door locks problem (probably not actuators)

C

crayonz

Member
Location
Bay Area
I think I have an issue that will probably stump you guys. So, for the past year I’ve been having problems with the door locks on my ‘03 FX45. They won’t lock/unlock all the time. I’m pretty sure its not an issue with the actuators. Here’s why. During fall/winter the drivers side front and rear locks won’t auto lock/unlock, but the passenger side front and trunk door always work (rear door and gas tank door always works). However, during summer it’s the opposite: drivers side front and rear work, but passengers side and trunk don’t. It’s definitely not the actuators because it seems that functioning depends on the temperature. Could it have something to do with some electrical connection? Help a little Korean girl out! :confused:
 
Well then I think you should change out the actuators on one side and see if that corrects the problem with the change in temperature. If that solves the problem then change the other side. You have a 2003 so it may be time to change them out.
 
i looked around for this kinda problem but it's the actuator that's mentioned every where, and you're telling us the actuator is not the problem....

ghosts getting in your car from driver's side during summer and exiting from the passenger side during winter perhaps.
paranormal activity II
 
yeah I have a similar issue: my rear passenger does not lock or unlock from the key fob or from hitting the button on the front doors. However, you can lock and unlock it manually.
 
crayonz said:
I think I have an issue that will probably stump you guys. So, for the past year I’ve been having problems with the door locks on my ‘03 FX45. They won’t lock/unlock all the time. I’m pretty sure its not an issue with the actuators. Here’s why. During fall/winter the drivers side front and rear locks won’t auto lock/unlock, but the passenger side front and trunk door always work (rear door and gas tank door always works). However, during summer it’s the opposite: drivers side front and rear work, but passengers side and trunk don’t. It’s definitely not the actuators because it seems that functioning depends on the temperature. Could it have something to do with some electrical connection? Help a little Korean girl out! :confused:
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Not that it matters, but I have a 2003 FX45. You have enough years on your car that it probably is the actuators and my best guess is that it's just random that weather appears to impact it.

Have you ever changed your battery? If not, you can try that, but I really think it's the actuators. This is a common problem with our FX's.
 
crayonz said:
I think I have an issue that will probably stump you guys. So, for the past year I’ve been having problems with the door locks on my ‘03 FX45. They won’t lock/unlock all the time. I’m pretty sure its not an issue with the actuators. Here’s why. During fall/winter the drivers side front and rear locks won’t auto lock/unlock, but the passenger side front and trunk door always work (rear door and gas tank door always works). However, during summer it’s the opposite: drivers side front and rear work, but passengers side and trunk don’t. It’s definitely not the actuators because it seems that functioning depends on the temperature. Could it have something to do with some electrical connection? Help a little Korean girl out! :confused:
Click to expand...


you ever had this issue fixed? my passenger (front door) and rear hatch has the same issue you have.. :frown:
 
lately my passenger door wont unlock with the fob (no problems using the unlock on the door) and wont lock with the fob. its about every other time and a huge pain in the ass because now i have to walk around the car to make sure the doors are locked.

anyone know how to check an actuator? how much they cost to replace? is it a DIY or a dealer thing? and of course my warranty expired months ago...
 
the actuators on the fx are built into & are part of the latch/lock assy in each door & you have to replace the whole latch assy, so they are pretty expensive, I think in the $200+ neighborhood each for just the part. to make matters worse, all the actuators have pretty much about the same amount of wear as the others, so what I see is that usually shortly after the first one gets replaced another one goes...

the reason why it may work with the switch & not the fob is probably because it is weak, from the fob the locks only gt a short pulse of a few 100 ms duration, where if you use the switch you are able to lengthen the amount of time the lock actuator has to do it's thing...
 
Its not hard, remove the door panel, remove the 3 torx screws holding the latch in the door jamb, then disconnect the cables that attach to both the inner & outer handles & stuff & the electrical plug that's for the actuator, remove the latch assy, then re install... havent done one recently enough to remember all the little details about whats involved in disconnecting & re installing the cables but should be pretty straight foward, do you have the fsm pdf? I think you may need to remove the window glass & the regulator for access, also not hard... but then again easy/hard is relative I guess, having the new latch in your hand as you 're doing it helps too cause you can look at the new one to help figure it out.

Sent from my droid
 
Ash, not really too hard...did my rear and front passenger doors in about 1.5 hours. And that was going in and out of the house looking at the post that shows how to do it...no laptop for me....I could do it now in about 20-30 minutes for the front door and about 15-20 minutes now for the rear door.
 
thank you gentlemen! looks like i got a weekend project coming up.

actuators.... buy them new from dealer? store like NAPA? prolly not the best idea from a junkyard or something right?
 
dealer item, probably best price from a place like infinitipartsusa or something, not gonna find it in an auto parts store... used would be tough too cause even if you did find a yard with an fx, most likely there going to want to sell the door complete, then theres the risk factor of not knowing how long a used one's gonna last either. guess if you got lucky & found a good used one cheap then maybe, but that's gotta be hard to find I think...
 
asherchy said:
thank you gentlemen! looks like i got a weekend project coming up.

actuators.... buy them new from dealer? store like NAPA? prolly not the best idea from a junkyard or something right?
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Dealer item ONLY. Try Riverside Infiniti. They have really good prices on everything. I bought both of my actuators there for $380 talk to Tony from Internet Sales.
 
that's def a good price, I got a dead one on my right front door for a while now, but keep thinking that it in the end it might be cheaper & better to just retrofit all the doors with aftermarket actuators instead. never got a chance to look at much there, would be a bit of a project though
 
Looks like two of my actuators are going out now too. It's completely random when it works, but on the same two doors at the least. It sometimes unlocks with the keyfob or not. And using the actual switch on the door is random too. Seems like there is some resistance in the part for the lock to work. This sucks because I can't imagine how many time my car has been unlocked over the past few weeks. Is it recommended just to change all four at once by now? Is this part covered under extended warranty or do I have an incoming DIY....
 
AeroBFA said:
Looks like two of my actuators are going out now too. It's completely random when it works, but on the same two doors at the least. It sometimes unlocks with the keyfob or not. And using the actual switch on the door is random too. Seems like there is some resistance in the part for the lock to work. This sucks because I can't imagine how many time my car has been unlocked over the past few weeks. Is it recommended just to change all four at once by now? Incoming DIY....
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Just change it when they fail. After 120k+ miles, my drivers side has failed at around 100k.

Now at 120k, my passenger front door is failing (opens sometimes, sometimes not). Parts.com has the cheapest actuators. Or you can try the $5 mod, which your buddy handy andy should be able to do with his eyes closed now he has taken apart his tranny...
 
Ya, I think I would rather do the $5 fix than taking the car to the dealer and risk my wheels getting scratched etc. Thanks for the parts.com reference, I'll check it out. Haha, Andrew needs to change his tag to Handy_Andy :rofl:
 
AeroBFA said:
Ya, I think I would rather do the $5 fix than taking the car to the dealer and risk my wheels getting scratched etc. Thanks for the parts.com reference, I'll check it out. Haha, Andrew needs to change his tag to Handy_Andy :rofl:
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$165 for the actuator about each. Replaces entire assembly. Install for Handy_Andy will be 30 minute each door.

$5 for universal actuator and you have to do some minor adjusting/modifications.
 
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