I did see that post Fritz. Thank you very much for sharing!

thaks for sharing the dreaded thing that may happen to myself

Crap! Mine just broke! :(

At least my car is in the garage, the steering wheel isn't locked and it's still under warranty. :shakes head:

Boo! :shakes head:

oh noes, happy. :( hope you get it fixed soon. :tup:

i would call up the dealer and let them know what happened...and if you're up to the task, replace it yourself. they can order you a new part, probably.

Under warranty -happytheman? Versa time, hopefully back up -n running in a couple of days.

Yah, I'm still under warranty. I'm thinking I might ask my tech about just getting me the part so I can replace it myself, but not so sure how I'd work out the whole loaner bit if I don't take her in? My Z is my DD. :(


I fear that I may be z-less for a week or two. :(

If it is not locked, could you try this?...

http://www.the370z.com/diy-section-d...-optional.html

I'm a bit skeered to snip wires in my car. :(

I wouldn't touch it, since its covered under warranty.

Out of warranty, then cut away :tup:

Yup, I was already thinking the same thing.

as soon as someone dives in and confirms it, that brown wire is getting cut!!

Cool way to explain it! Thx! :tup:

As soon as I pull mine out of the trailer this week the wire is getting cut! I'll probably put male/female crimp fittings on the wire for now so that it can be reconnected in an emergency. When I get time I'll work on a complete lock removal/bypass for the racing folk to go along with this.

:tup:

Hey guys. Looks like my tech diagnosed me with a dead battery. :ugh2:

Battery has been replaced and the Z is starting like a champ.

Here's a run down on what happened:

Pushed start button
Instrument panel flickered all lights for two to three seconds
Heard a whine sound
All instrument panel lights went out except the icon with the car & key symbol
Lock light in start button slowly flashed (every four secs or so) until battery was dead

Does this sound at all like the symptoms of the Steering Lock assembly going bad? :confused:

happy- i think you can still get to accessory and on (without engine start) so it could be just a bad battery... not sure though.

which rev does your car have?

Dead battery has similar symptoms. If the BCM/IPDM isn't getting at least 12V it will do strange things.

Well, if it's just a dead battery then that's good and bad. Perhaps it's still just a matter of time.

I'll check, but considering its an '09, it's prob Rev A.

When my lock failed, the start button did nothing. No Acc, no nothing.

Man, I shoulda just listed my symptoms before jumping to conclusions. Coulda saved myself a bit of grief. :(

Oh well, live and learn, poop happens. You're back in business now right? :tup:

Yah, I'm rolling like nothin' ever happened. :)

Excellent! :tup:

My bumper to bumper is up May 9th. Looks like I'll be crossing my fingers getting in my car every morning. I hope some one smarter then me is willing to try some type of bypass around the lock. Preferably followed by a detailed how to
:ugh2:

When mine failed, the LOCK position was the only one that lit up on the start button. Would not go to Acc or On.

Something I have observed about the lock has led me to a theory regarding the failure. Do you ever notice some "kickback" to the wheel when the lock unlocks ? Like if the wheel is turned slightly when it was locked ?
My thoughts are that maybe this stresses the worm gear or other parts in the lock that fail. While waiting for my warranty to expire and/or adding the lock bypass harness or cutting the wire, I am going to try and be cognizant of not having the wheel turned in such a way that there is pressure on the lock mechanism from the steering gear when it cycles.

A couple of the early failures were people parked flat and level at a gas station, so there should have been zero stress on the steering. Over time though it might have additional stress that could be significant.

one of my theories was that when people get in/out of their car, some use the steering wheel as a oooph-my-fat-arse! handle. that might be putting horizontal stress on the steering-lock's lock pin potentially seizing the lock.

That would be my theory as well.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using Tapatalk 2

If thats the case, we can expect to see issues with the Rev.D S/L...

I don't think so. The steering doesn't immediately lock. I was messing with it while putting in the bypass harness, and it didn't lock until after I shut the door.

True, because it shouldn't lock with the door open. I'm not saying it won't stay locked after you reopen the door. Just that it shouldn't lock that first time with the door open.

Problem solved.. Never shut your door. :rofl2:

Miata doors might solve the issue

i think we probably will on some cars...might be isolated.

well, if you plan to get in the car next time, then the steering wheel is locked... the oooh-my-fat-arse handle phenomenon is both car entry and exit... :ugh2:

I have adopted the "tuck, drop and roll" approach to exiting my 370. I dare not touch the steering wheel.

:icon18: please post vid. :rofl2:

This is why I am against the needless gadgets that car makers seem to think we need. The keyless entry is kind of cool, but a pushbutton start is a dumb *** idea. First of all, if you have a good size bunch of keys plus the fob in your pocket, it's uncomfortable and then you have to find other places for your keys. For the 40 odd years that a steering column lock that you had to insert a key into to unlock and start your car, we didn't have problems. Just wait until all the features like mirrors that automatically tilt or fold up and all of the other gimmicks start to fail while out of warranty.

I agree. And another thing I was thinking about is how well will all these push button cars last in the coming decades? Will they all be failing left and right with all the gizmos failing? I can see it now....