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Door won't unlock

23K views 19 replies 5 participants last post by  amc49 
#1 ·
Hello all.
Just purchased a 2009 Versa hatchback for my daughter. The back door will not open and I can't get it inspected and registered until I get it fixed. I took off the door panel and the lock and door open cables are working by the handle so the problem has to be with the latch where the door connects with the frame (not the hinge side). I live way up in northern Canada and we don't have a dealer here and the garage I took it to wasn't sure how to get the door open to fix it. I've looked through the forums and it usually comes to bringing it to the dealer but I don't have that option so I'm wondering if anyone has suggestions on how to get it open?

I might try taking the door off at the hinges but I'm not sure if that'll release anything and I might be worse off.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
 
#7 · (Edited)
If not tried yet you could have somebody with some weight lean into the back end of door very firmly (without damage of course) to relieve the door latch to pin pressure while again somebody inside works handle and unlock cables. Shoot some WD40 down on top of latch assembly and into any crevices and maybe some will soak in to do some good.

Past that the latch is screwed and you may end up with damage getting it loose. Take a long slot screwdriver or other driver rod and put on the latch assembly to shock it with hammer hits while again working the cables, you may impact the latch to pop unlatched.

Look close at your cable action, they may be working but not quite enough, as in overaction there may produce the desired result. I'll leave OP to guess at how far to go with that.

Study how the unlock mechanism works, on Ford Focus cars I found the unlock cable still worked but an odd problem to where on opening the door with the handle if the unlock tab was palmed by accident to lock at the same time then the latch seized up in both an unlock and lock condition at the same time. To get those loose you had to work the unlock cable BACK INTO the cable housing with visegrips on the cable itself to unseize the latch and then latch back to normal until somebody does it again. Comparing the working door cable movement amounts to the unworking one may give some insight there. You may find yourself yanking the other side door panel for learning.

If by some odd chance car was wrecked you don't straighten the body for that, you simply refit the door latching assemblies to suit the new condition. That can involve 50 different things, the brain being the main tool there. I have shimmed, washered, realigned, bent, and ground on many parts to get what I wanted there. They hope not necessary on most of them on the assembly line but sometimes a car has to be pulled out of sequence for special work when all the points-in-space do not quite line up there and one off work needed for that particular car.

You do what's needed to make it work and forever. Garages won't touch that type of work past a simple 'replace the part to fix' as there is no return on it.
 
#8 · (Edited)
Has anybody checked the opposite door for operation yet? They often have a child lock provision up front driver side that stops both back doors from unlocking.

If nobody has tried yet simply unplug the latch harness and see if anything happens. If OP can figure out the motor electrical leads for lock and unlock then simply apply 12 volt power and ground to the two pins and then reverse the power, the unlock motor in the latch simply reverses polarity to work both ways. Could simply be a bad unlock circuit there. Voltmeter time.............
 
#9 ·
I don't think that it's been in an accident, at least not according to what the seller told me. And it seems more like the locking mechanism isn't working rather than the door being jammed. They said that it worked up until this year when they didn't use it for the winter then in the spring it wouldn't open.
I'll try leaning on the door, haven't tried that yet. I sprayed it with Deep Creep but didn't get a lot on it because the can was almost empty, I'll pick up some WD40 today and try that.
Hopefully the hammer trick will work, that's much more my diy capability than working the voltmeter.
I can get at the nuts for the hinges but I feel like that'll cause me more grief than I'm having now; has anyone tried that?
 
#10 ·
Worthless if the latch still doesn't come undone. If double latched correctly you will not get it to give, it's made to take an accident rollover and not come undone. If you got door panel off you've got the access you need to open it. Voltmeter issue is killing you here, the latch motor likely not getting power.
 
#11 ·
Pretty sure that you're right, either the wiring to the latch is fooled up or the latch itself isn't working. When you unlock from the front door and with the fob you can hear all three other doors locking and unlocking but nothing with the rear driver's side.

