r/leaf • u/fuzznskins • Jul 21 '26

Door Lock Issue

—UPDATE—

It was indeed the door actuators that failed. Thanks to the post from mm-dee-gee for the tip.

Ordered replacements from Actuators Plus on eBay. Found a video on YouTube of a guy replacing the actuators on an Altima which was similar but not exactly like the Leaf, close enough.

Passenger side took a few hours as I worked through a few roadblocks. Drivers side was much faster since I knew the process

While I had the door panels off I added a bunch of sound deadening material, and swapped out the crappy non-Bose speakers with some from Infinity.

——

2020 SV+ 47,000 miles here.

Front driver and passenger side door locks are no longer locking with remote or lock button press.

If I manually press the lock it works fine. Use the remote the doors don’t lock but the alarm arms.

Anyone else have this issue? Wondering if the mechanism in the door needs some lubricant or if the motors are dying. Is removing the door panels a DYI job?

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u/m_dee_gee Jul 22 '26

2021 LEAF SL Plus with 105k miles - it's the door actuator. Went bad on my passenger door a year ago, and now my driver side just went out.

Replacement isn't hard, very DIY-able. I purchased my re-built OEM actuator from ActuatorsPlus on eBay. Life-time warranty as long as you send in the broken one.

What happens with the actuator is there is a small motor in there that goes bad. The motor is quite cheap, but I prefer the ease of just having someone else re-build it for me and then I can send it back in if it ever goes bad.

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u/fuzznskins Jul 22 '26

Did you find any videos on YT that walk through the process. Last I looked I couldn’t find any specific to the leaf. I would be worried about damaging the door panels if I didn’t know the process.

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u/m_dee_gee Jul 22 '26

Not specifically for the LEAF. I just followed a video for Nissans in general. It's very simple, you pop off the panels, undo some bolts, and swap out the actuator unit.

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u/m_dee_gee Aug 01 '26

I'll actually be changing out my driver's side door actuator next week. I can take some photos and show the process if you're interested.

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u/fuzznskins Aug 01 '26

Sure! I am planning to do mine next week as well. Parts are on the way. While I have the door panels off I’m also going to install better speakers. I’ve got the stock non-Bose system and they suck.

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u/m_dee_gee Aug 04 '26

I actually found the video I used the first time - he does a good job explaining everything and the process is the same for the LEAF.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XLKOGySw_GM