I know there have been many posts about this, but here’s what happen to my wife’s 2008 G35X (218,000 miles, mid-Ohio driving) and my solution. After 15 years, the G35X front door latches each have has an issue.

a) Front passenger door would no longer open. I could hear the actuator click, but no luck opening the door from inside or outside.

b) Front driver door would sometimes fail to latch in cold weather, usually this was when the temperature was freezing or below. After fiddling with it a bit, it would latch, but the problem continually returned. There have been no issues on this door when the temperatures are warmer.

Let's look at ISSUE A) Front passenger door

ACTUAL PROBLEM: In this case the problem was rust on the actuator main pivot pin and bell crank. The actuator has a spring that should return the bell crank a “lower” position. When you open the door and then release the door handle, the spring should return the bell crank the “lower” position. However, the rust (and possibly the age of the spring) overcame the normal return movement of the bell crank.

Infiniti quoted us a price over $1,400 for this passenger door issue, but indicated that was a worst-case number. They assumed and disclosed that they might damage (and then have to replace) some perfectly good parts in the process of getting the door open. In the end, I damaged nothing and incurred no cost for parts, just time spent for removal, reinstall and cleanup/lubing of the actuator .

I found the following two YouTube videos that lead me to believe I might be able to handle this on my own:

(2008 g35 Infiniti sedan how to open drivers door when it won't ...)
(How to Replace Door Lock Actuator or Handle)

The first video showed that I could at least take a look-see into the door from the top and maybe release the door latch without damaging anything. The process worked, until I tried to understand what I was supposed to push down inside the door in order to release the latch. It’s just not clear in the video and I finally assumed that there might be a difference between the passenger side and the driver side door latching systems (there is, but it’s minor). In any case, with the help of a very bright LED light, I finally found something that responded and let the door open. The tool I used was a metal yardstick (it’s rather tight in there) instead of the socket extensions used in the video. This picture shows where I pushed down to release the door latch:




This picture was taken during reassembly and before the door glass was reinstalled. During the “latch release” process when the glass is still installed, the reflections from the glass may interfere seeing the “Push down” target clearly. All I can add is look for the wires and push down on the top of white nylon looking thing. Please remember, this is for a 2008 G35X, other years might be different.

Once the door latch released, we were more or less “home free”. The second video was pretty much dead nuts on for door panel disassembly. Once I got the actuator out it was obvious the issue was rust. There was no noticeable rust anywhere on the door internals except on the actuator pivot/bell crank pin and all of the actuator cables moved smoothly. I suggest you take pictures during disassembly so you route wires and such correctly when you reassemble.

My fix for the rusty pin:

· Flush rusty pin with a rust buster, work bell crank for several minutes.

· Flush pin area with a brake cleaner. Try to keep brake cleaner off plastic parts.

REPEAT above multiple times

· Blast pin area with a light lube (I used Seafoam), work in for a minute.

· Force a good grease into and around pin and spring area (I used GM Super Lube).

· This might be overkill, but I also covered the pin and spring areas with Surface Shield.

RUSTY PASSENGER ACTUATOR PIVOT PIN:




CLEANED UP w/GREASE:




REINSTALL: Video 2 pretty much covers it! My only suggestion is to TEST the window, speakers, locks/laches/door handles (BOTH INSIDE AND OUT) and the outside mirror control when working on driver’s side before reinstalling the door finisher. RETEST the above items once finisher is installed.

Let's look at ISSUE B) Front driver’s door

ACTUAL PROBLEM: Not really sure since it’s working fine now in the warm weather. I assumed it’s the same as "Issue A".

The dealer quoted us over $900 to fix this. I assummed this cold weather failure is more or less the same rusting problem. I disassembled the driver’s door the next day and not surprisingly, the process went much faster. I spent less than 3 hours and that included a long coffee break before I started reassembly. I cleaned and lubed the same parts and also took the time to apply some GM Super Lube to the window regulator tracks since the driver’s side window is used much more. I would have would have done the same to the passenger side had I thought of it then. I’ll find out in about 6 months if the problem returns this coming winter.

Better Fix? You might just want to replace those actuators. You should be able to find a decent replacement for well under $100 each, but if the replacement you’re looking at does not show attached cables (under $20?) it’s misrepresented as a drop-in replacement. If you want to go OEM, the replacements will be over $400 each. If you go the replacement route, feel free to add more grease to that pin and bell crank area! To be honest, I would have replaced both actuators for a couple hundred bucks were I willing to wait a few days to receive aftermarket units. If the reworked actuators give me any more problems, I’ll install new ones at that time.

-Best of luck!

 

Very nice post to the community!

 

Great post. Just to be clear about the symptom.... the passenger door stays locked? Or pulling the door handle doesn't open an unlocked door? I have a cold weather problem where the passenger door doesn't open because the door latch goes to some half open position that lets the door jiggle but not open. Wonder if it's the same thing or a different problem.

 

To be clear, there is a difference between ”latched” and “locked”. I think the door was unlocking okay, but the door handles (inside and out) would not unlatch the door. Nothing I did would allow me to open the passenger door until I pushed down on the “Push Down” target cable thingy. I could hear the actuator click in the door when the lock and unlock buttons were pressed, but door would not open. Not from inside or outside. I think it was the latching action that the rust impeded, not the locks.

I suspect your cold weather issue is caused the same rust problem. Best of luck!

 

Good job man. Our door lock assemblys do lack quality.