LMaRiE91MaXiMa

Hey all... I own a 91 SE V6 3.0 A/T

On the driver door only, I think my lock might be getting caught to the handle of the door inside there somewhere...

The problem started one day last week - I unlocked my car with the key, and upon trying to open the door with the handle, the handle seemed to be snagged to the lock and everytime I lifted the handle, the doors would lock again. I ended up having to enter the car from my passenger side... Then from the inside, I opened the driver side door and something must have popped whatever was caught back into place, because the door locks worked fine after that (meaning I could open the unlocked door from the outside again normally).

Then the next day, everything seemed to be working properly again until upon exiting my car, I locked the door and closed it (and as you 3rd generation owners kno...you have to lift the handle while closing the door in order for the doors to remain locked). Well I did that, and the door still unlocked itself. It's been doing that ever since. Sometimes it will seem to have worked (you close the door and all the locks will remain down, or in the "locked" position), but when you go to open the door..to check that it remains locked, the doors open and unlock anyway.

This only happens from my driver side door... If i lock the car and close the passenger door last, the doors will stay locked like they should.

Has anyone ever experienced this problem? Does anyone know a simple solution or have any comments at all?

I highly doubt it is electrical, because the buttons to lock and unlock the car still work perfectly...as a matter of fact it all works fine...except when trying to close the driver side door....

Thanks in advance for any info/insight into my situation.

P.S. Even when I lock the doors and close the passenger door last (meaning the locks do work fine...and the doors stay locked) the alarm no longer works anymore. (I have the stupid a$$ stock alarm that where it only goes off if u unlock the doors and open the door from the inside). But ever since this issue came about...the alarm will not go off. The "security" light still blinks and acts like its setting the alarm...but it does not..

Vertekal

I can't answer your question (although I'm guessing it's a bad wire or connection of some sort since it seems random) but you answered a question I was going to post about later. I'm a Maxima no0b, and when I'd lock the door from the switch inside and shut the doors, they'd unlock themselves. I was just locking it w/ the key from outside then.

Now that I think about it, my '90 Sentra didn't have power locks, but I had to lift the handle so the door would stay locked when I shut it.

tripleGmax

iTrader: (8)

questions for you. what happens when you lock the car from drivers side on outside with the key. can you open the doors even though they looked locked? and can you still make the alarm go off? lock outside unlock from inside.....

greggie195

iTrader: (1)

Am I the only one out there that doesnt have to hold the handle up? On my 86 200SX I had to. There have been posts about this problem before. I think there is a box of soughts (near the steering column) that needs to get re-soldered.

JTs93SE

Search. There's a lot of posts on this problem. It could be your door lock timer, which is what Greggie is talking about (near your steering column).

nubiannupe

iTrader: (9)

Yeah... it actually sounds like the door lock timer. I know I have a sorta-kinda similar problem with my 90 SE. Gonna have to get in there and take care of it before too long.

garbury

iTrader: (4)

gerggies, I don't have to hold up the handles on my SE, I just press the interior lock button and shut the door. On my GXE, however, if i did the same thing they would pop open again. I just used the lock key on the outside keypad to lock that car.

LMaRiE91MaXiMa

Good question. I can't lock the driver side door with the key at all ever since this problem started. However, I CAN unlock it?!?! (Its strange..I know...thats why I wrote "random" door lock prob for the title)

The only way I can lock my doors now is by opening one of the other doors first, closing the driver door THEN locking it and closing whatever door i left open last. (the locks work fine when closing any other door) Its definitely something wrong inside the driver door somewhere...I just dont know wtf it could be!!!...I think it might have something to do with the handle getting caught to the lock somewheres...

and NO I can not make the alarm go off....even when I close the driver side door first and then lock and close another door (in order to keep the doors locked) - The alarm still does not work...but the security light still does blink and act like its setting the alarm, but I can not make it go off at all.

LMaRiE91MaXiMa

"Am I the only one out there that doesnt have to hold the handle up? On my 86 200SX I had to. There have been posts about this problem before. I think there is a box of soughts (near the steering column) that needs to get re-soldered." - Greggie

Thats not the problem I am explaining....I thought that on these cars you HAD to hold the handle up in order for them to remain locked...in either case, that is NOT my issue. No matter if i Ihold the handle up or not on my driver side door only, I can not keep my doors locked.

Ts93SE - could it still be my door lock timer?...if it was, would it only affect my driver side??

On my original post I mentioned where this all stemmed from...because at first I didnt have a problem locking the doors...it started when i unlocked my door and then when i went to open it by pulling the handle, the handle seemed to pull the lock down and it re-locked my car...then after that issue stopped this new one started.

