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Rear Hatch lock actuator problems

162K views 111 replies 55 participants last post by  tangonanwynstonn 
#1 ·
Hi all, I've searched the forums and found a couple of hints at this problem but no solution. My 04 Armada is keeping me locked out of the back. I guess now that the brake judder problem has gone on vacation it's time for electrical fun and games. The problem appears to be in the door lock actuator for the rear lift gate. The problem manifested slowly, over time missing only occasionally on the unlock/engage handle for the rear door. Now it does it constantly.

I can crawl into the back and push the little emergency access lever to the bottom in the rear door access panel and then open the door from outside but this gets somewhat more challenging when the car is full of groceries or plants or dogs and kids.

The rear door latch is tight and not the problem. The door locks OK but the door lock actuator isn't pulling the lever down far enough each time. I took the door panel off and lubricated all the parts I could find. This fixed the problem for about a month. I would replace the electrical actuator but I can't find a part number for it or a replacement on the 'net. I guess I could try and pull the thing out and open it up to lubricate the guts.

Anyone else have this problem? Oh yeah, the rear door glass wouldn't open either but that was because the cable clip was detached from the lock. I think it's a result of the door lock being semi-disengaged when the glass was opened.

Thanks for any input (and great forum BTW)

GZ
 
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#2 ·
I had that problem. so what i would do is lift the rear glass lever first and then the lift the liftgate lever and it would open. It beats jumping in the back and pushing the emergency latch down which i did for a while myself. But mines havent done that in awhile thank God. so try the glass liftgate lever first then lift the liftgate lever after. Let m know if it works for u.
 
#4 ·
I tried the glass lever first just a few minutes ago and it didnt' work either. Thanks for the suggestion though. I was able to get it open by locking and unlocking the car five or six times. It's a little irritating. I wonder if I used the wrong lubricant. I had some silicone lube for the treadmill that I put on it. It's supposed to be good for stuff like bicycle chains and lawnmower wheels (if you can beleive the little pictures on the can). I'm going to open it all up again and spray it with something different.

GZ
 
#5 ·
I pulled it all apart and the back door glass lock was disconnected. What is happening is that the electrical actuator isn't pulling the lock lever all the way down. It's stopping about 15% short of where it needs to be. This puts the rear door glass lever in between the swing position and the unlock position--which happens to be a hard place. So when you try to open the back door glass when the lock is 15% short of where it needs to be, sometimes it pops into the open position but in my case the little plastic clip popped out of the lever and left the glass stuck in the locked position.

So now on to the real problem. My back door lock actuator isn't able to pull the lever down 100% into the unlocked position. Even with the electrical actuator taken out of the system with no load on it the plastic lever is hit-or-miss on completing the unlock swing. The unit is sonic welded and appears to be maintenance free. So I want to replace this part but I can't find it. The part number on the actuator is:

905507S000
0892068-A
B/D ACTR
03 09 26 12V

Anyone know where I can find this online? Thanks.

GZ
 
#6 ·
grogzero said:
Hi all, I've searched the forums and found a couple of hints at this problem but no solution. My 04 Armada is keeping me locked out of the back. I guess now that the brake judder problem has gone on vacation it's time for electrical fun and games. The problem appears to be in the door lock actuator for the rear lift gate. The problem manifested slowly, over time missing only occasionally on the unlock/engage handle for the rear door. Now it does it constantly.

I can crawl into the back and push the little emergency access lever to the bottom in the rear door access panel and then open the door from outside but this gets somewhat more challenging when the car is full of groceries or plants or dogs and kids.

The rear door latch is tight and not the problem. The door locks OK but the door lock actuator isn't pulling the lever down far enough each time. I took the door panel off and lubricated all the parts I could find. This fixed the problem for about a month. I would replace the electrical actuator but I can't find a part number for it or a replacement on the 'net. I guess I could try and pull the thing out and open it up to lubricate the guts.

