[BGM]

This morning I used the remote starter. After a few minutes I went out to the car and when I opened the front passenger door I was hit with a smell that reminded me of an electrical fire. I then saw white smoke coming out from under the door sill, right in the middle of the illuminated plate. Without turning off the car I got down on the ground to see if where the smoke was coming from but saw nothing. A little bit scared that there was a fire and it would spread, I turned the car off. It smoked for a bit more but no flames. After a few minutes I turned the car on again, opened the windows (a slight smoke / burning smell remained inside) and looked at the door sill for signs of smoke. Nothing. In the picture you can see a spot that looks like a burn through...

Any ideas? I tried to remove the plastic panel on the inside of the door sill but could only peak under it and there doesn't seem to be any signs of damage.

 

[Pilgrim]

You obviously had a short under there. Without seeing it, can't tell whether it's a loose wire, or a wire that's caught between two surfaces and the insulation wore through causing a short. My money's on the latter.

Check your fuses - the fuse for that circuit is supposed to blow when something like this happens. Service manuals are available at Nicoclub.com. (If the site offers the WAVE browser, don't load it - that browser causes security problems.)

You should be able to get that door sill trim off and find the problem.

 

[PaulDay]

That's Nissan's Lighted Sill add-on. Looks like it shorted right where the wire enters the sill. Water probably worked its way in thru the wire opening, creating corrosion where the wire meets the board, which eventually shorted out.

If you need to replace the one sill, take a look in the "For Sale" section. I'm selling a slightly used set for less than 1/4 of Nissan's price.

The lighted sill draws power thru the dome fuse, so if you still have a dome light, then the issue is strictly at the lighted sill. I would suggest pulling the inner plastic sill cover and kick panel to follow the wire and unplug it until you decide what to do with it. It should have a disconnect right under the inner plastic sill cover.

Good luck.

Have a good day.

 

[BGM]

Thank you both. I carefully pried the plastic trip and looked inside. There's no sign of anything but then again I can't really see under the black rubbery trim where the cable disappears. No sign of water damage, nothing wet that I can see. Even by touch there's no feel of a bad cable or roughness that would indicate melted plastic... But if I put my nose close there's smell of something gone bad. I tried to remove the actual illuminated door sill but not knowing the best way I figured I would break it in the process... I'm going to leave well enough alone for now but I left the trim off so that I can better monitor things.

 

[PaulDay]

Follow the wire that's wire tied. It should have a connector. I would unclip it to avoid any further electrical issues until you decide what you want to do.

To remove the sill, heat it up with a heat gun or hair drier and use a plastic body trim removal tool to pop it up. It's fastened with two weak clips and double-sided tape. The heat will loosen the tape. It will take a while for the heat to get to the tape.

Good luck.

Have a good day

 

[Cryogenix1]

What happened to that black rubber seal-looking area. Looks like it was pulled out or torn in that one spot above the melted area. I wonder if something got underneath that and caused a problem with the wiring. I wonder if any of that wiring makes its way under or around the seat track. I don't recall off hand what it's called, but do you use that thing where the driver's seat automatically moves back and then forward when you open and close that door? Perhaps a loose wire harness is caught and being tugged on or moved around everytime that courtesy move happens, and has exposed a bare wire. Or, perhaps you have a mouse living beneath the very roomy area between the carpeting and metal floorboards, and it's been chiewing on the wiring.

 

[PaulDay]

Perhaps a loose wire harness is caught and being tugged on or moved around everytime that courtesy move happens, and has exposed a bare wire. Or, perhaps you have a mouse living beneath the very roomy area between the carpeting and metal floorboards, and it's been chiewing on the wiring.

The wire is nowhere near anything moving. The wire he shows is wire-tied to the main wiring harness going to the rear of the car, which is located under the plastic door sill.

Still looks like a failure where the wire is soldered to the internal board. Started to overheat from corrosive resistance, melting the plastic until it burned thru. Probably why it didn't blow the fuse and he still has a functional doom light.

Have a good day.

 

[Cryogenix1]

Yeah, I guess I lost orientation where things were. Somehow I thought that trim fit right up against the track area. Forgot there are at least a few inches between that plastic top trim and the seat track.

I still wonder about that raised area of rubber. If a tool wasn't used to try to peek into there to assess the source of the melted area, perhaps heat/flame caused it to bulge, or maybe that area got snagged and lifted up at some point and something slipped beneath there caused a bridge across soldering points that made the system smoulder.

 

[PaulDay]

I still wonder about that raised area of rubber.

That's where the wire goes under the door seal. They've flattened the wire at that point and reinforced it where it goes over the metal lip that the door seal goes over.

The melted area on the sill is where the wire joins the board that the LEDs are laid on.

Pretty sure it's a corrosion issue. The wire going in is not sealed and over time, moisture probably worked its way in over time. Also, outside electrical addons are rarely waterproofed properly, like dip sealing the board and all the connections.

Have a good day.

 

[rgarcia187]

Hello, everyone this just happened to me as well.. on the passenger side. Anyone have an idea how much it would cost to fix?

 

[PaulDay]

Hello, everyone this just happened to me as well.. on the passenger side. Anyone have an idea how much it would cost to fix?

Yea, you have to buy the complete set. Nissan doesn't sell them separately. If you have an extended warranty, you might want to see if the dealer will bear the cost of a set to replace the one piece.

I'm selling a slightly used set of Nissan's lighted sills, here on the forum in the classified section if you're interested.

Have a good day.

 

[BGM]

What happened to that black rubber seal-looking area. Looks like it was pulled out or torn in that one spot above the melted area. I wonder if something got underneath that and caused a problem with the wiring. I wonder if any of that wiring makes its way under or around the seat track. I don't recall off hand what it's called, but do you use that thing where the driver's seat automatically moves back and then forward when you open and close that door? Perhaps a loose wire harness is caught and being tugged on or moved around everytime that courtesy move happens, and has exposed a bare wire. Or, perhaps you have a mouse living beneath the very roomy area between the carpeting and metal floorboards, and it's been chiewing on the wiring.

To answer your question, yes I do use that feature where the seat goes back when the car is turned off but that works ONLY for the driver seat and this issue is actually on the passenger door...

In the mean time it has not happened again. After that time I never saw smoke coming out of the same area nor any noticeable smell. However, now I'm a bit paranoid and I swear that if I put my nose close to the area I can detect a faint smell of something that burned...

 

[MuranoSL2003]

It could be it was just a bit of steam... Maybe try using an infrared thermometer on the area to see just how hot it gets. If it's hot enough to make steam, I would be concerned, it's not worth a potential fire...

IMO many electrical devices that are just fine can have an burned electrical smell when you get your nose right up to them...