DIY - Steering lock internals workaround for those whose locks have already failed.
 

Special thanks to Korrupt, Fritz and Kenchan for their posts and information.

Who
Those unfortunate souls, like myself whose steering lock has failed. If your lock hasn't yet failed, it is much easier to pull the fuse, buy the bypass harness, or cut the brown wire, so do that instead of this guide.

Why another guide?
Although the information is probably out there, I had to read 100 different threads, and felt like my questions were not completely answered. I found pictures inadequate, information confusing, and Fritz's posts hard to understand. Really, I wanted to consolidate some of the information, and provide my workaround, which I haven't seen anyone else do in the same way.

My method overview
Remove the steering lock, cut it open, remove the board, manually rotate the gear in the downward position (unlocked position), close it back up, and reinstall it.


Step by Step:

1. Remove the steering lock. (from Kenchan's guide)

Stick your head under the steering column and look upwards for the steering
lock. the bottom part of the lock looks like this... it's actually in your face if
you take a good look with a flashlight.

http://www.the370z.com/members/kench...ock-bottom.jpg

remove the 2 round headed screws using angled needle nosed angled pliers.
it's not torqued in all that tight, but it takes some effort to loosen. once
you get one of the 2 off, you can wiggle the steering lock with your hand
to make the 2nd screw removal easier. Unclip the hardness. The tab is on the top side and easy to unlatch.

2.Chop the damn thing open (From one of Fritz's guides)

This is definitely the worst part. You'll need a Dremel, with a cutting wheel for metal, and a drill with a 3/8" bit. In each indentation, drill about 2mm deep. You're only drilling through the outer layer, and if you're like me, you'll feel the bit poke through the outer layer (and your drill will probably seize). All in all, you will be drilling 8 holes. Next, using the dremel cutting wheel, you should connect each of the two holes together.

http://www.the370z.com/attachments/d...010s-start.jpg

Once you have all the holes, and cutting done, you'll have to pry and bend it open. This isn't easy, and you'll see from my pic, I sorta mangled mine. Still better than paying $1000. I would try wedging a thin screwdriver in the crack between pieces, and then hammering it in, as opposed to actually bending the screwdriver. Just be careful not to be pushing the screwdriver against the circuit board inside, or crush the plastic harness connector piece.

http://www.the370z.com/attachments/d...6-dsc_0098.jpg

3. Pull the Board out.

Using a Torx-10 screwdriver, remove the two screws, and pull the circuit board out.

http://www.the370z.com/attachments/d...s-2andhalf.jpg


http://www.the370z.com/attachments/d...6-dsc_0094.jpg

At this point you have a lot of different options. The two turquoise buttons being hit at the same time is what the car is looking for to let you start it again. In fact, to get my car home from the dealer, all I took with me was the board by itself, plugged it back in to the wiring harness, held the two buttons while I started the car, and then release the two buttons. You could leave it this way forever if you wanted. I didn't like the idea of there being a hole in the bottom of the steering wheel dripping grease, and getting dirt in it, which is the reason for the rest of this guide.

4. Rotate the gear into the downward position

Mine was not locked when I opened mine, but yours might be. I made this youtube video showing how to rotate the gear, and if it's locked how to unlock it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcOFJgJ_iS0

If you look at this picture, you can see what is locking it:

http://www.the370z.com/attachments/d...6-dsc_0112.jpg

5. Pull the motor off the board

To make sure this thing cannot try to raise the lock again, I pulled the motor off the circuit board. They made it really easy to do. I'm pretty sure this accomplishes the same thing as cutting the brown wire, or pulling the steering lock fuse.

http://www.the370z.com/attachments/d...6-dsc_0104.jpg

6.(Optional) Super Glue the gear in place.

I wanted a little more security that the vibrations of the car wouldn't slightly rotate it in the other direction over time, so I super-glued the metal center piece to the plastic gear.

7. Put the board back in place, push the metal case back together.

Reinstall your board, put your metal case back together. It will probably hold itself pretty firm anyway. It also can't hurt duct taping it, and wrapping zip ties around it.

http://www.the370z.com/attachments/d...6-dsc_0105.jpg

8.Reinstall into vehicle

Rather than messing around with the security screws, I went to home depot, and bought Socket Cap metric screws (they're black). Sized M8-1.25 and 20MM. (Sorry, didn't take pictures of it)



Hope this helps those of you out that are facing a $1000 repair, or $524 part. There are some extra pictures below I didn't use just so you can see in better detail what the insides look without taking it apart yourself.

Even Higher Res versions of the pictures are available here as well if you need to print them out.
https://picasaweb.google.com/1027199...eat=directlink

If you guys have any other questions, it's probably better to email me at akmofo at hotmail dot com than sending me a private message.

Excellent guide, Thank you. I just got my car running again. :driving:

Thanks for the guide, I just ran into the steering lock issue last week and this helped me get my car running again. I was able to start the car after whacking the lock with a mallet and then pull the fuse, but the problem came back after a day since the bolt was barely pressing the switches. I did mine a little different, I ended up actually desoldering the switches from the board entirely and replacing them with wire jumpers. I also removed the motor connector from the board, so that I could reinstall the motor to help lock the mechanism in place while still preventing the motor from ever moving. Now there is zero possibility of the lock mechanism somehow working its way off the switches and causing the problem again.

Thanks!!
 

Last night when I went to get into my car, I pressed the start button and it wouldn't even go to acc or on let alone actually try to start. The key symbol on the dash was intermittently on. My steering wheel was free to turn. High beams seemed full strength and when I put the key into the slot the start button lit up and when I opened the door with the key in, it would chime so I figured the key was good.

I found all this info on here about the problem but was discouraged because it seemed most people were getting the car to go to acc or their steering wheel was locked.

