| Snowride |
For those of you who have had the famous driver door lock out syndrome (erogonomic one) like in this thread http://www.nissanmurano.org/forums/...=&threadid=1455
I highly suggest you do this modification even if you do not lock yourself out because one day you will lend your car to someone or someone other than yourself will use the car and get themselves locked out with the keys inside.
Here is an easy solution. With only a screw driver, a flash light and 5 minutes of my time, I was able to disconnect the mechanism behind the manual door lock (the one located just above the handle which actually is used to open the door) on the drivers door. This corrects the problem entirely and has no drawbacks whatsoever except you can no longer use the manual lock to lock the drivers door. ( Who may I ask uses this anyway?) The fob works fine as well as the electric lock switch and the key itself. The manual lock is operated by a cable with a ball crimped to the end, kind of like the brake cable on a bicycle. If you shine a flash light in the crack of the manual locking button toward the front, you will see this ball. With a flat screw driver, position it on the ball and tap it off the slot it is sitting in. Works for me and now I have piece of mind. It would be easily put back into the original form if required for whatever reason but you will need to open up the door panel to do so. |
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| ekaxel |
For clarification, the key is electric. The only manual (mechanical) lock IS the little button next to the inside door handle.
When I installed my aftermarket alarm, which provides a lot of additional lock/unlock functionality, I had to go into the door to get the lock and unlock controls off the key lock. This is the only place in the car that those signals are accessible, staying away from the microprocessors/LANs. |
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| Mymurano |
Snowride,
Thanks for sharing this tip.
Could you please post an image of where the ball is? Just want to be sure about poking in the right place. I have been locked out of my Murano once, and do not look forward to experiencing it again.
Will be glad to have the freedom of getting out of the running Murano to check my tires, lock the garage door, etc., and be able to get back in without any surprises. |
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| Snowride |
| Unfortunately you will have to wait until Monday because I forgot my camera at the office but I will post it then. |
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| gremlin |
Hi All,
Just reading with interest as I have also posted the issues at "hand" no pun intended! My car has been into service 7 times for this.... locking doors. final solution....not That I think Nissan should take ownership to this problem however. It's all in there attempt at customer service, for which they obviously have not been trained. They have removed the lock rod from my drivers door and stated that I was locking them unconsciuosly! No mention of poor design on Nissan's behalf. And no I do not have fat hands! I am extremely disappointed in my whole experience not with the car but with the service! I love my Murano, but at this point cannot wait for the lease to expire!
Gremlin |
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| Snowride |
Ok, here's the pic I promised. This is of the passenger door so that you can see the ball I am referring to. The shiney thing towards the top. At least you know where to look and I suggest to get in there with a flash light to see for youself.
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| gremlin |
Is it just my imagination or are only those of us with "polished pewter" having this problem??
gremlin:confused: |
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| Snowride |
| I read every thread on door locking syndrome to fiqure out the problem and I bet you there are several who still do not realise what is happening. It all depends on how you open the door. Sorry but if I have to check my movements each time I get out, I would go nuts and probably forget. This is a very simple solution. |
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| hfelknor |
" This is a very simple solution."
Probably the best solution since there are many thousands of us that have never locked the door inadvertantly.
Wonder if Enforcer/KSmurano could make it a "sticky" or something since we KNOW it will come up again.
Homer |
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| esemes |
excellent work-a-round!!
the only other thing i might see being needed is to insulate (foam) the cable end, so it doesnt rattle around loosely.... |
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| Snowride |
| It's actually more of a steel rod than a cable and the support sleeve is very close to the ball. No way is this going to rattle or cause any noises whatsoever by not tying it up. |
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| Snowride |
quote:
Probably the best solution since there are many thousands of us that have never locked the door inadvertantly.
