Need help with door linkage

I had a door mechanism on my front door of my house.

Over time the part that retracts the bolt had worn down (worn a grove) and the lever got harder and harder to open the door.

To the point it would no longer open.

Thoughts...

The pin on the back of the outside button might be worn down
The toggle might have a grove worn into it.
The plastic parts might be worn and loose
The holes the plastic parts go into might be elongated
The link rod might be wrong for the application
The latch mechanism might have some of the above issues


Since you have the door card off, might as well pull the handle and look for issues

You could also get in the car with the doors shut and see if you can move the link rod by hand and have the door open.