My trunk lock cylinder is frozen. Key goes in all the way, but doesn't turn. Seems like it's the wrong key, but I see absolutely no evidence of the cylinder being replaced. Anybody ever have a problem with this? How expensive is a new one (with a different key of course).

 

Do you think WD40 would work? I had a frozen door lock one time & I sprayed that in there & never had a problem again. Just a suggestion.

 

well I guess if it's broken, there's no harm in trying to fix it, say, with a screwdriver and a hammer, to hopefully knock off whatever is freezing it up (wax, rust, dirt?).

 

Yeah I had (and still have) the same problem on my Max. I haven't tried to fix it and I have just always used the trunk release from inside the car. Let me know if you figure something out. Good luck!

 

Are you using the right key because when that happened to me on my 90 it was because of the key. There is some kind of locking security latch in the trunk that disable the keyless entry and the secondary keys only the master works. I found this out when I needed stuff out off my trunk away from my master security key. Something in the trunk hit they latch which made the dam thing lock.

 

I have the original Nissan black-plastic oval shaped key. Is this the master? I know about the latch and checked it.

 

Ok Im confused..so are you saying only the master key works??I was only given 1 original Nissan key when I bought the car & this one has worn out. I had to have a spare key made & this is what I use on my car now...ignition & all doors & trunk & it works just fine.

 

I have three separate keys that I use on mine. I have a master of course that opens everything. Then I have the 2 keys that I use every day on my key chain. One opens the doors and is used for the ignition. The other key only opens the trunk and I believe the glove box. If yoy dont use the right key it wont work. You should have two seperate keys though unless you use the master key all the time. I keep my master key as a spare.

 

Uhh, chris that's messed up..

Nissan originally gave out two keys on this car. one was the "master" which will open all locks, and the other was the valet key. it only opened the doors and started the car. it would NOT work on the trunk or glove box.
these keys were either yellow or orange, while the "master" is always black.

 

Well Matt I can understand what your saying but these are the keys that I got at a dealer. One is red and opens everything and works in the ignition. The other two that I use on my key chain are black. They are slightly different in shape but not unless you look real hard. One of theses as I said is for the doors and ignition and the other is for the trunk and glove compartment. Maybe I'm the only one who has a set of keys like this. With everyones cars being as old as they are I doubt that many people have the original keys anyway.

 

The only two keys I've ever seen, had (I've owned two Max's) is a Red and a Black key. Is there a third? I don't know I bought both mine used. On both Max's, the black opened all doors, trunk, glove box, and ignition(Master) and the red only opened the doors and ignition. I only give the mechanics the red key and switch the latch in the trunk so only I have access with my master (which is just a copy now, the original black broke). Both Max's were an SE, would this matter?

 

crap!
when i got my max all i was given from the dealer was a regular cut key. no master no nothing, just a gold key that was cut.
it still opens everything and anything on the car though.

 

Just go to your Nissan dealer. They should have a machine there that can make keys. All they have to do is get the right numbers off your car and they type it in and it makes the proper key for the car. That's how they made my spare, I gave him my key, he gave it back said he didn't need it! Go figure! It shouldn't cost but around $3 unless you get one of the expensive coated keys, like the black or red coat that was referred to earlier.

 

I had two original keys with my car: the black one and the red valet key. Now I know that the red key is supposed to work only the door locks and the ignition, but I broke a cheap copy off in my ignition about two years ago and had to have the locks re-keyed by Baker-Jackson Nissan in Houston. The dealer that rekeyed them gave me two more of the same brand cheap copies (stupid morons). Now my valet key opens the trunk with alittle effort, and has always done so as long as I can remember. I don't know about the glove box. I do know about that switch in the trunk though and on my '93 SE it makes it to where you can't use the trunk pop inside the car. A friend of mine broke my original black key off in the trunk one time and ever since then I've used the valet key for everything. Two days ago I ordered two more original keys from Courtesy for about $21.00 and they should be delivered today. I intend to get them copied from one of the cheap copies the dealer in Houston gave me.

 

Yep that's what I got. Well I originally had it as a spare (as I was only given 1 when I bought my car- which I mentioned before) but my original wore out. Gotta love those gold keys

 

Red one and black oness is what I had

 

this happend to my brother who once had an '89 maxima SE...he was at the airport and our cousin had his bags in the trunk but couldn't get'm out so my brother LITERALLY had to cut open the back seat to get out the bags! hahaha. then we took it to the nissan dealer/garage and they fixed everything for us...no charge.

 

Matt, my valet key also opens trunk. The only thing it does not open is the glove box.

 

Look again, which one are you refering to as the Valet Key? The Red one should be the Valet, the black the Master. If that is the case and it still opens the trunk, take into consideration that these cars are (depending on the year you've got) around 10 years old. These locks have been used thousands of times and the locks and keys, believe it or not, wear out. I knew a girl that owned a Toyota that I could unlock her doors with my mothers Corsica trunk key, and start her Toyota with my '84 Mazda truck ignition key! Needless to say I had lots of fun! Good thing she was a friend!!!!!

 

Yep I knew a kid that could take the key out of the ignition with the car still running.

[Edited by JDwyer2821 on 12-09-2000 at 02:47 AM]

 

When I bought my Max I recieved three keys, the oval shaped black master, a smaller triangular black spare, and the red security key...I'm pretty sure my manual lists all three, but I'm not about to run down to the parking lot to check.

 

My valet key has red moulded plastic head on top. It is shorter than my black master key.

 

heres the straight story.

when I bought my car i got 3 OEM KEYS, ORIGINAL. 2 blacks and one red. The two blacks, one oval, and one shaped like the red key are MASTERS, open everything. The red key is valet, only opens doors, which is pointless, because if you want to open the trunk, you open it from the inside, unless you disable it from the trunk whcih im sure noone has. Anyways, those are what i got, and thats what the manual also sais.

 

If you need OEM replacement keys at all you can order them from Courtesy Nissan for about $7.50 ea. I ordered two of them and just got them cut yesterday. Cheap copies are a bad idea. I've broken two cheap copies off in the ignition and one in the door locks and it wasn't because I was being too stressful on the key.

 

lol sarah
i like to brag to my friends and wave my cheap half bent gold key in their face when they have those small oval GM keys

 

When you say OEM, do you mean they come with the Black Plastic Tab/Insert and have the Nissan LOGO?

 

Ok, so is the bottom line that when our Maximas were new, there were supposed to be two keys (one red, one black)? Because I have the same problem RosenKen has, with my SE. I don't want to experiment with the little switch in the trunk and end up locking myself out of the trunk FOR GOOD. So that being the case, should I just run down to my Nissan dealer and have them get the code to cut another key? Because they just recently cut a key for me the old-fashioned way, and I still can't use it to unlock the trunk. Just wondering.

 

Yes the keys that Courtesy sells are OEM. They have the Nissan logo on them. They have the Nissan symbol in a different place than on the 3rd gen orginial keys but they look exactly the same. They're black oval keys.

 

Alright, I have both the OEM master and valet keys (big black oval one and small red triangular one) and they both don't work on my trunk. I don't think it's a key problem, I think it's the lock cylinder. I'll look into it more in the next few days while I have some time off (finally!!)

 

Well, let me know what U come up with, Ken.