I realise you personally do not have this problem but what is going to happen when you lend your MO to someone and they call you from the gas station to tell you the MO is running by the gas pump and the keys are locked in it? Or how about this scenario. Your best friend gets in the car and on the way you offer him to test drive it. You switch seats drive a dozen miles or so and then you switch seats again, only to find out you both are locked out. |
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| esemes |
quote:
Originally posted by Snowride
It's actually more of a steel rod than a cable and the support sleeve is very close to the ball. No way is this going to rattle or cause any noises whatsoever by not tying it up.
heres what's behind doorpanel no.1 |
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| ekaxel |
| Who in their right mind would leave their car running next to a gas pump? |
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| Snowride |
| You would be very surprised. When it's -35 and the winds are howling, quite a few never shut her down when refueling (although you are supposed to). In those temps the lockout syndrome can be a nightmare. |
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| gworg |
| I keep my speedpass with my keys. That way the only way to get gas is to take the keys with you. Doesn't solve the problem of getting out to look at something while leaving the car running though. Might have to investigate the screwdriver solution:28: |
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| Brad Lustig |
| Who in the world has friends that fill up a car after borrowing it? LOL. Maybe I need new friends... |
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| Snow MO |
quote:
Originally posted by Snowride
Or how about this scenario. Your best friend gets in the car and on the way you offer him to test drive it. You switch seats drive a dozen miles or so and then you switch seats again, only to find out you both are locked out.
I think that it's at this point that you realize the Murano has made up it's mind and that it didn't like the way either one of you drove. Hang your head in shame and just walk home. ;) |
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| gremlin |
Have any of you reported this problem to your service department at the dealership in which you bought the car?? I have and basically they told me Nissan will not take ownership to the problem until a "given" number of reports have been filed. This will prompt the engineers to look at the issue and a TSB or recall will be issued. Just a thought.....it drives me crazy to think the solution is to disconnect the lock rods in the doors!
gremlin |
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| VG. |
I had this happen to me one time with my windows down (thank goodness!)
now I just hit the manual unlock button whenever I am hopping out of my car to grab something or to check my mail on the way home. It seems that doing this prevents it from locking on it's own. |
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| dk4500 |
| Does anyone know if the lock-out problem is just on 03's? I have an 04, and have tried to get it to lock out on me (when it's at home with the spare keys nearby...I'm not THAT stupid!) to no avail. Ok, now this does sound stupid, BUT, could it be that Nissan made a modification to the 04's that the dealerships don't know about? Perhaps for my 04 it's wishful thinking...and no, mine is Glacier Pearl not Pewter! |
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| Snowride |
| Mine is a 04 which came off the assembly line in Japan on Dec 3rd. Did you bother reading the thread where it says it's an erogonomic problem and those who have the problem are hitting the manual locking button unintentionally and locking ourselves out? Try this, lock the door manually and close it. Are you locked out? |
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| malaycobra |
My '04 has locked itself once. I had left the window open, so out of curiosity I leaned in and looked at the manual lock button...it was still in the UNLOCKED position. I moved it to locked, the back to unlocked and the door opened. None of the other doors locked.
I visit this forum every day, so am always on the lookout for glitches and rattles.
I'm with anyone who wants to take this "undocumented feature" to Nissan. I am determined to have a problem free $37k car! |
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| steggy |
Thanks, took about 1 minute. Seems like it did the trick !
Steggy
PS: '03 White and has locked the driver's door every day that I have owned the car, but only locked out once, but once was enough.
Thanks. |
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| mrtp |
| Disconnecting the rod to the manual lock is the quick fix. It took four times back to nissan service for them to do a temp. repair. But it's only temp. and they havn't come up with a real cure. Also color isn't what makes it lock out nor does it have to be running, with the key in it, It doesn't even have to be wet to get the door to lock.We have heard all the silly reasons that the owners did to cause the problem, we just need nissans answer to correct the engineering mistake. I will keep going back till they get it corrected and I'll post the results as they happen. Oh by the way 03,04 doesn't matter either. |
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| Chris03HD |
Thanks 4 the tip!
