Does anyone know where the door lock timer is. My power locks don't work and I want to try to resolder the wires cus I was told that it might work. Also what does it look like?

One.

 

Pop the panel underneath your steering wheel. Find the 2"x4"x1" black box to the right of your steering column. When you press the power lock switch, you probably hear a "click, click". The noise is coming from that black box. Pop the little lid off the bottom of the black box and slide out the circuit board and unplug the two connectors. There's your door lock timer.

Look at the joints on the board and you will probably see a joint that has a hairline crack in it. Solder it and enjoy your power locks.

 

Grey Box a little bit bigger than the size of a deck of cards. with 2 harness plugs going into it, being held in place by 2 screws

 

I guess Nissan made the door lock timer boxes different colors. Mine is black.

 

that is odd,cuz your car is pretty much same as mine,i would understand if it was a gxe

 

 

Weird, I just took mine out. And I could find no crack at all. My timer clicked,clicked. But nada! I saw no cracks,no nothing...Everything looked in place.

 

Yeah, I didn't see anything wrong the first couple times I looked at it. Look for joints that are not shiny anymore. If you don't see any joints that look different from the others, then you will have to resolder the entire board and hope that works.

 

I did a search because my locks werent working. Found this......what joints are they talking about?? On the bottom of the circut board?? Im not good a soldering either. Cracks on the bottom? Im Clueless

 

they're talking about the solder joints on teh bottom side of the circuit board

when solder goes bad, sometimes the joint will start to dry out or crack; sometimes you cant see it but sometimes you can, hard to tell if you dont know what you're looking for though

the board needs to be resoldered and that should take care of it, use flux too to help the solder flow better

If you dont know what I'm talking about, you probably want someone else to do this for you. If you dont know anyone who knows how to solder, try PMing Matt93SE, I know he used to do it for a small fee

 

I do know what you are talking about, but unfortunally, I dont have anything like that. Where can I pick it up??

 

If you're talking about flux, most places that carry solder will also have this stuff in a little tin.... but I thought solder wire already had flux impregnated in it? It's been a while since I've soldered anything...

 

Most does... Go to Radio Shack and pick up a soldering kit for like, $10... Not the greatest, but it comes with soldering iron, stand, solder (ERrr, I can't remember the ratio, I think it's 60/40 is MilSpec) and some extra tips...
I use it for computer work and electronics repair all the time

 

I did it! Soldered some today, and now my door lock work. I wasnt sure which one needed to be done, so I just started goin at it, Plugged it in, and it worked. I love this forum, gives great advice.

 

What about door lock working intermittenly( off/on)?

 

yup, try it

 

yea, thats what mine used to do, untill they started not working at all. Do it, and they will work!

 

Do what? I didn't get the instruction.

 

I recently proceeded with this operation on my maxima and here are my conclusions. My locks were working intermitently but it was malfunctioning often enough that I wanted to try this solution. I'm definately a beginner with cars and although I am somewhat familiar with circuits, I have never soddered any before.

It was very easy to take off the panel under the steering wheel using a ratchet set. I don't know why the mfc's use some regular screws that you can't use a ratchet for however. Locating the box was also very easy following the above instructions. I had some minor difficulty sliding the circuit out of the black box. Instead of taking off the entire black box, I opted for popping the thin cover off of the top of the box (the part the plugs connect to which is attached to the circuit) and sliding it out while the box was still attached. This was because I saw no easy way of disconnecting the box.

As far as the soddering was concerned this was rather difficult for me. I was using a 40Watt Craftsman soddering iron (which I think is probly too hot for small circuitry) and a tip that was probly to large for the job (as well as sodder that was also probly to thick). After some examining of the board however, it was rather clear which joint on the bottom of the circuit was causing the problem. There was a circular blob joint that had a circular crack that went around its base, effectively breaking the connection most of the time. Looked kind of like this (magnified):
I found it very difficult, using the iron, tip, and sodder that I had. After numerous attempts to do a nice clean job of going all the way around the circular crack, I was only able to land a blob in a place that I thought would make the connection. A couple times I believe I got sodder too close to other components however I was able to re-heat that sodder and remove it (I found it useful to use a spliced copper wire to scrape of the excess sodder. I believe using a copper mesh is a method that is often used however I did not have that available). I should note that a clearish brownish liquid came out of the sodder after it was melted. I wonder if this is melted resin because the sodder was resin based? It didn't cause any problems so I am assuming it does not conduct electricity.

In the end, when I plugged the circuit (which was slighly singed around where I had been working) back in, the locks worked fine and everything has worked for the past 3 days. So far so good What did I learn from this expirement? I need better soddering tools

I hope this helps out other's and if anyone can give me any soddering tips I would certainly appreciate it. Now.. to find out why my horn works intermittently ...

 

Okay my door locks are acting intermittently, but im having trouble locating the grey/black box, and ive looked all around the bottom steering column area. Does anyone have a pic that they could maybe circle the area. Id appreciate it. I dont see any panel i can pop off unless it that big long one that requires taking off the screws?

 

yes, take off the lower panel that has screws in it

 

This should help

http://www.thewardrops.com/maxima/

 

Thanks guys, thats exactly the sort of thing i was looking for.

 

Maybe that site should be made into a sticky?

 

I have no problems with the doors: Maybe its because my max has no such box... lol. Anyways, only the ASCD metalbox, on top of that blk plastic relay.


Door wiring schematics: http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/748507/13



My box must then be at left of steering column, black. Its in the place US models have the theft alar box. (My alarm is not factory installed.)

The doorwebsite is excellent, more these!

 

If I understand right, that is the pistol heavy loopy resistor harpoon? That tool is for sewer pipes, never use that with electronics. Its handle will get more hot than the tip... RadioS has right tools for 9$. Also do not use thumb thick tin (sewer -class), but only thin, reeled electronics solder. If not using proper tools, u burn u printed circuit board PCB +plus u hand.

End of story: U will end hating all electronics repair job.

 

This is supposed to happen. Solder contains not just the metal but also flux. When you heat the solder, the flux melts just before the metal and flows out around the point you are soldering to help clear contaminants on the surface (from oxidation etc). Oh and it dosen't conduct electricity so don't worry

As for soldering tips, heat the component lead/wire and the pcb track then introduce solder when its hot enough. Don't actually touch the solder with the iron, it should not be necessary. It should melt and flow around the lead to form a neat upside down cone (ideally). Make sure your tip is clean then tin it with a little solder, this helps heat transfer.

Correct me if Im wrong with any of this, but thats what I was taught.

 

That is correct. Always heat the lead then apply the solder to it, or else you will end up with a rosin joint, which is not good.

 

One more tip from an old solderer--Get yourself a Soldapulit. It looks like a funny syringe sort of thing. You set the thing by depressing the spring loaded piston on the top. Set the tip of it against the old solder joint and heat it with the soldering iron. When the old solder melts, press the button on the side and the device sucks up the old solder. Re-solder the joint with new solder. This thing works much better than the copper braid solder remover as the joint doesn't get overheated. If you solder much you have to have one of of these things.

 

Just fixed mine too, thanks to you guys...and a POS Cold Heat soldering tool!!

 

When i close my driver side door it unlocks, thus unlocking all four doors in my car. I really look like a retard cuz i have to lock my door everytime with my key from the outside. I close my door gently and it still unlocks...... any help?

 

hold up your door handle when you close the door