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

azn370z · 03-22-2012, 06:24 PM

Yeah the yellow key light stays on until its fixed. I could take a pic of mine.

Tino2fasT · 03-23-2012, 06:10 AM

Last Friday i was off and choose to get an early start and take care of some odds and ends previously hadn't gotten around to. So i went to get some gas, and while i was there i checked the tires to make sure the pressures were optimal.
FRIDAY------
Ok, so i STARTED my car to leave my house, i turned it off to get gas, RESTARTED it to go to the air dispenser to check the tire pressures then turned it off while i did that. Got back in the car to leave, tapped the push-start and NOTHING....

Called the salesman that sold me the 370Z (real cool guy and is one of the TOP salesman at Universal Nissan, who also drives a Z, 350, but a Z, lol) and he instructed me to push and hold the button the Immobiliation system that was installed as I bought the car (KEY ISSUE HERE, as i did NOT order this item to be installed....) Car still did not start, and as I have AAA, as was about 2 miles from my house and a couple other vehicles, i decided to deal with it on the following Monday, had to do it Tuesday, work was CRAZY Monday!

I live in Rolling Hills Estates (about an hour and a half from Universal Nissan) and the closest Nissan dealer to where i live is Power Nissan off the 405. Nissan will come your car for you 3 times a year (if its under warranty) and you get 12 miles free and will have to pay a small fee per mile after that.

TUESDAY------
I followed the Flatbed with one of my other cars and "14 miles" later (was NOT charged for the extra 2 miles, lol) i was at Power Nissan. I was dealing with the Assisstant Service Manager there and he is TOTALLY cool. Since this is not where i bought the car from i made sure that the service manager and I were on the same page.. i told him that I knew the Z's, GT-R's and Altima's have been having THIS EXACT problem and was VERY aware of what it probably was and actually mentioned that a LOT of people in our forum (THIS one) have had his problem.

Funny how people deal with you when they know you are aware of things... well I had to go to work so he said he'd call in a couple hours with thier findings/diagnosis. He did, and it was the "Steering Wheel Lock Mechanism", which had to be "ordered" and would be received and installed on Wednesday, and it was...

WEDNESDAY------
So I went to pick up my car, so the porter drives it to the pick up area where you wait, and as I usually do, i walked around it to check for any damage (its extremely clean, an 09) Its still running and the porter gets out takes out the little white paper floor cover and the plastic they use on your seats, I thank him for bringing it, and proceed to sit down. I turnthe car off, because i wantd to test the Push-Start for myself.

But as soon as I turn off my car its starts doing this really fast beep-beep-beep... and then on the left-most panel where you can see the mpg and other readouts, a big warning light comes up saying P-SHIFT with an arrow pointing forward, indicating that the car thinks you have shut it off without it being in park.. but it WAS in PARK.... At that exact moment the Service Manager guy happens to walk out and ask me if everthing was Ok, and I respond, "I don't think so.. i've never seen it do this before, does something need to be reset?"

So, he gets it and starts it, puts it in reverse and backs up about 5 feet, the back in drive and comes back to where we are standing (the porter guy and I) and shuts the Z off, and it does the same thing... he tells me to give him a few minutes and he drives it back to the service bay where the mechanics are.

About 10 mins later he comes to me and asks "Can you pick it up tomorrow?" And I ask him "Well whats going on with it?" at which time he told me that they had to look at a couple things and since it was the end of the business day and I was there in another one of my cars, and then told him "I guess I dont I dont have a choice, I'm not taking it like that".

THURSDAY------
So this morning,I get a call from Assistant Service Manager telling me the BCM has to be replaced and as far as they can tell its because of the Immobilization system that was installed as I waited for it to be delivered after I was approved to get it. As I mentioned before i DID NOT ORDER this to be installed on my car and now since its being blamed for the BCM malfunction, I told the Assistant Service Manager at Power Nissan to just put back together (at least it STARTS now) and I would take it to Univeral Nissan and get to the bottom of it. So NOW... it does that fast beeping sound AS LONG AS one of the KEYS are in the vicinity. If I walk away from the car Z with both keys it does this continuous BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP.... and its LOUD!