I have a screw driver, and 5 minutes to spare! :D |
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| Mykol |
Initially I thought I was a complete idiot for locking myself out of my new car! Glad to see I'm not alone.
I just bought my new 04 Murano, 1 week later at a gas station (engine off), with my 3 year old in the back seat, I got out to open the fuel filler door, locked, hmmmmm, oh yeah I tried out locking all door after driving away from my house for something different, maybe a safe habit to get into for crash protection. All doors were locked of course, including the driver's door! I was shocked that this could happen with the key in the ignition. I thought I missed something in the manual. Fortunately I was close to home and phoned for my wife to bring the spare keys. I was embarrassed to say the least.
This is most certainly a design problem. In the interm I have a hidden key under the suspension. Not perfectly safe of course but better than getting locked out again far from home!
I will look into this solution and dump the hidden key, thanks.
Any rumors about nissan correcting this problem voluntarily?
Cheers;
Mike |
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| cinergi |
I had my murano lock me out recently while I was warming it up in the driveway. I've had the car 6 months and this is a first. I *know* it wasn't me because all the doors were locked (I set the system to unlock *all* doors upon the first press of the remote). I couldn't believe I was sitting there looking at a running car that had locked me out :-(
Edit: 2004 Copper SE, 10k miles. |
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| Zooropa |
I have had MO lock me out on two occasions since April. The first time I was able to open the unlocked passenger door. The second time the window was rolled down.
The simple solution:
Change the vehicle electronic settings to open ALL doors with a single click of the remote (instead of just the drivers door). If the problem is with ergonomics the hatch and the other three doors should still be unlocked. |
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| zebelkhan |
I routinely get locked out of the MO. At least once a day, but unlike some, I cannot blame it on the MO's security system. Every single time I have found the driver's door lock button pressed in just enough to engage the lock and I know I do that with my hand when I exit the car. Whenever I pay attention, I never get locked out. No doubt it is a bad design, but at least in my case it is not because of a faulty system.
IMO, the easiest solution would be to disconnect the rod but for those who do not want to do that, have a regular key cut (not one with transponder chip) and hide it somewhere where you can access it from outside the car. This is not as much of a security risk as hiding the original key because without the chip the car cannot be started. |
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| cinergi |
| Well unfortunately none of the solutions here will work - indeed the car *IS* locking all my doors *electronically* - it's not a case of me hitting the lock! Even more unfortunate is there's no way to reproduce this that i know of. Perhaps I picked up some radio interference or something .. who knows :-( |
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| BARCODE |
| I had the MO in for service about two weeks ago. My mechanic said he.. "couldn't reproduce it" therefore couldn't fix it. This morning, I was locked out again with no way to get back in. Had to call my wife to come bail me out. I called the dealer and raised hell... I got a call about 30 minutes ago telling me to bring both remotes with the car in. Let you guys know what they did to fix it. |
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| GripperDon |
| Any body have Lockout problems or anything else with the 05 Intellegent Key ? |
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| zebelkhan |
quote:
Originally posted by GripperDon
Any body have Lockout problems or anything else with the 05 Intellegent Key ?
That would not be intelligent anymore... :p |
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| GripperDon |
| OOOH ! A good one. :D |
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| Jay |
None for me Grip cuz the Intel Key is always in my pocket.....And, I given the wife a warning about exiting without her purse. Love it.
By the way just returned from a 350 mile trip....24.8 mpg average. No major hills. |
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| GripperDon |
| Still want to see a PIC of your 05 with the contrasting side guards. How many miles now? |
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| Gonzo |
Slightly different topic.. a comment that the MO has a bad overall design in that you can look the door with the key in the igition. My wife's RX300 will not allow it and if the key is in the igition and you pres the lock the doors immediately unlock. You CAN lock the doors if the key is in the ignition when the doors are closed but not when the doors are open.
I wish the MO did that... it would solve these issues.
