DIY: Rear Hatch Handle Replacement

[Joh03342]

This post helped a ton diagnosing and replacing my hatch handle on the MO I just bought. My handle looked similar to yours but more rust/junk on metal. Thank you for your awesome post!

KJ

[evjm]

No problem! I'm glad it helped!

[Bobino]

Originally Posted by evjm

The part number is on my first post. I think I bought it at Courtesy Parts, I'm in Canada and didn't get hit at the border for it. Make sure it gets sent USPS. UPS has the huge fees at the border.

I can't find that part number, can you give it again please. Also, any advice on where to buy it at good price in Canada ?

Thanks

[kobayashi maru]

Nice writeup! I bought an '04 SL a few weeks ago and had the sticky rear latch issue too. I pulled the handle out and tried everything to get the gunk and rust off... wire brush, frame wire, PB Blaster, Liquid Wrench, Evapo-Rust, Dremel... nothing worked (though it did look cleaner). I was about to give up and order the part.

As a last resort I stood the handle assembly on it's side with one end of the hinge pin on the garage floor and tapped the other end of the pin with a hammer. Voila! Instant fix! Sprayed some silicone lubricant and it was good to go. Give this a try before ordering a new part!

[Tman]

Thanks to the OP for the instructions. I replaced mine yesterday and all is good. It was rusted pretty bad.

[YeeMurano]

We also encountered a failed rear hatch handle today. The spring was badly rusted and therefore lost most of its tension to spring back. The rest of the handle look fine. I repaired it by replacing the spring.

Here is what I did and some pictures:

1. Follow the instructions described above to remove the handle.
2. Remove the long pin, you can do this by undoing one of the pinched end so it can slide out, I used a table vise to do this.
3. I used a spring from a mouse trap. found to be a perfect fit and the correct tension.
4. Install the spring, the ends of the spring will hang out a bit, you will need to trim them off.
5. Re-pinch the pin's end with a table vise.
6. Apply some synthetic lubricant on the spring to prevent rust.
7. Reinstall, works like new again!

The took me about 30 minutes.

Hope this helps,
Holden

[nafddur]

Originally Posted by YeeMurano

We also encountered a failed rear hatch handle today. The spring was badly rusted and therefore lost most of its tension to spring back. The rest of the handle look fine. I repaired it by replacing the spring.

Nice job!

[bycmann]

Originally Posted by biggun

Wow! Just curious, would it be possible to replace the older model handles with the 2005 or newer which now have rubber electrical puh switch = no rust?

I have 2006 Murano with same rubber electrical push handle. Have you fixed your problem? Would it be same procedure to replace this as older version?

[biggun]

Originally Posted by bycmann

I have 2006 Murano with same rubber electrical push handle. Have you fixed your problem? Would it be same procedure to replace this as older version?

yes

[bycmann]

Problem has been fixed. Part was $70 and $60 for labour.

[flushpuppy]

We've got this problem too - enough so that it was causing condensation inside the car this winter. Does anyone know how the water gets inside the latch in the first place - as in, is there something else that needs to be fixed, or is this just something that happens after a while.

Thanks!