Community Member Credit: phi11yphan
Hi, everyone. First time site post, long time reader. I still love my ’02 Maxima SE, 6-speed manual! Thanks to everyone for all your stories, advice, and wisdom.
I read the above suggestions, but chose an alternate sound/chime/buzzer/speaker solution. My option took me less than an hour; (I cut some corners.) I wanted to share my approach for those who don’t like cutting wires, disabling the door button, and want to easily reverse the “fix” in the future. I hated when I wanted to play music with my driver door open and the keys in the ignition for the radio — that annoying chime would beep non-stop, interfering with my music. But I didn’t want to lose the car’s ability to know when the door opened/closed (for lock and alarm purposes.) I still like seeing the “door-open” visual indicator; and i don’t like cutting OEM harness wires if I don’t have to.
My method involves removing the piezoelectric plate (thin silver element) from the ECM’s buzzer. It may not be the perfect solution, but it’s much easier than it sounds. Remember taking apart your old digital watch to replace the battery, and noticing the tiny spring that makes contact with the silver element in the battery compartment? It’s kind of like removing that element — the watch no longer made sound if the plate was missing/damaged, and that’s what this fix does. It removes the plate.
The only drawback is that now I won’t hear ANY sounds that the ECM tries to make for me, because the speaker is incomplete. One useful warning sound I will miss, for example, is when I leave my headlights on after I take the keys out of the ignition. (It could happen after driving through a long tunnel or a parking garage during the day, and forgetting to turn them off at the end of the trip.) That loss aside, this is what I did to silence my annoying door-open sound:
1. It’s probably good to disconnect your car battery’s negative terminal at this point. (I didn’t bother, but I’m a risky nut.) Your ECM (engine control module) is important; so use your better judgment.
2. Under the steering wheel and behind the lower dash, locate the ECM module mounted on a flat metal post. The ECM is a white rectangular box mounted tightly, that slides off easier when a flathead screwdriver is inserted between the ECM plastic and the metal mount. (A circular nub on the plastic keeps it secure by pressing against the metal mount.) Remove the ECM and then disconnect the 3 harnesses.
Location of the 3 ECM wire harnesses:
Closer look at harnesses:
Plastic nub on ECM:
ECM in hand:
There’s the piezo buzzer we want to get to:
3. Slide the ECM circuit board out of its plastic protective case. Don’t rush, since you don’t want to damage the board or the case. It requires some cautious strength to wiggle the board free from the plastic guides. Easy does it. Used a screwdriver or needle-nose pliers if you need to. It’s probably good to ground yourself free from electrostatic charge before doing this, as not to damage the electronics with a static charge. (Again, I’m a nut and so I didn’t bother.)
4. With board in hand, find a clear table so you can take apart the piezo speaker without losing any pieces. Carefully pry the black cover off the underlying base of the piezo buzzer, to reveal the inside:
5. That shiny, thin, silver disk is the piezoelectic element that you want to remove. Take it off. (It’s unsecured, and will easily fall out once you take the black cap off.) This is the critical component that makes the chimes/sounds/warnings. Save it somewhere, in case you ever want to reverse the procedure down the road.
6. Replace the black cap (or not — it’s optional), and put everything else back together. Don’t start the car without the ECM wire harnesses back in their expected receptacles.
7. Test, and enjoy a quieter ride!
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