DIY: 2009 - 2010 Steering Wheel Lock Fix w/ Pics!

Oso

I got stranded in front of an ice cream shop. Key light stayed illuminated and the car wouldnt come out of locked mode. Steering wheel was not locked

After beating the escl (at this point people thought I was stealing my own car) until it finally released and then I did the fuse trick while the car was on acc mode. I know the car was in ACC mode because the radio was on when i initially pulled the fuse. After a full day of driving, no issues at all, I went to start the car that night and it had the same issue. I put the fuse back in (luckily I kept it on me) and whacked it a few times with the tow hook and it worked. Should I try pulling the fuse with the car running?

I am afraid during the next failure i wont be so lucky. I am now officially afraid to drive it. 09 man with 38k miles. Why me!!!!

fritz

G'day,

Ohhh! Just cut that wire with the engine running...there's good photos at the start of this thread too.

I started all this with "cut the wire" long ago. A.N.Other, (a Smokey), after profusely congratulating me, then worked out that for me to do the R&D I'd be disconnecting the fuse. That is tiresome, dangerous to the windshield (see Nissan's TSB to dealers!) and just dumb for the amount of plastic and wires you have to disturb....NOT NOT for many DIYers

But "For Real" sells most anything.

AN Other's "For real" and repeat self-congratulations, did the job for most...which is all that matters....but another recent self-congratulation was OTT!

DIYers do not report their errors!!

A broken wire can hardly damage a warranty....but a missing fuse ???

PS. Nissan marking of small components is not necessarily correct. Example is the VVEL relay which on many cars was wrongly identified.....then never corrected in manuals...then corrected in some (infinitis?) and to make matters worse the Consult3 could not ID the relay and launched into several codes instead.....If it could...then replacing the wrong (!) relay would/could do nothing other than introduce high drama and great expense.
(NOTE: In event of a disconnected throttle pedal and high-ish idle RPM just swap the relay with the one next to it. If the problem goes away....you know what to do next!...I ID'd all the relays and quality substitutes, long ago...and ......also the internal small electronic steering components and the manufacturers...in the USA...and even the engineer(s) involved...etc etc.)

Fritz (now retired R&D chassis and engines engineer/International racer/winner)

omgzmbz

my husband ran into this with the 2010 370z he just bought and he figured out another fix if you cannot get it out of lock mode
http://370z.tube/steeringlock

GrayGhost

Well i just had the pleasure of running into this same issue.... Does anyone know what actually fails in the steering lock?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

SouthArk370Z

There are some internal switches that don't get actuated. Someone took one apart and posted pictures in a thread.

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Hi-Step'n370Z

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To me, this seems like the perfect fix, and for only $50.00.

Since most of the effected Z's are now out of warranty anyway, I'd be concerned about Auto Insurance coverage in case of anything related to the disconnection of an anti theft device.

However, having said that; I would like to find out if a wire harness from the 2012, where Nissan simply omitted the lock altogether, would be an even better fix, as there wouldn't be a lock at all, even though disconnected electrically, that could somehow jar itself into lock position. I imagine this is not possible, but wanted to mention it in regard to the more tech savvy Forum members analysis.

I'd like to know if they just added a section to replace the lock connectors, or if the new replaced harness is full length piece, and how difficult would it be to install, and if the 2012 harness wiring will even work in the older Z's.

SouthArk370Z

No, a harness alone will not work. If the ESCLhas to be present or the car will not start. Read through some of the disabling-the-ESCL posts for more info.

If I were worried about theft coverage, I'd call my insurance company and see what they say about it.

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Mankind has progressed past the need for war but we haven't evolved that far. - NachoMahma

Hi-Step'n370Z

Thank you for the clarification on the harness replacement. Now I know that no matter the fix that's chosen, the lock has to remain in-line.

Re: theft coverage; of course running it by the insurance company is the thing to do. I just added it to possibly help those who didn't think about it, and just did the disable procedure. If they did know that a claim may be denied because of the disable, but chose to do it anyway, then they knew the possible risk.

Have you seen the harness by-pass from Car Kit? It looks like the way to go. Simple to do, and simple to revert back should one want to someday. On their web page, they have a great video showing the whole, very simple, procedure. I'd be interested in hearing how you feel about the harness.

Here's the web address:
Steering Lock Harness - Car Kit Company[/B]]Steering Lock Harness - Car Kit Company

SouthArk370Z

I have only seen pictures of the bypass but based on the feedback on this site it is a well-built product, that, as you say, is simple to install and uninstall.

Which is better, bypass or fuse, is a toss up, IMNSHO. The IPDM (where the fuse is) is not the easiest thing to get to but it's not that difficult and it's not like you will be removing/inserting the fuse often (probably only once). The main advantage that I see to the fuse method is cost - $0 vs $50.

Either method will accomplish exactly the same thing - cutting power to the ESCL motor - so go with whichever one you prefer.

