I changed the latch on my driver's door because the internal micro-switch had failed which caused my soft close not to function. After I got everything re-assembled the inside pull felt a bit stiff and I did not spend enough time testing by 'locking' the door with a screw driver and pulling the lever. When the feel of the inside lever didnt feel right I should have taken the trim and inner door panels off and tracked down the cause....but I didnt.

So after the door was closed it could not be opened by the inside lever or the outside handle. And the lock/unlock part of the latch was working properly. So it seemed to me that somehow the latch cable that runs to the inside lever was binding. I studied on the old latch and determined that when the inside lever mechanism is not fully disengaged the outside door handle mechanism is disabled.

I took a bore scope and went past the weather seal on both sides of the glass, but it was not possible to access the latch with a wire hook to trip the mechanism. So that left only one thing to try before I had to take an air chisel to the door skin and replace the door. I used my Dremmel tool to cut out an access opening in the plastic around the inner pull and by using the bore scope I was able to reach in with a tool and give the cable two good pulls; one to unlock and one to open the door.

When I took the door apart I found a kinked cable that was binding. I got a replacement out of a yard and now everything functions as it should, including the soft close. And it it a load off my mind I must say !