Thats why i think it has to do with the handle getting in the way of the lock or something like that....could that make sense?

JTs93SE

I'm no expert, so it could be something in your driver door, or it still could be your door lock timer. All my locks sometimes lock and unlock randomly while I drive and I'm pretty sure that's caused by the door lock timer needing to be soldered. You shouldn't have to lift up the handle to lock the door on any of these max's.

LMaRiE91MaXiMa

Well...I'm not too convinced on the "shouldn't have to lift up the handle to lock the door" only because since I bought the car, I always had to do that (only on the 2 front doors) and also during the late 80's early 90's there are a number of cars that you have to do that too...but then again I'm no expert either.
I dont think its the timing either...I've never and still dont have any issue like the one you explained above.

Thanks for your insight anyways...its definitely worth looking into, but like I already said, I'm not too sure that the timing is my issue..

tripleGmax

iTrader: (8)

have you tried locking and unlocking the door from the pass. side to reset your alarm? if so then i would say its the door lock switch or theft warning control unit. id lean towards door lock switch since you cant lock the door and the alarm wont go off if it doesnt think the door is locked. try and get that thing fixed.

LMaRiE91MaXiMa

Ok...I lied now...I just figured out that my alarm still DOES work (as long as you dont try to lock and close from the driver door). I guess the first time I tested it, I didnt wait long enough for the alarm to set before I tried opening it from the inside...(oops)

So...if my alarm works, my lock/unlock buttons all work, all other doors close and lock properly (besides the driver door)...what could be the issue?!? It's obviously something with that dam door...maybe the latch could be caught?!

I really do believe it may be something with the handle/lock interfering with each other...only because this whole issue started when i UNLOCKED the doors with the key...then tried to open with the handle, and the handle actually pulled the lock back down before I could open the door and re-locked the whole car. I ended up having to enter from my passenger side... that issue resolved when i pulled the inside handle up all the way...and the whole thing worked normal for a day...now the driver side door wont STAY locked...its just frustrating not knowing exaclty what it is and not having any tools/knowlege to even begin to try and fix it...thanks everyone for your insight...ill def look into the door lock timing thing -
speaking of door lock timing...is there anyway i can easily test to see if it is functioning properly.. (please excuse if that sounds like a dumb question, but i dont know shyt when it comes to cars so bear wit me people)

maximagxe90

Hi,

for the problem you are having it could be the actuator or the master switch that is causing the problem,

for the earlier models there is no door lock time for us,

the later models only have the door lock time,

we only have the actuator,

LMaRiE91MaXiMa

Ok thanks for the info...where can i find the actuator or master switch? and what testing can be done to prove it is not functioning properly (other than the fact that im having issues already...because that doesnt prove anything other than that i have a problem..doesnt necc mean its one thing causing it or the other, hence why im here)
thanks again

tripleGmax

iTrader: (8)

check the forsale section and swap the door lock switch and/or door unlock switch.

Golden Ice

...I'm just going to post ***** and say I don't have to lift my door handle when I lock the car..I just push the lock **** down and shut the door..

Although, somtimes when I unlock all the doors with the keypad instead of the key, the 3 other door lock ***** go up all the way, the drivers side only goes up half way and the door stays locked..I THINK thats a moisture problem, because if I drive the car every day and use the locks a lot, it stops acting up...which leads me to believe condensation forms on some electrical contacts and causes it to be obnoxious.

3rdgene

i thought the vg's had to lift handle and the ve's dont??????Could be wrong though....my 91 i have to lift and my 93 i dont.

internetautomar

iTrader: (30)

post above you has a VG though it is a 92 the first year VEs were available

3rdgene

read it again i said my 91 vg i have to lift and my 93 ve i dont

internetautomar

iTrader: (30)

I was referring to GoldenIce's post

LMaRiE91MaXiMa

that sounds feasible to me considering I've always had to lift the handle (front doors only, back door handles dont have to be lifted) And it always worked properly that way until now... (mines a 91 or VG too)

LMaRiE91MaXiMa

yes but if he has the keypad...wouldnt that make it a GXE? maybe theres a difference in the locks between the models and not just years....(gxe, se, etc)

well...there obviously is a difference because the gxe's have keypads on their locks and the se's dont

internetautomar

iTrader: (30)

right, I was just pointing out that 92 may have been the changeover year with door handle issue, not neccesarily the motor, which was my intrepretation of his statement

3rdgene

yep i think that is it