DIY: Replace dreaded steering-lock on 2009s and early 2010s.

Baer383

Mileage wouldn't have anything to do with it,it would be how much usage the steering lock sees.
A guy who drives his car 5 miles round trip everyday is using the lock as much as a guy who drives 100 miles rounds trip,so mileage doesn't come into play here.

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2013 ZL1

754 rwhp 747 rwtq

m4a1mustang

But I'd be willing to wager that the car with more mileage has seen more on and offs than one with lower mileage.

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GaleForce

Yeah, the sudden spike of solenoid sales might have helped highlight the situation.

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Baer383

I wouldn't bet on that my car bought in Aug 2010 on has 4000 miles on it all of my driving luckily has been short trips,and I have been in and out of my car a lot,just starting it moving it out in the driveway to wash it and put it back is a regular thing at my house.

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2013 ZL1

754 rwhp 747 rwtq

Red__Zed

Unfortunately, cars don't track starts, so mileage is all we have to go on.


Considering mileage and starts are correlated when you look at the big picture of car drivers, it's really not accurate to say it doesn't have anything to do with it.

m4a1mustang

Obviously there will be specific cases where it's not the case, but in general higher mileage cars will have more starts.

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ZCarMan

I think I may have to just get the newer part and replace my old one before I have this problem. I've contacted Nissan North America and added my two cents to the whole deal and will wait for my standard, "We appreciate your email but we recommend you take your Nissan to your local Nissan Service Department to address any issues". I also confirmed with the dealer I purchased my Z from that they have had one person come in with this problem. He confirmed no TSB is out on this. Great DIY Kenchan, I'll be using it to replace my part.

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Jon

ZForce

Cold weather may be a cause to the failures. Has anyone polled failed users what time of the season they failed?

IIRC: the failed Rev C member, had his fail on a day when the temps did not get higher than 40-49 degrees.

Both Z's are 2009 models and both have about 35k miles on them.

My Z: mfg date 01/09
Part # JF00B-B1-01
35k mi

The bros Z": mfg date 10/08
Part # JF00A-B1-01
35k mi

No failure yet, fingers crossed.

kenchan

yep, until there is official word from nissan i think it is wise to replace at least the security screws to regular screws and keep a back up steeringlock in the car. at least that way you can easily replace it with a wrench you'd keep in the car. i have a socket and mini ratchet in the trunk with the factory RevB steering lock which has had no issue thus far (8k miles on the car). my droidx can serve as flashlight. i downloaded an app where it makes the camera flash a flashlight.

the angled nose pliers to remove the security bolts is pretty clumsy to do even in a controlled environment..and would be VERY clumsy to do if out in the field in bad weather.


zforce- i think battery charge level (and age of battery) might have an effect on this. and colder weather impacts cca. 3yrs is about the time when the stock battery starts to degrade under 'normal' use.

'normal' as in battery not hooked up to battery manager when car is not in use for more than a week. we know that this member was out vacationing a week prior... i wonder if his car was placed on a battery manager or one of his kids drove it around while he was out..? might be a good question to ask.

in my case my Z is hooked up to my battery manager when i know she will not be driven for more than a few days. i use the 'battery tender' sold at amazon. they're only like $25 shipped and worth every penny. im still running factory battery from 8yrs ago on my G. cold start at 3F is no issue. i plug in the G every Friday night since i dont use the car over the weekend. my 22 mile round trip commute is not enough to charge the battery to full.

kenchan

also thechidz started a log of steering lock victims. if yours failed, please post on his thread to keep track.

Those of you who have had Steering Lock Failure

Thechidz

thanks Kenchan, I also reverted people back here for information in the OP of my thread


the more I think about how Nissan is ignoring this problem by not recalling the more p1ssed off I'm getting. I have at least 2 long driving trips planned this year, to Atlanta and Chicago and I have to worry if my car is gonna start while I'm 1000 miles from home, it's complete Bullshyte.

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I <3 my car

spearfish25

I'm a little surprised some of you guys are just dropping $500 on an item that hasn't failed yet. While it's an easy swap if you have the part, buying expensive replacement parts that haven't failed yet is a little extreme. People have transmission problems fairly regularly. Are you going to put an extra transmission in your garage just in case your working transmission starts having problems?

While I don't want an issue with a stupid steering lock, I'm not buying another as a backup. If it fails, I'll deal with it. And in the mean time, Nissan may still start a recall. You'll feel pretty bummed when you buy a backup only to have them swapped under a recall for free.

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2013 Cadillac V-Wagon, RIP Z

m4a1mustang

It's insurance. What if you're 1000 miles from home and 100 miles from the nearest Nissan dealership.

Its highly likely that the Rev A and B units will fail so I can see why some would be willing to spend 500 bucks to replace it for peace of mind.

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spearfish25

I get it for the extreme travelers, but most people don't fall into this category. I'm usually 10 miles from a dealership and commuting to/from work mainly.

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2013 Cadillac V-Wagon, RIP Z

Mike

everyone who has had the failure should report it to the NHTSA, this is one way to get a recall started.

https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/index.cfm

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Porsche: 93 968 / 23 Macan GTS / 93 968