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Nissan Quest/Mercury Villager Electrical Problems
Over last few years my door locks have stopped working with the remote control and more recently several locks have stopped working when using the drivers door controls to lock the vehicle. I'm thinking there might be a relay or fuse issue but I don't have a wiring diagram. Any recommendations? Thanks.
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Comments
1. Lack of debouncing of the switch on the manual door lock
2. Corroded power feed near the battery
3. Flaky power smart entry controller
4. A Pinched wire
1. Noisy Door Lock Switches/Lack of debouncing on the door lock switches I would expect the Smart Entry controller to have some amount of switch contact debouncing built in, but apparently there is none or inadequate debouncing of the switch contacts. What this means is that if for some reason the switch contacts are broken for a broken at any brief moment the controller thinks that you have activated the door locks through the manual door locks. The switch contacts can be disturbed causing this momentary break through a vibration like opening one of the doors. In my case, the door locks would often activate when we were opening the passenger side front door. Here is fix from Steve Cutchen who fixed his door lock problem by the following:
I traced the problem to something in the driver's side door mechanical keylock... the literal part inside the door at the keyhole. When locking the driver's side door lock from outside with the key, all of the other doors lock as well. The electrical contact that signals the power locks from the keylock was evidently activating some of the times when the door closed. Mechanically something inside the lock assembly was making the electrical connection when jarred. The proper solution was probably to replace the lock assembly. But that wasn't my solution. I have remote operated locks that came with my alarm system. So I never use the keyhole lock, much less the "lock the other doors for me" feature. What I did was cut the wire, disabling all electrical connection between the key lock mechanism and the power locks. On my '93 Villager there is a green/red stripe wire which goes from the door lock actuator assembly to power door lock module (or the keyless entry module, if you have that). (the modules are in the center console area...) I cut this wire inside the driver's door. I then twisted on a small wire nut on the end coming from the power door lock module to keep the wire from contacting a ground.
If you find that your wire colors do not match you can cut either one of the smaller gauge wires. There are four wires on the door lock actuator, two to power the actuator mechanism, and two to signal the door lock controller the state of the door lock. Do not cut the heavier gauge wires. Those are the wires that power the actuator. When cutting the wires, make sure that you leave enough wire on each end so that the wire may spliced back together if necessary. There is a module near the latch inside the door. This is the location of the wiring that you need to gain access to in order to modify the wiring.
Here's the description from the shop manual on how to remove the door panel...
1. Remove the door latch handle trim.
2. Slip a clean shop rag between the window crank handle and the front door trim panel, if equipped. Pull the shop rag back and forth to release the window crank handle clip
3. Remove the two cover caps and front door trim panel screws.
4. Remove the two front door trim panel capped screws.
5. Pull out on the panel beginning at a bottom corner to release the plastic push-pin clips.
6. Pull up on the front door trim panel from the top to release it from the door panel
7. Disconnect the door lock/unlock switch and power window switch electrical connectors, if equipped.
8. You now own the front door trim panel.
To install, reverse the removal procedure.
Once you get the panel off, you'll find a thin water shield held in place on the door by a rubber adhesive. Carefully pull the shield away from the door without tearing it. You'll be able to just stick it back to the existing rubber adhesive... it stays tacky.
2. Corroded Power Feed I have had at least two reports from people who have had problems with corrosion of the power feeds near the battery. There is one large gauge wire that feeds the starter and two smaller gauge wires that feed power to other things. One person reported to me that one of these power feeds was corroded so bad that it would sometimes cause the power door lock controller to lose power and then regain power. This power glitch would cause the power door locks to activate. The fix is to repair the corroded power feed near the battery. The reports of this problem have all come from the owners of '97 models.
