When your Nissan Maxima door won’t open, you could often be dealing with a minor or major issue. From crashes that bend the door to issues that could affect the electronics and CPU of the machine, we will look at some of the most common reasons for your Nissan Maxima door won’t open.
1. Stuck Door Lock
The stuck door lock will mostly occur on some of the older models that still use a manual locking system. However, system malfunctions could also play a massive part in the electronic doors not opening on some of the modern options.
One of the most common reasons is due to the lock rod becoming detached. This could keep the door from locking or unlocking and might require professional assistance. When this happens, it might feel the same as having your keys locked inside the car. The same feeling of helplessness.
2. Latch Handle Or Rod Damaged
Your car uses a mechanism that attaches from the door to the handle. Once you pull on the handle, the latch will trigger the door to open. However, one of the most common issues is often due to a damaged rod or handle design.
One of the upsides to this issue is that it generally only affects one door, which means you can still get into the car using the other doors. Whilst you will need some professional assistance, you might also want to try opening the door from the inside handle. This should be a temporary fix until you have the handle or rod, which has been damaged fixed.
3. Damaged Latch Assembly
Inside the door, you will have a latch and this is a setup of mechanical parts that work together to open and lock the door when you need to. Unfortunately, the latch assembly is made from steel components, which are often susceptible to rust. Once the rust takes over, it can be hard to open the door.
If you have mechanical skills, you might be able to fix this yourself. It should be easy to remove the components and remove some of the rust. However, when corrosion takes place, you might need newer parts. Visiting your certified mechanic might often be one of the best decisions you could make for this to fully work.
4. Loose Latch Screw
One of the easier fixes could be a loose latch screw on your door. All the components inside your door assembly are held in place by a variety of screws that keep them together and from falling apart. However, these screws might come loose over time. Due to the bumps on the roads and vibrations while driving, they could loosen these screws.
If you have mechanical skills and you can take apart your door handle, you should be able to easily spot such an issue and this should allow you to easily remove the screw and tighten it as need be. However, you will need to understand how the assembly process works for you to make the successful fix.
5. Dead Battery In Car Remote
Whilst this is more geared towards cars that rely on central locking, you might be dealing with an issue stemming from the remote control operating your car. If the batteries did die down, you might have a hard time accessing the car using the remote control system.
Fortunately, many cars have a backup feature, which enables you to manually open the door if the electronic remote doesn’t work. You should be able to effectively replace the battery inside the car remote and this will enable you to use it to open the door once again.
6. ECU Issues
The control unit inside your car serves as the brain of the car. Much like impulses and signals sent by the brain, the ECU sends signals throughout the car to help open and close the doors from the remote control. Unfortunately, issues like dead battery and other car issues might make it hard for these signals to be sent.
Since the cause of an ECU problem can stem from a variety of different reasons, you might need to take your car in for service or have someone check your car to ensure that it is in optimal working condition. The mechanics will test the battery and check for error codes, using a scanner. This would enable them to fix any possible issues your car is dealing with.
What Should I Do If The Car Door Doesn’t Want To Open?
In the manual of your Maxima, you should find workarounds to open the doors when needed. However, this can be frustrating and you might not want to use this for too long. Visiting your local mechanic should be the best way to have them look over the care and see if they can find any possible issues you are dealing with.
I would recommend using the alternate methods to get in the car, but visiting your mechanic to ensure they can diagnose the issue and fix the car.