So, for tonight I have to leave one of the keys IN the Z... glad I have a private garage, geesh. Called Universal Nissan, told them the whole story and they told me to bring it in as soon as possible, I do have the 6 year 75,000 mile warranty, which covered the Steering Wheel Lock, I will le you guys know what happens tomorrow. Mt dilemna is this... the Assistant Service Manager said that if the "readings" they got are correct, the Immobilization System that was installed at Universal Nissan is causing this, AND even though NISSAN installed it, its NOT covered under the warranty...and since i did NOT order it to be installed on my car, and he salesman KNOWS this too, because it was one of the very first 370Z's that came in '09.

Sorry for the NOVEL,

but i wanted to make sure all the particulars were covered... took OFF tomorrow to deal with this one, will keep you guys informed, and if anyone has any advice, please put it out there!

Ron · 03-23-2012, 07:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GaleForce

Of course the light is still on. In the owners manual it states, if the light is on, take the car to the dealership immediately for repair. It doesn't say drive the car home, change the batteries and watch the light turn off. They must be thinking of the other key light. Damn service advisors.

Any updates Ron?

I called the guy and got VM of course, so I left him a msg letting him know that to no surprise the fvcking light was still on. I did not hear back from him so I drove back to the dealer and told him that the light was still on. He took both of the keys and came back 1hr later. Light was off, he took it for a drive and light remained off... I go back home and right as I pull in..the light comes on...

Waiting until 9 before calling him again.

GaleForce · 03-23-2012, 08:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ron

I called the guy and got VM of course, so I left him a msg letting him know that to no surprise the fvcking light was still on. I did not hear back from him so I drove back to the dealer and told him that the light was still on. He took both of the keys and came back 1hr later. Light was off, he took it for a drive and light remained off... I go back home and right as I pull in..the light comes on...

Waiting until 9 before calling him again.

At least you can drive it.

Ron · 03-23-2012, 08:34 AM

don't jinx it! haha

kenchan · 03-23-2012, 12:54 PM

tino- sorry to hear about your problem.

just a FYI, the steering-lock replacement does not require any reset procedure. all i did was take the old unit off, plugged in the new unit... walla. perhaps something went south on your IPDM too.

370zproject · 03-23-2012, 01:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kenchan

tino- sorry to hear about your problem.

just a FYI, the steering-lock replacement does not require any reset procedure. all i did was take the old unit off, plugged in the new unit... walla. perhaps something went south on your IPDM too.

Tino2fasT · 03-24-2012, 02:21 AM

Ok, Today (Friday) I take the car to Universal Nissan at 9:00 am and tell the Service Manager the story about what the Assistant Service Manager at Power Nissan says caused the problem ---> (Universal Nissan's work). So Universals Service Manager calls the Assistant Service Manager at Power and they talk this out.. it turns out that the Power Nissan Assistant Service Manager tells the Universal Service Manager that he "ASSUMED" that the Universal work is what is causing the problem (and keep in mind that he told ME, that they ran tests and got "codes" indicating that the Universal dealerships work is what caused the problem...) So at this point Universal just started from square one to find out whats going on. Then, they tell me at Universal, that the steering wheel, (even though the NEW steering lock was replaced at Power Nissan) was still not actually performing the "Lock" function...... It turns out that now they want to order a new BCM and go from there.

They gave me a loaner (a new Altima coupe) and will be in touch with me tomorrow. The good thing is that I have the 6 year, 75,000 mile warranty which covers the work, the loaner car, the towing and all, so, i havent had to pay a single cent so far.

As usual, i will keep the forum updated as this goes along. And if i get more delays tomorrow, i'm thinking about seeing what the next higher point in the Nissan "Chain of Command" is... it will be a week come Monday that the car has been seen by Nissan "Certified Technicians" and I'm starting to feel like no one knows what is going on with my car... but its only been at Universal for one day, so I will give them the time they need to see if they can find the problem.

Tino2fasT · 03-24-2012, 02:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kenchan

tino- sorry to hear about your problem.

just a FYI, the steering-lock replacement does not require any reset procedure. all i did was take the old unit off, plugged in the new unit... walla. perhaps something went south on your IPDM too.

Thanks Man, it'll get taken care of, hopefully in short order.