Anyone else have this problem? Oh yeah, the rear door glass wouldn't open either but that was because the cable clip was detached from the lock. I think it's a result of the door lock being semi-disengaged when the glass was opened.

Thanks for any input (and great forum BTW)

GZ
Yes my 2004 had bad sensors in the rear hatch twice now since 2004. The motor worked fine. It would not close or when it did close then it wouldn't open..
 
#7 ·
Howdy, folks. I'm having the *EXACT* same problem as Grogzero did. Started a week ago, when the hatch would refuse to open. I could pop the rear glass open, and that alone would "loosen" up the hatch so that it would unlock. today, when I tried to open the glass, it had some resistance, then I heard a "pop" sound. Doh.

Ended up having to crawl in and move the little white plastic locking lever from inside, as Grogzero described. Now I can open the rear hatch, but it requires crawling in each time. And the rear glass seems to be permanently locked.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Anyone have any guides/DIYs/step-by-steps on how to take the rear hatch apart? part #s?

Grazie,

--Dennis
 
#8 ·
I too am having that exact ame issue! The cold weather seems to have the most effect on the lcok. Now that it is not freezing cold the hatch seems to unlock OK but the glass will not open any more.
 
#9 ·
Hi guys, I did manage to fix the problem. I removed the actuator from the door, drilled a small hole in the gear area of the actuator plastic (just large enough for the sprayer straw to fit in) and sprayed a couple of shots of lubricant into the gear section. I connected the actuator to the wiring harness and ran through a series of lock/unlock pushes from the driver's door lock switch. I squirted a couple more shots into the hole for good measure and covered the hole with a small square of tape.

I put everything back together and it hasn't acted up since then. I didn't post back here right away because I wasn't sure the problem was fixed. It's been long enough now that I can say it's a mostly successful fix--8 months without a lock-out.

The lubricant I used was either liquid wrench or silicone spray.
 
#11 ·
I followed Grogzero's instructions exactly, and fixed mine! Surprised at how easy it was.

The cable that connects the rear GLASS release handle with the actual locking mechanism had popped off at the "swivel" inside. Reseating it fixed the rear glass release easily.

My only issue was that because the above mentioned cable had popped off, I couldn't open the rear glass. So I had to remove the rear glass handle from the inside, in order to get the glass up. The handle for the glass has two studs that run through the glass, secured by two nuts. In removing one of them, the nut had seized on so tightly, it actually broke the stud off the handle. Doh! Still, only $20 from my local Nissan dealer (Marlboro Nissan outside of Boston), and it came with new hardware too.

To fix the lock actuator mechanism, I merely moved it around a few times, a little lube, and it works fine now.

Thanks, Grogzero!

vty,

--Dennis
 
#10 ·
can you post pictures of what you did because I have this problem all the time and it is quite irritating. I also am not able to open the glass as the cable has come off again. Thanks.
 
#12 ·
This is good to know - had this problem start about a month ago (thinking cold weather) and appears every now and then - applied some WD40 and it occurs even less - glad that there is a viable fix without having to bring back to dealer - thx for the info
 
#13 ·
The same thing happened to me.

The liftgate handle would not open the liftgate, for a couple of months I had to pull the back window handle then the liftgate handle to open the liftgate. It got to the point where that didn't work, so I took it a part.

My mechanism was just as has been said before. I lubricated the latch mechanism, that didn't help. Without the latch mechanism attached, the lock motor would still not fully unlock itself. I lubricated the lock motor(drilled hole just as above), still didnt help.

Finally, I went to buy a new lock motor, my thought was that it didn't have enough power to unlock itself without anything attached, or maybe the little gear inside had lost a tooth. But my parts guy wouldn't let me, he told me to replace the latch mechanism first. I didn't believe him, but I did it anyway and it fixed it. The part was only about 60 bucks, versus 100 for the motor. Works just like new now.
 
