Both rear doors stuck shut.

[Sam]

I received the following as a PM - I'd rather everyone learned and/or assisted so I'm placing the trimmed down version here.

hi can any kind person help,both rear doors are stuck shut. i have tried banging door with no luck,the knobs do come up when the inside lever is pulled but still will not open. now cannot drive with grandchild.

Untill last week offside was only working when i repeat lock,lock,lock......untill there was a clunk,then it would unlock

2002 vw passat130 tdi sport est. any input would be great.

not all that keen on paying too much because in good faith paid lots for the car,has the millage is low for year again

i have tried banging the door,still no joy

[scotty33]

I had the same thing, luckily I do not 'need' to use the back seats, I did persevere with the banging on the doorskin, by the lock, I was able to open the one door, then the other started opening normally a few weeks later.
I guess the banging trick works only when you bang at the same instant that the current is flowing. With that in mind I suggest trying this: lay a piece of protective carpet or rubber against the door, then a piece of wood. Use something like a SDS drill set on hammer only to rattle the area while you operate the locks.
There are 2 methods for getting the door open yourself, get the doorcard and window reg plate off, then obliterate the lock with SDS drill/chisel. The other is to drill a hole in the inner doorskin in an appropriate place, to get a torx bit on the deadlock part of the lock, remove same and the door can be unlocked. Both methods have been detailed in this forum, try a search.
I also know there was a write up about repairing the faulty deadlock armature/contacts. maybe by 'Caldirun' ?
Checking the wiring plugs within the gaiters would also be high on my list - when you get the doors open..

[analyst]

Aren't these, by reputation, prone to a bit of 'physical stiffness'.
If you do get them open, I'd try getting some WD40 right into the mechanism before going for the electrical fiddling.
Can't do any harm, can it?

[scotty33]

I'm not so sure about 'physical stiffness' (oo er), what's been described is consistant with deadlocks failing to operate, it seems to be an electrical issue, Though a regular lube might avert the issue in the first place...