Same problem on my 2005 Maxima. The front passenger door failed, then two weeks later, the rear passenger door. More specifically, when the lock system is activated electronically, the doors typically fail to completely lock or unlock completely. Visually, the inside lock 'button' only moves partway.

Here is a picture of the Maxima door lock assembly:

According to my local Nissan dealer, this is not a problem they have experienced. What I would like to know is this: Is the problem related to one of the cables (parts 7, 8, 10, or 11 - cheap repair), the door lock assembly (part 9 - expensive repair), or is it probably just something that needs lubrication?

Also, for CPS: what fraction of the cost of the repair that you described was for parts and what fraction for labor? Any ballpark estimates of the cost for this repair? (I assume that the only parts supplier for this is Nissan.)

How do you get at the door lock actuator. I pulled the door finisher off but see a sheet metal plate blocking access to the interior of the door. Where is the lock actuator located? It replacement an easy job?

Thanks for the help.

As for the gas door lock, we finally got it open and I bent the lock tab back enough so the lock latch doesn't engage. Now we can put gas in the car.

I'm very interested to hear from anyone that's mechanically/electrically informed enough confirming if my theory holds any water. It would make much more sense that a circuit board is failing to deliver the right DC current impulse to all the solenoids than all these individual solenoid going out at the same time.

What did your shop charge the customer for this?

DO you guys have aftermarket alarms and experiencing problems?

So i took the alarm off and now my drivers seat is not working properly meaning it wont slide front and back and car will sometimes start and shut down right away. Is this all coincidence??? or did i do something wrong???!!? Please help

I believe that a problem to all our actuator problems is bmc. This is the part that sends current to locks , power seats and some more thinks.Would explain why my car is geting worst.

Ideas??!?!?

I have created a petition to Nissan to fix this issue. Please sign it!

http://www.tighelory.com/2008/....html

I will change that relay you mentioned for the gas cap and see if that improves that function. Thanks for that tip.

With enough complaints filed the NHTSA will do something about it. They share all complaints with Nissan. If Nissan gets enough complaints filed with NHTSA, that helps to bring the defect to the forefront of discussion for recall.

So why is it a safety issue? You can use this justification when filing:

1. Having a secure environment is paramount in certain neighborhoods. When locking the doors it's imperative nobody can gain access at will by walking up to the car. If anyone can simply open the door to gain access, carjacking, injury, or even murder is easier. If the doors locked properly this provides a more secure environment for this type of scenario.
2. Nissan knowing there is a security problem with their locking mechanism and not recalling them for safety concern is negligent. It's an open door to a lawsuit if someone were to be murdered due to a door that didn't lock, although the driver pushed the lock button and heard the locking noise. Remember, in this case there's no obvious indication the door isn't locked unless someone walks up and opens it from the outside. The drive "THINKS" the door is locked, when in reality it's an "OPEN DOOR" for carjacking or robbery.

This failure is an intermitance of operation. Sometimes the doors lock OK, other times they don't. In addition, sometimes the doors unlock OK, other times they don't.

3. In emergencies it's important to be able to unlock doors QUICKLY. Since 99% of the time we all use the button to lock and unlock doors, using the manual locking lever is unfamiliar. And the Murano's design is such that it's not easy to comprehend if it's not your car, for instance a rental car. I can easily understand how some people would be confused how unlock a door using the manual level in an emergency when they virtually have no experience with it. In emergencies every second counts. The locking/unlocking solenoid malfunctioning is clearly a high risk in emergency scenarios. Some people who cannot afford the $1600 to have all the solenoids replaced (as quoted by dealers) will forgo getting them fixed, putting their family members at risk with the above mishap examples. This shouldn't be, Nissan should recall them.

It's only a matter of time till someone gets robbed, hurt or killed from a malfunctioning door lock, disabling the security which the driver "THINKS" he has when he locks the car. It's a lawsuit waiting to happen, especially in California where there are ambulance chasers on every corner.

http://www.tighelory.com/2008/....html

Here are some of my thoughts.

1. There is a relay that can inhibit the operation of the rear locks. It's called the Passenger Side Select Unlock Relay. If that relay has a bad contact then all rear locks could fail to operate. A simple test by the dealer should be able to determine if this relay has failed.

2. There are several failure modes in the BCM (Body Control Module) that could cause this although I'd hope the BCM had diagnostics built in to indicate an internal failure. Perhaps not. Anyway, the BDM is a common point of failure for all locks and should not be completely ruled out.

3. Very often in vehicle electronics the problem lies in connector contact issues. A very simple thing to do is try unplugging, inspecting and replugging all connectors in an affected system to see if that's the cause of the fault. In this case, a bad contact on one of the BCM connectors could cause a common failure and should be checked.

4. Several of the lock motors operate in parallel. Therefore a single low resistance or shorted lock motor could render all those wired in parallel to appear to be non-functioning. To diagnose this, each lock motor could be unplugged and the others tested to see if normal operation resumes. If it does then only the one lock motor needs replacement.

Let's be serious here, the likelihood of four or five lock motors failing simultaneously is pretty much zero. If you think you have seen this actually occur and have witnessed the repair all you have likely really seen is that the initial problem was missed. For example, if only one of the lock motors is shorted all would appear not to work, and replacing all four would of course restore full operation.

A dead easy way to tell of you're on the right track, when you pull out a lock motor thinking it is defective then TEST IT SEPARATELY!!! If it is still failed it is a problem. If is works then it wasn't the problem and should be reinstalled. If all four (or five) ARE actually broken then you more than likely have NOT found the problem and the BCM is doing something wrong like holding the locks energized for too long and overheating then burning them out.

There are diagnostic procedures in the service manuals for dealing with these systems. Make sure your dealer is actually using them and not deciding to do the "easy" and expensive fix of just replacing it all and hoping that's it.

I got the $1,600.00 fix solution this afternoon as well, and I have to tell everyone it seems like this must be a well known issue if everyone from Texas to North Dakota gets charged almost the same amount for the same problem.

I too think there has to be an underlying "cause" and the actuators burning out is just an "effect". Mathmatically the odds have to be astronomical to have all 4 go out at the same time.

Has anyone gotten anywhere with Nissan on this issue? My service writer at my local dealership thinks it's worth a shot to see if they will cover it out of 36,000 mile warranty.

Any feedback will be appreciated as I'm so mad I can hardly see straight. I'm thinking they didn't dig to far into the door issue to save me $$$ on the labor, but I'm thinking there has to be a voltage issue somewhere.

And what's with all 4 actuators being different prices?? They go from $175.00 to $300.11!!!