ANd what is the IPDM, and what does it do?......? Wanna see if this part gets mentioned ( by Nissan) in the near future.

delusional · 03-28-2012, 12:41 AM

hmm... now that i think of it. this happened to me when i first bought the car. i drove it out pretty far and then came back and tried to start it and the steering wheel froze and the intelligent key light came out and i couldnt start it. but i went for a walk and came back and it worked perfectly fine after that. has that ever happen to anyone with this problem yet?

azn370z · 03-28-2012, 01:12 AM

Thanks for the diy, made it easy to swap it out. Thanks to our vendor Fred bean for the great price and quick service.

kenchan · 03-28-2012, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by delusional

hmm... now that i think of it. this happened to me when i first bought the car. i drove it out pretty far and then came back and tried to start it and the steering wheel froze and the intelligent key light came out and i couldnt start it. but i went for a walk and came back and it worked perfectly fine after that. has that ever happen to anyone with this problem yet?

hard to tell. but it seems to happen more often in colder weather and when battery is lower on charge. especially a brand new car that hasn't been properly charged (my Z took nearly 2 full days to charge off my battery manager the day i got my Z) it could have influence.

kenchan · 03-28-2012, 11:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tino2fasT

Thanks Man, it'll get taken care of, hopefully in short order.

ANd what is the IPDM, and what does it do?......? Wanna see if this part gets mentioned ( by Nissan) in the near future.

ipdm is like your telephone operator. it relays signal from your ecu to your bcm and all related parts. if it breaks then your bits do not get the necessary signal and so the car looses communcation between the modules.

KORRUPT · 03-28-2012, 06:15 PM

Being that I had my rev b replaced with what was thought to be a good revision with the c and now may not be I figured I would take my old rev b apart and post some pics for everyone. I would like to thank AWX Z34 for his diy on how to do this repair.

1. first picture is old rev b lock
2. drilled out the tabs on the both sides with dremel
3. cover removed
4. removed #10 torx screws
5. circuit board removed
6. back piece with the gears
7. two tabs held down with piece of metal and electrical tape
8. all taped up and ready for testing
9. make sure you tape the end down or remove it so you can turn your steering wheel

Still have to test it but that will be tomorrow when its not raining outside.

just want to have an extra in the car in case rev c bites the dust.

axio · 03-28-2012, 06:36 PM

Thanks for the pics! Finally we see what the inside looks like. I have a few questions.

1) the tabs in pictures 1 and 2, you're basically just grinding the metal off? Could you use an angle grinder with a grinding wheel to get this done, or would you advise on a standard Dremel cutting wheel?

2) in the second to last pic, you have the two posts held down by the metal piece. What is the purpose of this and are there any side effects, such as no longer having the ability to lock the wheel?

03-22-2012, 06:24 PM	#361 (permalink)
azn370z A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Seattle Posts: 1,722 Drives: z34 - R1 Rep Power: 489	Yeah the yellow key light stays on until its fixed. I could take a pic of mine. __________________ 2010 k23 H&R sport springs / Spc rear camber arms / SSR SP1 / Berk cbe / Varis cf lip / Nismo S-Tune side skirts