3. Flaky Power Door Lock Controller I have had a few people complain to me that their remote keyless entry seems to be locking the doors on its own. This is often characterized by the confirmation honk from the horn like when using the remote keyless entry. Apparently the controller is receiving some phantom signals indicating to it to lock the doors. The only fix I can think of is to replace the keyless entry controller. Some people have just disconnected the connection of between the doorlock controller and the horn in order to suppress random horn honks coming from their van.
4. Pinched wire The pinched wire fix is fromTom in Indiana.
I just repaired the problem on my '93 Villager, and it was caused when the wiring harness to the driver's side door manual lock was pinched between the interior door panel and some metal part inside the door. The insulation wore through and was grounding the circuit against the metal part. I just taped over the small opening in the worn insulation and relocated the harness away from the source of friction that wore it through in the first place.
You can get to the switch itself without taking the door panel off. There's a plastic cap hiding a Phillips screw. Remove that and you should be able to lift the whole bezel out with the 4 switches attached. You may have to jiggle the door latch a little (my wife has the van at work and I'm doing this from memory
Some people have had success cleaning the switch at this point by flooding it with some electrical contact cleaner fluid that you can get at a Radio Shack type of store. I didn't have any luck trying that myself.
Accessing the driver's switch to manually clean is it a big pain, and I never had the touch to get the case open without breaking stuff. It's easy to unscrew the switch from the bezel and remove the two wiring harnesses. But it's not obvious from there how to access the circuit board and switch parts so I just cut into the case to get to it.
When I put the switch back together and reinstall in the door, it looks passable enough. My manual cleaning efforts have kept the switch working for a few extra years now.
I have a couple of pics of the carboned switch in my CarSpace album.
There's a gas mileage indicator on the left side that will show, mpg, average mpg, miles left in tank, temperature, etc. and that will then read 7.7 mpg.... 0 mpg. Anyhow, the numbers go all haywire. The outside temp is okay.
When I turn the vehicle off, start it up again, it's okay and registers correctly for a few miles and the indicator on the left shows the numbers correctly and is racking up the average mpg. Then it wacks out again.
After I turn it off and put the key in the accessory position, nothing lights up.
Is this all electrical, or can it be from a bad tranny sensor? HELP, please. Thank you. :sick:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3828/is_199802/ai_n8803858/print or go to google- and type in high resistance battery cables or bad battrey connections. hope this is helpful.
Bill
www.findatricles.com Bad grounds make strange vehicle
behaviour.
Hope this helps.
Go to Google
Type in Bad Grounds
Go to Hallowed Grounds Motor- Find article.
Very good article on Bad grounds. Hope this helps.
Has anyone else experienced this problem and, if so, have you found a solution?
Any suggestions where else to look.
Thanks
Go check your brake lights. I know it sounds strange, but the 1157 lamps in the brake/tail light sockets can cause strange electrical problems like this. Remove the lamps and look at the base. Normally you should see 2 round solder blobs on the base of the lamp. Sometimes they get so hot they melt and fuse together. Also it's possible that someone inserted the lamp backwards. Note that there are 2 pins on the side that engage the lamp socket. Make sure the lower pin goes into the longest slot in the socket. If in doubt, replace the lamps. These lamps can cause problems with brake lights, headlights, turn signals, cruise control, dash lights, and radio.
Thanks in advance!
We seem to have a broken alarm control unit (per our repair shop people) on a 99 Mercury Villager
They have deactivated the alarm yesterday as we did not (yet) want to replace the unit. Today on a Saturday (the shop is closed) the alarm is active, not allowing to start the engine and with horn signal going off.
We do not have a remote control (it is broken too)
So how can we deactivate the alarm system at least temporarily ?
Any advice is welcome.
But I'm guessing you've tried that.
There are a bunch of sensors and switches and maybe one of those is bad, Check the door locks, especially the rear hatch lock to make they look oriented correctly and aren't loose. And tap on all the courtesy light switches in the doors. Open and shut the hood. May as well retighten the battery connections too.
