The Nissan Path

Hey guys,

So as it turns out, Pathfinders don't like cold weather. When the temp gets below freezing, all hell breaks loose with mine.

One of those things is my rear hatch. Every time it gets below freezing, the rear hatch fuse blows and I can't understand why. I have to open the hatch window, reach in and open the hatch with the inside emergency latch.

I have an '08, so I have the electronic latch with the close-assist feature (where you simply lay the door down against the latch and a motor takes over).

Thoughts?

Just curious...Pathfinders with the closing assist don't have an outer latch under the license plate light cover? Is it only in the key fob or something?

There is a button under there where the latch would be. When you push it, you can hear a motor releasing the hatch lock mechanism... and then the hatch opens.

To the right of that is a mechanical latch for the glass. On the interior side of the hatch, hidden behind a removable cover, is a mechanical emergency latch that opens the whole hatch from the inside of the car.

Sounds like you getting a short in the door wiring each time there is a freeze. Most likely an uninsulated connection shorting out as ice builds ups allowing the hot wire to ground out and blow the fuse. Okay that was the easy part, hard part will be finding that short. I would start at the rear hatch and work forward until you find the bad connection.

I have an 08 and have been in below freezeing temps for the past month and have not had any issues with mine.

I agree with Calicajun, it sounds like you have a short.

check all connections (per Calicajun) for that circuit, and especially for a bad ground
if you can access the motor that activates the lock, you might try heating it up with a hair dryer or heat gun to see if it makes any difference
also, you say that "One of those things is my rear hatch."
what else is not functioning?

Thanks a lot for the input, guys! Sounds like I'll be disassembling the car from the rear forward in the Spring! Ugh.

I'm also wondering if the motor in that mechanism could be bad and the cold is creating enough resistance that it struggles enough to blow the fuse. You know how everything electric in a car slows down in the cold (power windows, crank of the starter, sunroof, etc.)?

@eieio: This is the only electrical thing that goes haywire in the cold so far. Other non-electrical things are rough transmission shifting, ridiculously hard suspension, LCD screen brightness and a whole bunch of creaking sounds coming from the floorboard. Most of these things clear up once the car warms up.

DanJetta wrote:I'm also wondering if the motor in that mechanism could be bad and the cold is creating enough resistance that it struggles enough to blow the fuse. You know how everything electric in a car slows down in the cold (power windows, crank of the starter, sunroof, etc.)?

hence the hair dryer or heat gun recommendation to warm it up a bit (as a diagnostic step)

A short? Possibly! But not likely.

Your cinch motor is more than likely defective. Excessive resistance building up in the failing motor could be your cause. I have replaced a BUNCH of these motors.

Your cinch motor is more than likely defective. Excessive resistance building up in the failing motor could be your cause. I have replaced a BUNCH of these motors.

Bingo! it was a bad motor. The resistance when cold was blowing the fuse. And, as said, apparently a common fail item.

Thanks again!

DanJetta wrote:Bingo! it was a bad motor. The resistance when cold was blowing the fuse. And, as said, apparently a common fail item.

Thanks again!

what method did you use to verify it?
have you repaired it already?

by the way, we have this rear hatch cinch motor/latch in stock at our dealership. if anyone is interested in it, send me a message and i will get a price for you.

A guy at Courtesy gave me part number 90330-R51001. But when I look at the diagram, it says it's for 2005-2010 Pathfinders. '05-'07 Pathfinders don't have the actuator. I couldn't find it on their site, which is ueber-confusing, anyway. Is this the correct item?

@ eieio: I talked to a Nissan tech who said the same thing as tlee_20... that these are a common fail item and he sees them more and more as the '08+ are aging. I also replaced the fuse and can hear the motor struggling.

Just wondering if the latch got dropped in the 11 & 12 model years because of problems?

Could be. If I could convert to remove the motor I totally would.

The problem with lots of features is that there's lots to break. Ever ride in an older Jaguar? A ton of buttons and none of them do anything... because they're broken. That's kind of the direction my Pathfinder is going.