03-23-2012, 06:10 AM	#362 (permalink)
Tino2fasT Base Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Rllg Hlls Estates, Ca. Posts: 36 Drives: '09 370Z Spt Pkg 7AT Rep Power: 15	Check this out guys.... Last Friday i was off and choose to get an early start and take care of some odds and ends previously hadn't gotten around to. So i went to get some gas, and while i was there i checked the tires to make sure the pressures were optimal. FRIDAY------ Ok, so i STARTED my car to leave my house, i turned it off to get gas, RESTARTED it to go to the air dispenser to check the tire pressures then turned it off while i did that. Got back in the car to leave, tapped the push-start and NOTHING.... Called the salesman that sold me the 370Z (real cool guy and is one of the TOP salesman at Universal Nissan, who also drives a Z, 350, but a Z, lol) and he instructed me to push and hold the button the Immobiliation system that was installed as I bought the car (KEY ISSUE HERE, as i did NOT order this item to be installed....) Car still did not start, and as I have AAA, as was about 2 miles from my house and a couple other vehicles, i decided to deal with it on the following Monday, had to do it Tuesday, work was CRAZY Monday! I live in Rolling Hills Estates (about an hour and a half from Universal Nissan) and the closest Nissan dealer to where i live is Power Nissan off the 405. Nissan will come your car for you 3 times a year (if its under warranty) and you get 12 miles free and will have to pay a small fee per mile after that. TUESDAY------ I followed the Flatbed with one of my other cars and "14 miles" later (was NOT charged for the extra 2 miles, lol) i was at Power Nissan. I was dealing with the Assisstant Service Manager there and he is TOTALLY cool. Since this is not where i bought the car from i made sure that the service manager and I were on the same page.. i told him that I knew the Z's, GT-R's and Altima's have been having THIS EXACT problem and was VERY aware of what it probably was and actually mentioned that a LOT of people in our forum (THIS one) have had his problem. Funny how people deal with you when they know you are aware of things... well I had to go to work so he said he'd call in a couple hours with thier findings/diagnosis. He did, and it was the "Steering Wheel Lock Mechanism", which had to be "ordered" and would be received and installed on Wednesday, and it was... WEDNESDAY------ So I went to pick up my car, so the porter drives it to the pick up area where you wait, and as I usually do, i walked around it to check for any damage (its extremely clean, an 09) Its still running and the porter gets out takes out the little white paper floor cover and the plastic they use on your seats, I thank him for bringing it, and proceed to sit down. I turnthe car off, because i wantd to test the Push-Start for myself. But as soon as I turn off my car its starts doing this really fast beep-beep-beep... and then on the left-most panel where you can see the mpg and other readouts, a big warning light comes up saying P-SHIFT with an arrow pointing forward, indicating that the car thinks you have shut it off without it being in park.. but it WAS in PARK.... At that exact moment the Service Manager guy happens to walk out and ask me if everthing was Ok, and I respond, "I don't think so.. i've never seen it do this before, does something need to be reset?" So, he gets it and starts it, puts it in reverse and backs up about 5 feet, the back in drive and comes back to where we are standing (the porter guy and I) and shuts the Z off, and it does the same thing... he tells me to give him a few minutes and he drives it back to the service bay where the mechanics are. About 10 mins later he comes to me and asks "Can you pick it up tomorrow?" And I ask him "Well whats going on with it?" at which time he told me that they had to look at a couple things and since it was the end of the business day and I was there in another one of my cars, and then told him "I guess I dont I dont have a choice, I'm not taking it like that". THURSDAY------ So this morning,I get a call from Assistant Service Manager telling me the BCM has to be replaced and as far as they can tell its because of the Immobilization system that was installed as I waited for it to be delivered after I was approved to get it. As I mentioned before i DID NOT ORDER this to be installed on my car and now since its being blamed for the BCM malfunction, I told the Assistant Service Manager at Power Nissan to just put back together (at least it STARTS now) and I would take it to Univeral Nissan and get to the bottom of it. So NOW... it does that fast beeping sound AS LONG AS one of the KEYS are in the vicinity. If I walk away from the car Z with both keys it does this continuous BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP.... and its LOUD! So, for tonight I have to leave one of the keys IN the Z... glad I have a private garage, geesh. Called Universal Nissan, told them the whole story and they told me to bring it in as soon as possible, I do have the 6 year 75,000 mile warranty, which covered the Steering Wheel Lock, I will le you guys know what happens tomorrow. Mt dilemna is this... the Assistant Service Manager said that if the "readings" they got are correct, the Immobilization System that was installed at Universal Nissan is causing this, AND even though NISSAN installed it, its NOT covered under the warranty...and since i did NOT order it to be installed on my car, and he salesman KNOWS this too, because it was one of the very first 370Z's that came in '09. Sorry for the NOVEL, but i wanted to make sure all the particulars were covered... took OFF tomorrow to deal with this one, will keep you guys informed, and if anyone has any advice, please put it out there! __________________ 370Z SP 7AT Last edited by Tino2fasT; 03-24-2012 at 02:52 AM.

