Scudo Scudo 2001 rear and side door issues

[Kidda]

Hi folks, new to the forum and Fiat ownership in general.

I've just bought a 2001 X-reg scudo 2.0 JTD 6 seater and have a couple of questions about the doors.

1) The rear door on the left hand side will not open using the little handle on the inside, I can open the right hand door fine using the exterior handle but cannot opent the left hand one at all. Apparently the cable that is connects the handle and the catches that keep the door closed has come loose. All I need to do (apparently) is remove the panels on the inside of the door and reconnect this cable. I tried removing the panel today by prying off what looks like a bunch of little caps that hide the screw heads and keep everything nice n tidy but it started looking like I was doing more damage than good so I stopped. Am I on the right track here or do I need to try another approach?

2) The driver's side sliding door will open from the inside using the interior handle, but will not open from the outside. Not sure what the problem is on this one...

I bought the van to run my band around in so we really need all the doors working properly, especially the rear ones to make loading/unloading easier.


One final question: It's a turbo model but it feels a bit sluggish,
i.e. I notice there's not the usual boost you feel in a turbo driven car when you hit a certain rev level. Is this normal or should I get it checked out? I know I'm not gonna be breaking any land speed records in this thing but it'd be nice to know so it's not bugging me.

Thanks in advance

 

[Kidda]

I pulled the panel off the back door today to have a look at the rods connected to the handle that keep the door shut when it's closed. As suspected, the rod going to the top of the door was connected properly but the rod going to the bottom of the door had come away from the handle. I reattached the rod into the handle mechanism but on turning the handle, the door still would not open. It appears as though when moving the handle, it does not move quite far enough to disengage the rods from the door frame and allow the door to open.

Any advice? Is it a new handle job? or can I bend something and make it work properly again ;-)

Cheers