There's a green plug on the latch that I'm assuming comes from the driver's door controls but I can't get it undone or get the voltage meter on it and it looks like that wire comes through the door from the front so there's nowhere to check along the way. I popped off the driver side controls but there's only one set of wires coming from the lock button, not sure where it splits off to different doors.

I'm buying a latch for it next week, hopefully the new (used) one will give me some clue how to open this one. I'm still hoping amc49's suggestions will work, I've sprayed it with a bit deep creep, forgot to get wd40 yesterday, on that tomorrow.

Thanks everyone for your help, I'm open to trying anything. Like amc said, the garage isn't too keen on working on it and if they don't know of an easy way then I'm sure it'll cost me a fortune.
 
#12 ·
Small update; I doused the lock with WD40, tapped it with a screwdriver a bunch of times. removed the cable from the handle so I could work it back and forth lots, pulled it out further than normal and messed with the little lock tab on the door by the latch. Still no luck. I'm picking up a used latch this week, if I pound the old one off with a hammer and chisel, will I be able to open the door then?
 
#13 ·
The latches when bolted up are an integral part of the door, I don't see how you are ever going to 'pound' anything off. It by all tights should tear the door up way before coming off unless you mean just the back cover and even that may not work.

If the used latch is cheap enough then taking it possibly apart at least partially may tell you much. If the old one comes off intact don't toss it either, I learned to rebuild the Ford ones when they pulled stunts like that and they work fine after. A quick $150 there out of thin air.
 
#15 ·
New update:

Got a new latch mechanism, that didn't give me any clues on how to open the old one.
I now know that it's the lock inside the latch assembly, even though the cable can be worked back and forth, it has no effect on the lock. I've been spraying it with WD40, tapping it in every way possible, tried working it with someone leaning on the door, nothing has worked. Last night I took the seat out and the side cushion and drilled a 1/2 inch hole to get to the locking mechanism where it grabs the striker (U shaped piece attached to the frame) in hopes that I could pry it of; no luck prying. My next move is to cut off the striker with a jigsaw then I'll have to find another striker to replace it.

I had a mechanic friend helping me last night and he's really surprised that Nissan didn't design some way to deal with a failed latch, it must happen fairly regularly. Anyway, fingers crossed on the jigsaw, I'll let you know how it works out.
 
#16 ·
Final update:
I couldn't get my jigsaw deep enough into the hole to cut off the striker so I got a hammer and screwdriver and beat up the latch mechanism until I could get to the piece I could pry up to get the door open. Very unscientific but the latch was no good anyway so I figured I had nothing to lose.

Now I just have to figure out how to get the cable out of the outside handle and I can get the new one in. Any advice on that one?
 
#17 ·
The slightly later ones have a grommet about even in height with the outside handle, it's located in back of the door above the latch assembly. Remove the grommet then a screw behind it then working the outer handle forward then reverse, the outside handle and inside handle reinforcement come loose to allow you to work the cable off the inside part.

Can't say that year model is exactly the same though.
 
#18 ·
No grommet on mine but with lots of hand twisting and cursing I managed to get the old cable off and the new one on. Then I installed the new latch and hooked up the inside cables; the lock works, the inside handle works but the outside handle doesn't. By then it was dark and the Ottawa/Pitt game was on so I left it. Had my eureka moment during the game, I forgot to clip the cable in below the ball so it should be fine when I get that done.

Thanks everyone for all of your help. My strut assemblies and control arm arrived in the mail yesterday, hopefully it'll be like brand new by tomorrow.
 
#19 ·
A locked door can be a very effective home security measure.Install a new lock. If the troublesome door is an entry door or otherwise provides access to your home, it will be necessary to replace the broken lock with a functional lock assembly.Remove the old lock. Locate the screws holding the lock in place on the inside of the door. If the malfunctioning lock is in the door handle, there will be at least two screws securing the door handle to the door; remove these screws, unscrew one side of the door knob, and pull the door handle and lock assembly out of the door.
 
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