Rear door won't open from outside. MOT failure

[Steve1966]

My 2000 car just failed its MOT because the rear door won't open from the outside. It's never done it before and I put the car through a car wash a mile from home last night and then parked up overnight in freezing temperatures. Could it be related to this? The handle feels different to the others and offers a springy resistance when pulled. It opens fine from the inside. I've warmed the door with ample hot water but no joy. It passed otherwise so it's quite frustrating. Help appreciated.

Steve.

[David Lawrence]

Originally Posted by Steve1966

My 2000 car just failed its MOT because the rear door won't open from the outside. It's never done it before and I put the car through a car wash a mile from home last night and then parked up overnight in freezing temperatures. Could it be related to this? The handle feels different to the others and offers a springy resistance when pulled. It opens fine from the inside. I've warmed the door with ample hot water but no joy. It passed otherwise so it's quite frustrating. Help appreciated.

Steve.

Try unlocking it a few times. I noticed sometimes my button doesnt always pop fully up the first time

[rustymotor]

Hi, it should have been picked up on a pre test then the tester can refuse to do the MOT, did you tell them the door doesn't open?

[Steve1966]

I didn't know it didn't open so I didn't tell them. It has always opened before. I managed to get it to open often enough for them to be happy and pass it after 30 mins of warming with hot water and opening from the inside etc. Eventually I could open it from the outside when it was on 'the latch' and then when fully closed although not always first time every time.

[trikey]

I have had them do this when cold, also they can open and then refuse to shut until warm!

[BoroRover]

Originally Posted by trikey

I have had them do this when cold, also they can open and then refuse to shut until warm!

Very true, very true

[rustymotor]

Think the tester was being a bit harsh there, what if it was a two door car.

[Steve1966]

Originally Posted by rustymotor

Think the tester was being a bit harsh there, what if it was a two door car.

He said he had to fail it due to it being a requirement that in an accident situation access to the vehicle could be achieved by rescuers Etc to any/all doors needed.

[RogerHeinz57]

The doors are a testable item, and must operate. If we consider this to be harsh, can we assume that if the brakes dont perform properly, and fail the roller test - we could say "That's Harsh"
Makes me laugh this kinda talk, all MOT testers, but only a few who are qualified !
I would suggest that the clamp that grips the control rod to the handle, may need to be un-done, and adjusted as over time, the rod becomes the wrong length, and will eventually not be able to operate the mechanism as designed to. This will become an issue for all of the cars eventually, but the early ones will be playing up earlier than the later ones.

[SCP440]

Originally Posted by RogerHeinz57

The doors are a testable item, and must operate. If we consider this to be harsh, can we assume that if the brakes dont perform properly, and fail the roller test - we could say "That's Harsh"
Makes me laugh this kinda talk, all MOT testers, but only a few who are qualified !

Well said, the MOT tester I use tells me numerous stories of people who complain about a failure but is clearly dangerous. One recently he had was a young women who complained about the failure as all her tyres were almost bald, she reckoned she only used the car to drop the kids off at school so it didn't matter as she only did about 2 miles a week. When he said 1.6mm was the minimum he could allow she reckoned he didn't know what he was talking about. She never returned for a retest.