It has been mentioned before but I will add it... I've noticed that when opening the door sometimes I hit the lock and lock the door. I had the TSB perform on my MO and it worked as I was getting locked out... now I just need a TSB for my to stop me from locking myself out. :p |
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| BARCODE |
| GONZO, Is there a TSB for the lock out problem? |
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| Gonzo |
BarCode,
Look at this link for TSB information. |
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| lilbit_cmm |
OK, so was doing some thinking this morning. If you disable the lock, and then your battery dies, how do you get in???
I'm thinking the power locks wouldn't work with the remote, you can't unlock it with your key, so you can't pop your hood to charge the battery...
Any insights? |
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| zebelkhan |
| You don't really disable the lock. You just undo the link from the inside lock button to the door latch in the front door. You can still unlock from outside with your key. |
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| MarcoPolo |
| Today my dealer fixed the lock-out problem. New door harness and latch were installed. NO/CHARGE. Call your Nissan dealers. |
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| Mykol |
| I'm in the Toronto area too. Exactly what problem did you tell them you had? |
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| Gonzo |
quote:
Originally posted by MarcoPolo
Today my dealer fixed the lock-out problem. New door harness and latch were installed. NO/CHARGE. Call your Nissan dealers.
Yes same thing happened to me about 1 ago... search the forrum for my posts. Its been fine since they replaced the harness. |
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| MarcoPolo |
The problem I had was that after 1 or so minutes my doors would lock automatically.
The following is what was on the work order:
B COM: DOORS LOCK ON THEIR OWN
CAUSE: CORRODED
UH97AA CHECK & REPLACE DOOR LOCK ACTUATOR & HARNESS
129 WS (N/C)
24125-CA004 HARNESS (N/C)
80501-CA012 LOCK (N/C)
FC: ZG28
PART#: 24125CA004
I hope this helps you. |
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| mgthe3 |
I have noticed something about the auto lock.
I have repeated the test many times.
Lock your Mo with the fob. Now unlock it with the fob. Don't open the door, wait a minute, "flop" there it goes. If you open the door after you unlock it via the fob, it won't relock. If you don't open the door, it will.
I wonder if the problem is either just this scenario, or the puter isn't sensing the door opening after the unlock.
I haven't tested it with the key, but I haven't used a key to unlock a car in many years, they have all had fobs. |
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| lilbit_cmm |
Hi mgthe3,
What you replicated is not a problem. It's a failsafe for most auto locks/key fobs. As you stated, if you unlock with the fob, but then do not open any doors, it automatically locks after about one minute. That is because they are assuming that if you unlock it, but don't open any doors, you actually unlocked it by accident (like if the button gets pushed when it's in your pocket or purse).
That way, you don't accidentally unlock the car walking away from it and have it stay unlocked. Plus, if you unlock it, and then don't get it, chances are you have ur keys on you, so u can just unlock it when you want to get in...
-Lil' Bit |
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| MBruce |
My first post! I briefly read about the lock-out problems and did not see any recent posts. The other day I went to fill my gas tank and could not open the little round door that you press to get to the cap. I tried and tried and finally thought of using my key fob which opened it after pressing it twice. A minute later, with my keys in my hand and the fob dangling in the air, I heard the doors lock! Has anyone had similar experiences with the gas tank door? Both must be related?
Thanks in advance for any insight. I will take the car to the dealership soon.
M.
Pearl White 2004 Murano SE |
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| pcs15394 |
| MBruce, The vehicle must be unlocked to be able to open the fuel door. Also if you unlock the vehicle and no exit or entry is made within a set time limit, the doors will auto lock. |
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| MBruce |
| Thanks for your reply. The problem is that all my doors were unlocked. |
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| njjoe |
MBruce-
Your fuel door solenoid may be sticking. This not a common problem, but it is an easy one to fix. The dealer can either lubricate it or replace it.
-njjoe |
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| richard-fong |
Great solution. I will do it because..
