Intermittent Passenger Door Prob

Hi there,

Got an intermittent problem on the front passenger door of my 2007 D40 where the outer handle doesnt want to open the door sometimes when I unlock the vehicle.

Its a bit bizarre I can't tell if the problem is mechanical or electrical. The following are the scenarios:

1) I can always open the door from the inside using the internal handle

2) The outside door handle will open the door immediately after unlocking after the car has been locked for a fair period of time.

3) If I drive the vehicle for a while, and then try to open the door from the outside, it doesn't open - the outside handle doesn't function. If I try to then lock and unlock the vehicle using the internal switch, or the button on the key, the door still won't open from the outside. Then, I can only open the door from the inside. After that time, if I lock and unlock the doors immediately the door will open.

Im puzzled as to whether this is a mechanical issue with the handle, or whether it's electrical.. Possibilities:
- We've had a fair bit of rain recently, and I wondered if there's some moisture in the electrics.
- Potentially some mechanical element is stretching (if there's cable as part of the mechanism)

Any suggestions?

i dont think it would be electrical if all the other doors are fine, i would pull it out and have a look, maybe pull 2 out so you can see if one is doing (or not doing) something the other is

It's the outer handle grabbing. Mines done it intermittently since new, the three times it's been back to a dealer they have claimed they have fixed it but surprisingly enough it still happens.

Their claim is that it needs grease and while I know they have added it atleast once I also know that because it works ok a few times after they add the grease that's all they care about.

Whether there is a permanent fix or not I am too lazy to investigate.

My 2007 D40 has just developed this problem. When I unlock the vehicle the Rear D/S door outside handle doesn't engage but the internal handle does. Once I have opened the door using the internal handle, as long as I don't relock the vehicle the outside handle will work. but as soon as the vehicle has been locked and unlocked the issue presents itself again.

I have pulled the door apart and removed the mechanism and administered several sharp blows to it which made it work, but as soon as it was bolted back into the door the problem continued.

Any one have any suggestions, or idea of cost for a new mechanism.

P.S. the mechanism seems to be manufactured as a disposable item.

Sounds to me like that one is an issue with either the actuator or the BCM and its related electrical systems and the relocking procedure somehow resets it. Last time I asked Nissan I was quoted some ridiculous figure of $450 for one side and $550 for the other side actuator which in itself is garbage and you can probably get them cheaper from someone like Nizzbits.

You can go even cheaper and get one from Jaycar but the Jaycar ones don't talk to the BCM and therefore there will be certain controls lacking, one of which is the feature where it relocks all the doors if you don't open one of them within a minute of unlocking them. Opening the door with the Jaycar actuator on it and no other will result in all the doors relocking.

Thanks Krafty,
I got one coming from Nissan for $350 (thanks to 4wd club discount arrangement) so will hopefully install it next weekend.
The solinoid in the unit operates but just doesn't seen to move the unlocking mechanism to allow the outside door handle to engage.

On the bright side: my Nissan Patrol 4X4 club membership hasd just paide for itself.

I laughed at the guy from Nissan when he told me the price of the units. I just wanted one to central lock the tailgate and he because he had no idea how to achieve such a thing he was dead convinced that the only option was the $400 actuator because no other unit would work with a Nissan. He's technically right when it comes to the door but I don't need my tailgate lock to communicate with the BCM so $15 at Jaycar solved my problem.

Red Dog said:

My 2007 D40 has just developed this problem. When I unlock the vehicle the Rear D/S door outside handle doesn't engage but the internal handle does. Once I have opened the door using the internal handle, as long as I don't relock the vehicle the outside handle will work. but as soon as the vehicle has been locked and unlocked the issue presents itself again.

I have pulled the door apart and removed the mechanism and administered several sharp blows to it which made it work, but as soon as it was bolted back into the door the problem continued.

Any one have any suggestions, or idea of cost for a new mechanism.

P.S. the mechanism seems to be manufactured as a disposable item.

Click to expand...

Hi Guys, I am having the same issue with my front passenger door on my 2009 D40 STX. The cable from the door handle was amiss as well, but once I fixed that this bogus issue presented itself.

Has anyone found the issue here that can be repaired? The electronic lock is still functioning mechanically when I look at the mechanism whilst locking with then key???

Any help?