Door Lock Actuators failing AGAIN!!!
 

I’ve seen/read a few posts on this forum of people having a similar issue about the door locks failing and they have to manually lock/unlock the door in order to get in and out of the car. However I haven’t seen any posts from people on how to go about fixing it themselves and was wondering if anybody out there has?

Luckily my car was under the warranty the first 3 TIMES(yeah, that’s right...I said 3 times) my door locks have failed me. Primarily the driver side. It seems to happen to me every 2-3 years.

First initial time was a year after I got the car back in 2015 when both door locks failed me. I took it to the dealer and they replaced it, thanks to the warranty. The next 2 times were specifically just the driver side. After the 2nd time I took it to a different dealer to have the work done, and surprise surprise in the 3rd time the part faulted again. (First 2 times happened during colder winter months, 3rd time happened during late spring/early summer...so it’s not a seasonal defect)

Long story short, I got it fixed a month ago with just a week left on my warranty and now my passenger side is acting up and failing me at random times.

My question to all you lovely people out there is: has anyone experienced this problem as frequent as me, and have you fixed it yourself? And if so, how did you go about fixing it yourself and did you use aftermarket parts? (Since the OEM from Nissan keep failing)

Any help would be awesomely and greatly appreciated

Check and see if this is covered by any Lemon Laws. Multiple failures of critical systems (not sure how critical door locks would be) will usually qualify.

When you say 'failing' do you mean you can't activate the locks with the fob or with the button on the handle, or with the button on the hatch? Intermittent operation of the fob is usually a bad battery or an antenna for the remote system that has gotten moved accidentally. Intermittent operation of the button on the door maybe something as simple as dirt build up, which might require disassembly of the handle to resolve. I did have a problem with lock actuators on my 2012, but that was from an incorrect installation of the door handle when the car got repainted. The FSM in my sig has some troubleshooting steps that might help. :tiphat:

The actuator fails to operate (lock/unlock) whether I’m using the keyfob, pushing the buttons on the door panel itself, or the standard unlock when the car is turned off. Only way to lock/unlock is to physical push the lock/unlock Next to the Interior door handle itself. The exterior button on the door handle operates, but typically when you unlock/lock the car you can hear the actuator inside the door itself latch and unlock/lock the car...and it doesn’t do that regardless of the method used to unlock/lock the car. I’ve had to at random times hold the unlock button on the keyfob to roll down the windows just to reach in and manually unlock the car.

It’s been a real blast!!!

I've noticed mine have been making a whining noise at random when locking. Wife's '06 Sonata did the same but never failed. Are you hearing this noise as well?

No, no noise on my end. I can hear the actual actuator sometimes moving inside the door itself it just doesn’t latch onto anything to lock/unlock the door

****! I've been having this problem at random times this year. i go to unlock it and can hear the sound like its unlocking but it will still be locked. it takes several times before it will unlock. most of the time it works. Is this what happens to you before it totally fails? I've already had the clutch fail me last year and my 2015 nismo only has 32k on it.

Yes, that’s exactly what happens and has happened to mine multiple times already.

The fact that y'all can hear the solenoid activate and the lock works sometimes makes me suspect you have something binding up when put under a load. I'd inspect the mechanism and clean/lube as needed. FSM will have R&R procedures, exploded views, functional descriptions, wiring diagrams, troubleshooting procedures, etc - link in my sig.

Not sure what lube Nissan recommends (it'll be in FSM) but white lithium grease ought to do a good job. YMMV

My 09 started doing this same thing after the letting the battery die out a few times and doing the window reset. It will some times not open the lock using the exterior button (both doors) or the key fob. It will not even let me open the door manually using the key. Ill have to use the key to initiate the window roll down t o unlock it. Then it will start to work again a few times then surprise, I can get in again. At one point when the battery was on its way down the locks kept initiating spontaneously so I just disconnected the battery, charged it up and it was back to normal.

I put a AGM battery a week later it was dead, charged it up four days later dead- they said it was a bad battery. Got a new one put it on a trickle charger. I just tested it this morning and the locks worked just fine but didnt work 2 days ago after driving it. I am going to disconnect the master switch this weekend and take a look at my harness and do as SouthArk370 suggests. I am also looking at just buying a master switch of of ebay and swapping it out, not sure yet. I will update once I take a look.

So based on what i've been finding out about this issue from the mechanic at the Nissan dealer, on this forum and even Z1 motorsports...over time, excessive heat and moisture wear away at the actuator and cause it to fail.

I haven't done this yet, as i'm waiting for it to come in still...but after you take the interior panel off completely, there are i believe 10 bolts, once you undo all of them you can take that inner part off.

My plan is to use some Heat and Sound suppressor made by Thermo-Tec that would typically be used on firewalls and floorboards, and put it on the other side and maybe on the inside of the exterior section as well. Theoretically, IMO....this should prevent it from getting excessive heat, as well as quiet the cabin a bit and tighten up any rattling.

https://www.thermotec.com/products/s...at-control-mat

JRibbs09, Did they swap out your actuator all those times you took it back to the dealer?

Yeah, actuators got swapped out each time i had it in...as well as the whole assembly, wiring, etc.

JRibbs09, Thanks for the info. I did find on ebay, an outfit called Acuator Plus that will send you a refurbished 370z actuator with lifetime guarantee on it if you send them back your failing actuator. Its 90 bucks if you need 2 then its free shipping forthe 2nd one. It looks like a good alternative for those who do not have warranty left, as well as using your idea of using thermotec to protect it from heat. I don't drive my car but about a few hundred miles a year if that, its garage kept and never in the rain so I'm not sure why mine would fail except for TEXAS heat.