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

ajc1884

Just bought a 2009 yesterday. First thing i did was remove the fuse !!!! LOL. Thanks to everyone who has explained how to do it!!!

Baer383

Your welcome I'm glad you didn't find out the hard way.

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2013 ZL1

754 rwhp 747 rwtq

ajc1884

34ST: HERE !!!
http://www.the370z.com/diy-section-d...d-real-30.html

grover

So frustrating. This just happened to our 370Z. The dealer is charging (stealing) over $1000 for the repair. Has anyone had success with Nissan picking up the charge?

Our car has less than 20k on the odometer. It is garage kept and babied.

benwinrich

So at 48K my steering wheel column lock on my 2009 370Z touring W/sports package goes out while backed into my garage. Fortunately Nissan has a tran's lock release so I got it in the street and onto the flatbed. Took it to Nissan (my Nissan service package comes with free towing, 0 out of pocket expense on the tow) and the steering wheel locks were toast. As luck would have it Nissan had them and 6 hours and $1100 later I was back on the road. I spoke with the service manager and he told me to call Nissan customer affairs and report the issue. I did and two days later they called and told me they would reimburse me $400 and had an email out to the dealership to see how they could help me. Thanks Nissan, the 400 was a nice unexpected surprise and if the dealership throws some free service at me I will be very impressed. Had my doubts but I feel a lot better now.

kenchan

better than nothing, but still shelling out 700 and headache for the tow.

Greg928s

Fudge, This may have happened to me this morning. It flashed the key fob and would not start. when i put the key into the dash and said no key in the orange screen on the left. Had it towed.

One question I could not find after reading through this thread briefly. Have not read all the way through so forgive me if it was covered. When I in neutral getting it on the truck to tow I could move the steering wheel all the way to the right. It was hard without power steering but i did it. Does that mean it could possibly be the key fob not the dreaded steering lock box?

I am waiting for the verdict from Nissan dealership. Hopefully they aren't going to try and rip me off if its something with the fob not the steering lock.

I bought this thing 5 months ago! 46k on it, 2009

Greg928s

I also noted that there was curiosity as to if the cold had something to do with this issue. yesterday was the coldest day thus far since i bought the car at 7 degrees. Depending on what nissan's diagnoses we could conclude cold as a factor

rangercarol

Our early 2011 has exhibited no signs of a problem, but better safe than sorry. Especially, since it is my wife's car and she is often far from home.
I followed your procedure to remove the fuse and found that there was no effect on the car other than there is no steering lock.
There was a little more to getting to the fuse than I anticipated, but I got it out without hurting myself or the car.
Thanks for the information...

Thanks,

rangercarol

Baer383

Your welcome

Hope you have a good weekend!!!!!

__________________
2013 ZL1

754 rwhp 747 rwtq

kenchan

it seems battery cca might have something to do with it. ive noticed there seems to be some relation to weaker batteries....even for the GTR guys.

SouthArk370Z

The GT-R recall lists excess grease as the reason for failure. Grease gets thicker when it gets colder. Cold probably makes things worse, but, with all the failures that happen in warmer weather, is not likely the root cause.

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bfowlzr33

ughh
i get the heebie jeebies every time i see this thread.. CUT THE BROWN WIRE! AGHHHH!

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06 Mustang GT 5MT
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akmofo

I just took it to the dealer, plugged in only the board w/ the motor removed (didn't put the rest of the steering wheel lock in at all). Pushed the two buttons while I hit the start button and it started no problem. There doesn't seem to be any negative impact of just hitting the two buttons, starting the car, then releasing them.

Since this is working, I think now that I have it home I will probably put the board back in the steering lock, without the motor, and will make sure the gear is fully extended pushing the buttons in.

If it's this easy, I don't really see any more reason to mess around with soldering the buttons or anything. If I get Nissan to cover the part replacement, I might try screwing around with it then.

fritz

akmofo wrote:
When the switch is depressed (there's only in, no half-way as theorized by Fritz in other post). 1 and 6 get disconnected and 2,3,4,5 are all connected.
Not this Fritz! Disconnection/Connection is complete at half-way in or earlier but I advised not to over-push the switch(es) to the limit(s).

Confirmed again: the two switches change at about half way and nothing in between! (They're also easily available cheaply from your electronics parts shop...as are the Omron relays.)

That apart::::the important thing to note is that the brown wire passes both positive and negative. On car testing with voltages is ill-advised and the "fuse" is thus...er... confused!

Also see my several posts and threads on this: The board fits (fitted) neatly in an eyeglass case which fits nicely in the car thus saving dead weight...but testers in Europe (and some states) need a steering lock so I progressed from there with the "switch optional" thread which also adds vehicle security.

Regards,

Fritz