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Mankind has progressed past the need for war but we haven't evolved that far. - NachoMahma

Hi-Step'n370Z

After reading what seemed like a million posts, I've decided to buy the harness by-pass cable from Car Kit.

But I do have a question; is there a difference between cutting the brown wire, which essentially is what the by-pass cable does, and pulling the fuse?

I ask this because of one of the posts I read that reported problems that resulted after pulling the fuse.

It said, in at least one reported case, that with pulling the fuse, the passenger air bag, and or, the child safety seat may not work properly.

And also that there was a slight delay from when the start button was pushed, and the engine actually cranked over, but stated that it doesn't happen all the time, and the delay is short.

So, is there a difference in the circuit flow / operation between cutting the brown wire, and pulling the fuse?

I'd appreciate some clarity on this from someone who's more tech savvy regarding this issue than I am. Thanks.

SouthArk370Z

Electrically, no.

As far as I know (and I've been keeping up with ESCL posts), that is the only report and I'm inclined to believe that it was not related to the ESCL fuse. They may have knocked some wire(s) loose while pulling the fuse, but the fuse powers only the ESCL motor.

While a few people (myself included) have reported a slight delay on occasion when starting, there is no evidence to prove that it is related to pulling the fuse. Even if pulling the fuse is causing the delay, I consider it a non-issue - it happens infrequently and is only for a second or two.

No. The cut is in a different physical location, but electrically, it is the same.

__________________
Steering Lock Links - Search The370Z Bookmarklet - FSM @ NICOclub
Mankind has progressed past the need for war but we haven't evolved that far. - NachoMahma

Hi-Step'n370Z

Thanks for all the detail, SouthArk370Z.

My next step is to disable the lock and be done with it.

If the RevD - or any other replacement lock - was so great, why did Nissan discontinue the lock altogether in 2012? Because they couldn't get it manufactured correctly.

Even though I have the RevD, which is supposed to be "the fix", I don't trust it. There were obviously manufacturing problems that just couldn't be corrected, so they eliminated the lock altogether, which makes it wise, in my opinion, to not trust any of them any longer than you need to.

Cut the wire, pull the fuse, or buy and install the by-pass harness, but disable that lock.

Bye the way, I've been on this Forum since it's beginning and I don't understand how it took all these years for me to notice the lock problem. I'm just glad I did, and appreciate the Forum for providing it's usual great information. (and in this case, it's patients, while helping me navigate through an old and worn topic)

This Forum's been a great asset to the 370Z enthusiast. I'd like to give a shout-out to it's founder, AK370Z, for all his hard work and dedication in getting the Forum up and running back in "09.

On a lighter note; I also want to add that Michelin Super Sports do burn-out's way better than the Bridgestone's!

Thanks again to all!

tranzloop

Hi, I now have this problem with my 2011 Roadster (auto) at 34,000.

It seems to have failed before the lock 'locked' so I was able to steer the car into my garage from the driveway where it failed. For that I am thankful as the roadster windows drop an inch when you open the door and close when you shut the door....except they don't in this scenario. They just drop an inch each time so having got in and out of the car several times the driver side window was open with no way of closing it.


So, in a nice dry garage I have just knocked seven shades of shite out of the box with a hammer and no luck getting to Acc(essory) mode. So I wondered if, given that I am one of the 'lucky' ones just pulling the fuse might help. It didn't. So the fuse is back in and I have tried the hammer a few more times without success.

I have found a video of a Canadian guy who discovered that shorting the pink wire connector to the chassis allowed him to get to Acc mode and therefore, remove the fuse. I am going to give this a go later. I'll post the result and the video if successful.

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370Z Roadster (2011) & MB R350 CDI (2011)
Yamaha VMAX (1999) & BMW K1300S (2010)

370Z_Fan

So, it finally happened. My original SLU failed last Thursday (last week). I had it towed to the stealership where my car goes for services. Next day I get a call from my service advisor advising me that the SLU had failed and needed to be replaced. Fine, I'll pay to play. The part comes in the following Monday. I get a call from my service advisor saying the car is ready. I drive home no problem. I drive it on Tuesday no problem. I drive on Wednesday no problem. I drive to the grocery store on Thursday (today), went in to grab a few things, come out, start up the car, the intelligent key system warning light comes on and the car won't start. The service department supposedly replaced the orignal SLU with the latest and greatest (sic) SLU model #48700-9N00B. That's gotta be a record. Failure a few days later after replacement. Methinks they didn't replace the SLU or they received a lemon SLU from Nissan's warehouse. Now, let's see if the stealership will reimburse me for the second towing charge. Waiting for them to "fix" the problem so I can sell the car. Did anyone else beat me for having a second failure within four days since replacement??

SouthArk370Z

It's been a while since I've dealt with ESCL stuff but I think they installed a revision B unit (or didn't actually remove the old one). Newest revision is D or E, IIRC.

All revisions have problems. Disable the ESCL as soon as you can.

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Mankind has progressed past the need for war but we haven't evolved that far. - NachoMahma