03-23-2012, 08:34 AM	#365 (permalink)
Ron A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 3,009 Drives: TT '11 PW Nismo #113 Rep Power: 22	don't jinx it! haha __________________ 2011 Twin Turbo PW nismo #113 - My Journal - My TT Build Thread [ GTM GTX Stg2 TT \|\| HKS EVC6 \|\| Custom CarPC \|\| F.I 3'' TDX CBE \|\| SB 6puck clutch/ZSpeed CSC \|\| BC BR Coilovers \|\| SPC camber arms \|\| Work VSS-X \|\| Custom Headlights \|\| PW:JDM CF Covers \|\| Seibon CF Engine Cover ]

03-24-2012, 02:21 AM	#368 (permalink)
Tino2fasT Base Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Rllg Hlls Estates, Ca. Posts: 36 Drives: '09 370Z Spt Pkg 7AT Rep Power: 15	Fridays Update.... Ok, Today (Friday) I take the car to Universal Nissan at 9:00 am and tell the Service Manager the story about what the Assistant Service Manager at Power Nissan says caused the problem ---> (Universal Nissan's work). So Universals Service Manager calls the Assistant Service Manager at Power and they talk this out.. it turns out that the Power Nissan Assistant Service Manager tells the Universal Service Manager that he "ASSUMED" that the Universal work is what is causing the problem (and keep in mind that he told ME, that they ran tests and got "codes" indicating that the Universal dealerships work is what caused the problem...) So at this point Universal just started from square one to find out whats going on. Then, they tell me at Universal, that the steering wheel, (even though the NEW steering lock was replaced at Power Nissan) was still not actually performing the "Lock" function...... It turns out that now they want to order a new BCM and go from there. They gave me a loaner (a new Altima coupe) and will be in touch with me tomorrow. The good thing is that I have the 6 year, 75,000 mile warranty which covers the work, the loaner car, the towing and all, so, i havent had to pay a single cent so far. As usual, i will keep the forum updated as this goes along. And if i get more delays tomorrow, i'm thinking about seeing what the next higher point in the Nissan "Chain of Command" is... it will be a week come Monday that the car has been seen by Nissan "Certified Technicians" and I'm starting to feel like no one knows what is going on with my car... but its only been at Universal for one day, so I will give them the time they need to see if they can find the problem. __________________ 370Z SP 7AT

03-28-2012, 12:41 AM	#370 (permalink)
delusional Track Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: NewYork Posts: 968 Drives: 09 PG T/S/N 7AT Rep Power: 15	hmm... now that i think of it. this happened to me when i first bought the car. i drove it out pretty far and then came back and tried to start it and the steering wheel froze and the intelligent key light came out and i couldnt start it. but i went for a walk and came back and it worked perfectly fine after that. has that ever happen to anyone with this problem yet? __________________ 2009 Platinum Graphite Touring [ Sport Package ¦¦ Navigation ¦¦ 7 Speed Automatic ] [ Berk ¦ H&R ¦ ONEighty ¦ K&N ¦ Stillen ¦ Eibach ¦ Cobb ¦ Ichiba ¦ Hankook ]

03-23-2012, 12:54 PM	#366 (permalink)
kenchan A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: N/A Posts: 76,801 Drives: N/A Rep Power: 141521	tino- sorry to hear about your problem. just a FYI, the steering-lock replacement does not require any reset procedure. all i did was take the old unit off, plugged in the new unit... walla. perhaps something went south on your IPDM too.

03-28-2012, 01:12 AM	#371 (permalink)
azn370z A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Seattle Posts: 1,722 Drives: z34 - R1 Rep Power: 489	Thanks for the diy, made it easy to swap it out. Thanks to our vendor Fred bean for the great price and quick service. __________________ 2010 k23 H&R sport springs / Spc rear camber arms / SSR SP1 / Berk cbe / Varis cf lip / Nismo S-Tune side skirts

03-28-2012, 06:36 PM	#375 (permalink)
axio Enthusiast Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: SF Bay Area, CA Posts: 271 Drives: '09 370Z Rep Power: 16	Thanks for the pics! Finally we see what the inside looks like. I have a few questions. 1) the tabs in pictures 1 and 2, you're basically just grinding the metal off? Could you use an angle grinder with a grinding wheel to get this done, or would you advise on a standard Dremel cutting wheel? 2) in the second to last pic, you have the two posts held down by the metal piece. What is the purpose of this and are there any side effects, such as no longer having the ability to lock the wheel? __________________ GTM Stg II SC w/ Aquamist methanol injection, GTM oil cooler, Berk HFC, Stillen CBE, BC ER coilovers, Hotchkis sways, TWM short shifter, Clutch spring mod, CarboTech XP8s

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