#14 ·
Backdoor Woes

#1- try a lubricant called "Fluid Film" It is lanolin based. I started using it in Nova Scotia and it keeps the rust away forever or nearly so.
#2- Same problem- door wont open, use the glass door and it opens. But last night at the warm, for us, temp of 11 the big door would not relatch. I fiddled with the latch, I tried locking and unlocking f4om the driver door control, I mover the inside latch release up and down. Nothing! I, unfortunately, do not know what I did corrrectly, but it finally did latch. Any suggestions for this variation on the theme?
PetrB
 
#15 ·
got same here its been 3yrs now. every dec-feb i always go to the shop to deal with it. and its not good at all. when temp reach around teens that happed. it wont open. i dont know why nissan dont have a recall to this. lots of armada owner have this issue.
 
#20 ·
Back door latch replacement

I had trouble finding the part online with the dealer supplied number, so I just bought from the dealer. Remove the 2 bolts from the pull down handle, and using a flat-blade screw driver, carefully pry the plastic interior of the door. Then you will see some foam-like material which you just gently pull off (attached with an adhesive). Then remove the 2 bottom bolts from the latch, and a third one a little higher on the door. You should then be able to move the latch out carefully through a large opening in the metal door panel. Once your at this point, just swap a couple cables to the new latch and your good to go. You will see how corroded the previous latch was and why it was not working. I would apply any lubricant of your choosing to keep this from happening again. (Dont be overwhelmed, it took me longer to type this post then it did to replace the latch :D) Good luck!
 
#107 ·
Back door latch replacement

I had trouble finding the part online with the dealer supplied number, so I just bought from the dealer. Remove the 2 bolts from the pull down handle, and using a flat-blade screw driver, carefully pry the plastic interior of the door. Then you will see some foam-like material which you just gently pull off (attached with an adhesive). Then remove the 2 bottom bolts from the latch, and a third one a little higher on the door. You should then be able to move the latch out carefully through a large opening in the metal door panel. Once your at this point, just swap a couple cables to the new latch and your good to go. You will see how corroded the previous latch was and why it was not working. I would apply any lubricant of your choosing to keep this from happening again. (Dont be overwhelmed, it took me longer to type this post then it did to replace the latch :D) Good luck!
I have the same problem and you gave me confidence to try it out.

I found the part isn't avail from the dealer anymore, so I'll get one from amazon.

Cheers
 
#24 ·
ok so my back door works fine, but I see where some are having problems with the back glass like me. I pull back glass handle and its like the glass is locked, it wont open. Are ya'll saying the cable probably slipped off (somehow) and i should take the panel off from inside to expose the cable?? I havent had a working back glass since I bought my armada.....
 
#25 ·
Yes, you need to remove the panel to expose the cable (from the window latch to the window.) The mechanism is pretty straightforward to see how it gets disconnected. That's where your problem lies, a simple plastic clip has become disconnected, so when you pull the lever, nothing happens. Reconnect the plastic clip, or buy a new one if it is broke. good luck ;)
 
#26 ·
I would try using a good gun lubricant. I had a pump action shotgun that would slam open when fired. It turned out I was using WD40 and that was the problem. A switch to a high end gun lube and it was fine.

I need to pull mine apart soon. The temp has started to drop and as such the rear door has started to act up and not open without popping the glass first.

Cheers,
 
#29 ·
I've been having similar problems - first the door wouldn't unlock, then I discovered by pulling the window latch first, the door latch would then work. Then a couple days ago both latches stopped working. I followed the advice on here for removing the rear interior panel to access the locks. The cables are held to the locks with tiny pink clips, and are only secured by a press-on pink "nut: on the back (really flimsy contruction). The clip for the window was off, so I reattached it & secured it by threading a small wire (baggie tie) through the front of the clip & twisting it down tight. This got me back to where I was - have to unlatch the window to unlatch the door. The door latch cable stops before it is able to disengage the lock...but at least I can get in now. I've decided to sell it, so I'm not going to replace the door latch. Thanks for all the helpful posts!
 
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