Despite figuring out cause (lightly brushing against manual rocker when reaching for dr pull handle), driver door will inadvertently "lock" at least once/two weeks (yes, that often & anywhere). Of course, rocker appears to be "unlocked" - it barely moves. Happened 2X shortly after buying 2003 Murano on 24Dec2002. Fortunately, other drs were unlocked. Learned early to remotely unlock all drs before getting in, leave a window open or take car key with me.
First full "lock out" occurred this past Xmas time at sister's home. Had to use her truck to retrieve spare set of keys from home 6 miles away. Very annoying, but not bad after 3 yrs of ownership.
It's a factory design defect, yet the Nissan dealers have no solution & Nissan won't own it. But I still like the car except for the poor mileage (16.3 mpg average over 3 yrs 2003-05).
Just read a posting with a Dealer installed harness & latch solution - Will ck out 1st. |
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| nipsirc |
quote:
Originally posted by MarcoPolo
Today my dealer fixed the lock-out problem. New door harness and latch were installed. NO/CHARGE. Call your Nissan dealers.
Which Nissan dealership in Toronto did you had this fixed? |
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| richard-fong |
Subsequent to my last posting in March 2006, I did check & had the new door lock part installed, at no cost, by my dealer, New City Nissan in Honolulu. Per the invoice, the part # is 80501-CA06A and is described as "LOCK&REMOTE CON". Best of all, it worked. To date, I have had NO inadvertent door lockouts. Sorry I did not report back on this sooner.
Just for your info: Mileage is still lousy and gotten worse. I drive less than 8,000 miles/yr and is mostly in city. The AC always "on". Because our gas now has 10% Ethanol, mileage has gone down a bit. My mpg for my 2003 Murano is as follows: 2003/16.8mpg; 2004/15.8mpg; 2005/16.3mpg; 2006/15.6 mpg. The mpg range per tankful of gas was 12.4-18.2 mpg. My year end mileage = 25859. |
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| Gonzo |
I just called my dealer... $135 for that part.... I am out of warranty I wonder if Nissan would cover it since it is a bad design.
I'm always checking that lock when I get out of the car and I find that about 40% the door would have locked behind me.
Can post a picture of the changed part.... is it noticeable? |
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| richard-fong |
Technically, my car was also out of warranty (3 yrs), but I had complained about this problem to my dealer several times during various servicing appointments. They could not duplicate the problem and never had a fix until I pointed it out to my dealer in March 2006.
I believe this was a bad design or a defect, which, in my opinion, was resolved in the 2004 Murano. If you are an original owner, I am certain that you have been locked out of your car many times during the originally warranty period and probably took the car in at least once to address this problem. I would talk to your dealer's service manager 1st, then contact Nissan's regional manager. The dealer wants to make sure that their expenses are covered by Nissan. The problem is that Nissan has not made it a recall item and have not openly acknowledged this as a "real" problem. Obviously, for several of us 2003 Murano owners, installation of this new door lock part has resolved this long persisting problem. Good luck. |
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| Ann |
Since day one, the first press of the unlock button opened just the driver's side door (and according to the manual, the fuel door) the second press of the button opened all doors. I don't know what's happened, but now the first press of the button opens all doors. I checked the owner's manual, but can't find instruction on how to set the program back to the way it was before. Does anyone have the answer? Thank You.
'04 SE AWD Glacier Pearl |
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| bkburns |
quote:
Originally posted by Ann
Since day one, the first press of the unlock button opened just the driver's side door (and according to the manual, the fuel door) the second press of the button opened all doors. I don't know what's happened, but now the first press of the button opens all doors. I checked the owner's manual, but can't find instruction on how to set the program back to the way it was before. Does anyone have the answer? Thank You.
'04 SE AWD Glacier Pearl
Not sure if it is any different on the 04, but on my 06 I recall it being an option you can change in the display. |
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| Ann |
Than you bkburns! That was the solution.
Thanks again! |
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