I have a '99 Quest factory manual and I don't see any override buttons like my Subaru has that will let you crank the car in spite of the alarm having been triggered.
thank you so much for your help.
the trick is the rear hatch lock. I did not try that before (tried only the drivers door) - It did the trick.
Interestingly even the people @ the Ford/Mercury dealer did not have this advise.
Thanks again
Hermann
My '97 Outback's alarm has gone crazy on me a few times this winter and it's so frustrating I almost ripped it out a couple of times. But I like the fobs and on that car, the fobs won't work if the alarm is disabled.
btw, I've seen people say they got replacement Villager/Quest fobs off eBay for under $10 although I've never priced them myself.
here I am again ...
Did anyone ever successfully reprogram a new key fob for a 99 villager?
The instructions say that you have to be inside the car with all doors locked.
With this, insert and remove the key into the ignition 6 times. Then the tail lamps will flash, turn the key to ACC and then press any button on the transmitter.
I cannot get to the first milestone with the flashing tail lamps.
One thing: I do not have original Mercury keys - I have only 3rd party keys (but they work fine).
Does anyone know if the original key contains anything which the replacement key might not?
Any other ideas/recommendations?
Thanks
H.
Programming keyless entry remotes for the Quest and Villager:
1. Close and lock all doors.
2. Insert key into ignition and remove it at least 6 times within 10
seconds. (Instrument panel lamps, side marker lamps, tail lamps, and license
plate lamp will flash twice).
3. Insert key and turn to ACC position.
4. Push any button on the remote controller once. (Instrument panel lamps,
side marker lamps, tail lamps, and license plate lamp will flash twice).
At this time, the remote controller is programmed into the vehicle. Any old
codes will have been erased.
5. To program any additional remotes, unlock and lock the doors with
the power lock button on the driver's door. Repeat step 4. Up to 4
remotes can be programmed into the vehicle.
6. To end programming mode, open the driver's door.
If your van doesn't have keyless entry, you won't get past step 2.
I still cannot get past step 2.
my van has keyless entry as the old key fob worked well until it broke; it did not open the car (internal contacts were broken) and the repair shop guy dumped it. He thinks the control module is bad- but is not sure.
Unfortunately I have no way to recover the old key fob and try to fix the contacts.
A new control unit would cost me $600, SO I want to be very sure that this is the problem.
Is there no other way to diagnose the problem?
1. Close and lock all doors.
2. Insert key into and remove it from ignition key cylinder more than six times within 10 seconds. (Lamps will flash twice.)
Note: -Key should be withdrawn from ignition key cylinder completely each time.
-If procedure is performed too fast, system will not enter registration mode.
3. Insert ignition key into ignition key cylinder and turn to ACC position. Original (previous) ID codes are now erased.
4. Push any button on remote controller once. (Lamps will flash twice.) Remote controller ID code is now entered.
5. Unlock and open driver's door. (Lamps will flash twice as a termination reminder.)
If that doesn't work, you should check all the relevant fuses. Download the service manual for the '99 Quest here:
http://www.turbo6.net/vqtech/ESM/Nissan/Quest/
If all the fuses check out, and you're convinced the "smart entrance control unit" is bad, I suggest getting one from a junkyard. One from a Villager or a Quest will work fine, and it doesn't necessarily have to be a '99.
Good luck!
Good luck!
James
We're still hanging on to our '99 Quest at 125,000 miles, but more stuff is bound to happen when cars get up there in years and miles. This is the first year we've had to dump any money into the van at all.
Steve, visiting host
Check Nissan's NTB01-005a for more details.
After about 1 month, the GPS unit stopped working. I checked and it was the power outlet, which had a burned out fuse. I replaced the fuse with a new one, and that fixed the problem (or so it seemed.)
