Could be a bad door closed button on the door jamb. The ones that tell the car the door is closed (rubber covered button on the latch side at the bottom of the door opening).
Could be a worn or loose ignition switch. After inserting the key, turn the key all the way to the Lock position and try to turn it further than Lock with steady pressure. Then gently sneak up on the Start position.
This may be related to the door open problem. That may not sound logical, but Nissan has some strange circuitry, like if your cigarette lighter fuse burns out, the AC won't work. :-)
My 1994 Pathfinder SEV6 has three absolutely bizarre electrical problems that have me baffled.Before I ring up a fortune by bringing it to the shop, I'd appreciate any advice you might have on what the cause(s) of these strange symptoms could be:
"DOOR OPEN" LIGHT. When the engine is on, the Door Open warning light always stays lit on the dashboard. When the engine is off, the Door Open warning light goes off, but the lights in the driver and passenger footwells remain on (as well as the dome light, I believe) as if the door were open. This recently caused my battery to drain.
INTERMITTENT STARTING PROBLEM. On occasion when I turn the key to start the engine, nothing happens--no click, no dash warning lights lighting up. After another try (sometimes several), the engine will start. Here's something odd--on two occasions when the Pathfinder wouldn't start, I turned the headlights on, then off, and after that the engine started. Is this a coincidence?
DOOR-LOCK MALFUNCTION IN COLD WEATHER. Once we get cold weather, I can count on our electronic door locks to malfunction. Two things typically happen: when you close a door, it may cause all four door-lock buttons to snap down, locking you out of the vehicle. If the vehicle is already locked and you use your key to open the driver's door, the door-lock button will pop up, then snap back down. I've learned to get in by turning the key to the right and holding it as the door-lock button clicks a few times and tries to move into the "locked" position. After 4-5 tries the button gives up and remains open. (Someone suggested this might be a bad latch assembly-- does that sound right? Is it easy to test for this, and is it not extremely difficult to replace?)
Look around the door openings and on each one you should find a button that is pressed by the door when it is closed. One of these is broken, bent, failed or the wire has fallen off. The dome light and the courtesy lights come on whenever one of these buttons is released by an open door. Your third problem could be related to the first. If it thinks one of the doors is open, the locks won't work right.
The second problem is probably the starter or the ignition switch starting to fail. The headlight business is probably coincidental, but if not, then I would start looking for a corroded or loose ground connection somewhere.
Squirrelly electrical problems like all three of these many times are caused by bad ground c> My 1994 Pathfinder SEV6 has three absolutely bizarre electrical
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