I know this has likely be discussed somewhere else before, but I cannot find the correct terms to search for. Everything I search for seems to involve central locking and electrical issues.

 

I have a 2001 Skoda Fabia with all manual door locks, and all four doors exhibit the same problem:

 

First, unlock the door (using a key, or pulling the door release from the interior). Then when you pull the exterior door handle or the interior door release, it behaves as if the door is still locked. i.e. the handle extends freely but the door does not open. A soft knock (or sometimes a harder blow) on the door in the area of the exterior door handle "unlocks" the door and then you can open it as expected from the outside or the inside.

 

On doors that only require a softer knock to release them, you can also press the door firmly closed (compressing the door rubbers) and you will hear a soft "click". After that the door will also open as expected.

 

These symptoms are only present if the door has been locked. You can successfully open and close a door as many times as you wish, so long as you do not lock it. Also, if you only partially close a door and lock it (i.e. on the safety step of the latch) then you can unlock and immediately open it without having to knock it.

 

These symptoms are evidently very common on this model - eight out of eight doors that I know of! Does anyone have any insight as to the cause? I seems like perhaps a weak spring or something similar but I would prefer to have some direction before starting investigations.

 

Thanks in advance.

Bump... Anybody? Nobody?

I've only just seen your post.  I've not had that problem on ours, but the mechanisms seemed very rough so I liberally oiled them by spraying WD40, and later a PTFE oil, GT85.  I did this by spraying through the key slot using the supplied thin tube, and varying the angle as much as possible, and the locks have been much better since.  I think oiling stands a very good chance of relieving what sounds like stiffness in the mechanism, possibly from lack of lubrication.  Easy to try anyway.