removed, we call them door cards and the Americans call it a door panel, I think door panel describes it better but old habits die hard

Door card - Wikipedia

 

[UFO]

Yesterday I took the inside panel off the door, just enough to get to the mechanism. Took the internal handle off and could see that a cable was not attached to the exterior handle. Took the exterior handle off and found the problem was a broken piece where the cable end (ferrule) slots in.

Ordered this replacement handle from ebay, should be here middle of next week. *FITS FIAT DUCATO (2006 - 2014) OUTER SLIDING DOOR HANDLE RH OR LH FIA035 | eBay

Before I put it all back together I will check that the cable is running freely as if it is not the extra pressure that is required could be what caused the break.

 

[UFO]

Replacement handle arrived today, fitted and all working ok sorted