Nissan Repair: 1995 Nissan Pathfinder, automatic door locks, nissan pathfinder

Question
QUESTION: I have a 1995 Nissan Pathfinder that has 2 problems:
1.  When it gets cold the automatic door locks become engaged.  The doors lock when the doors are shut and you can feel the automatic locks are engaged when trying to open.
2.  I notice I have a fuel leak on top of the fuel tank.  I hate to pull the whole tank before finding out what the leak it.  Any ideas?
Thanks,
Mike

ANSWER: Mike,

I would check the door switch on the key cylinder to make sure the wires are not touching and locking the doors on you and another place to look is where the door wires feed to the body.  If they rub right they can contact and that will lock the doors on you too.  If both are good then the body control module is defective and will need to be replaced.

The fuel leak is most probably the hoses on the top of the tank and that means the tank has to come down to replace the lines.  I avhe done many of these of your vintage as the hoses rot out eventually...

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks for the response.  I have 2 follow-ups related to the previouse questions:
1.  The door lock issue is definately temperature related, I have no problems all year until it gets 20 degrees or colder.
2.  Is the tank relatively easy to remove or once I have it off should I replace fuel pumps or other items since I have 185,000 miles on the pathfinder?

Answer
Mike,

I would pull the drivers door panel and remove and clean the contact switch on the back of the key cylinder and see if the low temperature locking problem goes away.  Tuner cleaner works great and you can get it at Radio Shack.  Do not get it on the paint since it will damage the finish.  Just remove the key cylinder and spray and rotate a couple of times and reinstall.

The fuel pump is easy.  Just run the tank low to make it lighter and unbolt it and drop it down to get access to the top.  I like to use a couple of jacks and blocks of wood, with a helper and a fire extinguisher and no drop lights to keep from having a bulb pop.  Plenty of air with doing it outside or in an open garage with a draft provided by a window or another door.  Nissan has one painful thing in that they use metric lines so if it were me I would source the hoses first to make it a quicker job rather than going to several different stores to get hose.  If you are planning and can wait checkout courtesynissan.com since they are a dealer and give you jobber pricing and you can get parts in a couple of days.