When I replaced the fuse, I noticed something strange: there was a separate wire connected to that fuse. After replacing the fuse, I attempted to re-connect the wire, but I could not figure out how to do it. The Haynes manual makes no mention of it. All functions in the vehicle seemed to work fine, so left it off and forgot about it. Then a few days later I noticed the auto-dimming rearview mirror with built in compass wasn't functioning, so I figured that was the only function of the extra wire. I can live without that anyway.
THEN my GPS system stopped working again, and this time it was the fuse inside the GPS' car charger! I replaced that, and again everything seemed OK. THEN the GPS failed again, and all fuses are fine. SO - it must have been the GPS unit all along, right? So I sent the GPS unit back to the manufacturer for a replacement.
THEN the other day I plugged my sister's GPS unit, same brand, same model, with my car charger, into my car's power outlet. And then her GPS unit failed! SO I called the manufacturer of the GPS unit to send me a new unit AND a new car charger.
I will say this: At other times in the past, I have felt that the power outlets do not function correctly. There have been times when they just did not work, and times which I'm sure they have damaged things plugged into them. But almost all the time, they seem to work fine. Also, at times in the past, the radio and windshield wipers have suddenly stopped working, but soon after they were fine. My wife swears that just happened last week, but I haven't seen it happen in years. Are we going crazy, or is there some issue with power coming and going on these vans? Could white-flaked battery terminals cause these types of problems? My battery always develops the white flakes very shortly after I clean it.
Has anyone heard of any crazy stories with the Quest's power outlet? Could there be something wrong with the outlet that causes it to damage things? Is there anything in the electrical system I can check to see what may be causing these problems?
Thanks a lot for any help.
In the meantime, I tried some tricks to jump the wiring harness to close the driver-side window and it worked. Here are the tricks:
1. Once you have removed the switch from the wiring that goes into the door, orient the wiring harness horizontally so that the black wiring (ground) is in the upper left. Starting at the lower left, count to the right from 1-7. Start again at the top with 8 being the black wire through to 12 (between 10 to 11, there are two empty slots).
2. Front driver window (left front): To open, jump 1 & 9, and 2 & 8. To close, jump 1 & 2, and 8 & 9.
3. Front passenger window (right front): To open, jump 1 & 6, and 7 & 8. To close, jump 1 & 7, and 6 & 8.
4. Door Locks: To unlock, jump 8 & 11. To lock, jump 8 & 12
1 = Positive (orange with black stripe)
8 = Ground (negative - black)
Hope these info will help you guys to diagnose the circuits to identify which part is broken.
I got my part today. Disappointed, the unit doesn't have power door lock switch. Otherwise, everything works fine. An advice: when buying part from courtesy.com, 25401-V41001 is the correct one. In fact, 25401-V41003 should not be put on that sale page since 1999 Nissan Quest GXE has power door as standard equipment. By all means, 25401-V41003 is an inadequate part for Nissan Quest 1999+.
If you don't care the color difference, try http://www.conquestauto.com/servlet/the-2191/1999-Villager-New-Power/Detail.
Anyway, I still installed it. The lack of power door lock switch doesn't bother me except a cosmetic appearance defect.
By the way, after installation, I broke my old switch. I found out it's not a carbon built-up problem. It seems like excess heat melted the contact plastic legs, so it could not push the switch. I think this is a design defect. Also, no way you can dissemble the switch, it's irreversible. Only way to fix the problem is to buy a new one to replace it.
The part number on the old "Genuine Nissan Parts" box I have that my '99's replacement switch came I says Switch Assy - Power Window Main 25401-7B112.
When I search at Courtesy for it, the part shows up as "un-categorized" but available.
Oddly, the color difference (beige/dark gray) makes the almost $20 price difference. :mad:
Especially for a switch that should never fail anyway, much less fail as often as Quest ones of that era do.
This week I get to look forward to replacing an O2 sensor or worse - something failed 2 weeks ago and triggered the CEL and is making the van run rough. $96 will probably look cheap by the time I get it to pass IM this time around. :sick:
Steve, visiting (and grumbling) host