Since my steering wheel was unlocked, the first thing I tried was to just remove the fuse. This did not work because that only keeps the lock from engaging or disengaging, but does not affect the sensors that could be saying the lock was still engaged. The car would still not go into acc.

Then I found this thread. I tried to smash the steering wheel lock unit with a hammer. I really hit it repeatedly. Still wouldn't go into acc. I about gave up but was still stuck in a parking garage and had to drive the car later that day. I also figured even if this wasn't the problem, I was just going to pull the fuse anyway once I got the car fixed, so I may as well try to take the lock unit apart.

I was able to drill into the unit in the 8 places shown in the pictures and then pry the sides open a little with a flat head screwdriver. It took a little time, but I didn't need a dremel and the locking unit still looks fine. I took the unit apart and tested the switches for connectivity with a volt meter. One switch was functioning properly, but the other was not connecting the two leads closest to the other switch when depressed. That made me a lot more confident that this could fix it all. I removed both switches with a soldering iron and soldered a wire connecting the two terminals that were supposed to be connected when the switch was engaged. They were the 2 closer to the other switch, on both switches. Like this:
0 0--0 0--0 0

I put the unit back together and amazingly it worked when I connected it in the car and pressed the start button. I then immediately removed the fuse so that it would never attempt to lock my steering wheel again.

Thank you so much to whoever wrote this guide. You saved me a ton of money and enabled me to go on a trip this weekend. The other guides had nothing about how to resolve it when it was already broken so you really saved me.

Hi there,
can you point to the place that your super glue.
I have my steering lock right now. car wont start and can not put it to ACC.
If I bought the by pass from car kit would it work with my steering lock active?
Thanks

Thank you so much for this guide. Got my car up and running again.

In my experience, my steering lock did not engage after I turned off my ca. I was stuck with the Key notification and a freely moving steering wheel. I copied the other members here where I desoldered the switches and soldered on wires 0 0--0 0--0 0.

Thanks again for this guide!!!

Hope this guide has been helping lots of people since I wrote it. To anyone who has come to this from the web, that might see picture links (but not the actual images) register for the site, and login, and you'll see the images.

Awesome
 

Thank you this helped a lot! The Z is up and running after leaving me stranded for a couple hours. Crazy after 105,000 miles it decides to go now.

Going to try this tomorrow. This just happened to me. Can anyone comment how long it might take? MY car is currently in a Nissan Dealership parking lot and I'm wondering if I can just get it done in the parking lot there before getting kicked out

While even I have never seen this thread, and I think it's cool...

What you do, take a rubber mallet, and beat that bítch like it owes you money. And try starting your car. If it doesn't, rinse and repeat.
If it DOES start, take the SLU fuse. Google "streeting lock fuse" and do it while the car is running.

Boom, done

I don't think this is a parking lot job. Looks like a job to be done on a bench. But it depends on your level of expertise and the tools you have available.

I suggest trying DEpointfive0's beat-it-like-it-owes-you-money technique first. There are LOTS of other threads on this site about disabling the SLU (see link in my sig) - take a look at them and see which method would work the best for you.

Thanks man. I've seen a lot of videos about just pulling the steering lock fuse. Do you think this would work as well? This is more parking lot feasible.

Read post #10.

The lock has to be retracted to pull the fuse, so if it already died you're SOL.

You do that AFTER beating the sob like it owes you money. Once you get the car into ACC mode (beat on the steering lock itself under the steering column with rubber mallet while repeatedly pushing the start button) only then can you remove the fuse to disable the steering lock. This is your best parking lot option.

If you remove the fuse while the ESCL is failed in the locked position and the car is off, your car will never turn on.

@DEPointfiveo0 --

Why do I need to pull the fuse while the car is running? Is that because it will stay broken if I don't (i.e, stay in a 'locked' state)?

What would happen if I just open up the fuse box and pull the SLU fuse? According to this video, it would work, but the guy puts his car in ACC mode before pulling the fuse, which I can not even get to. I can't get my Z into AC or ACC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CkQEE0OIPU

Awesome, thanks for the answer.

Just wanted to post here as well, it looks like there is a recall for 09-10 370Zs for this specific issue. Should be covered 100%, although from the comments in various threads sometimes the consumer affairs department gives you a hassle

http://www.the370z.com/nissan-370z-w...-lock-fix.html

Good luck with that.

‘09 370Z Nismo owner with the same problem and a few tips.
I got the dreaded Yellow key when driving, and as it went away later, I STUPIDLY ignored it.
Parked my Z at Uni yesterday, and it would Not start after class. Yellow Lock icon. No Acc. No On. Nothing. But my steering wasn’t locked. I was confused. Even more annoying, every-time you open the doors, the window drops down & there’s no way to get them to go back up. Dealership only wanted it towed to them, claimed ignorance of any of these problems (I know the same revision parts were recalled (of free replaced on the Altima) for the same years. So now I have a non-starting Z, and I can’t leave it locked. Great. Called AAA and towed it home to look at it the next day. Needed tools. The fix today:
1. Beat on the Steering Wheel lock box with a rubber mallet as suggested. Nothing.
2. Pulled off the plastic panel under steering wheel, disconnected all wiring except hood release to get it out of the way.
3. Used small wire cutters to take out the break off bolts.
4. Could see the lock was disengaged, but not all the way down. I used a screwdriver to push it down while pressing start. Got Acc, On & it starts.
5. While in Acc mode, pulled the steering lock fuse & buttoned everything back up.
6. Replacement screws are M8 1.25 and 20 or 25mm.

I’m hoping it will not reoccur, but if it does, at least I know what it is and can do a field fix.
I’m not planning to replace the part or cut it open at this point in hopes Nissan will replace these units. According to the above thread, they did issue a voluntary recall including 09-10 370Z, but claimed not to know about it.

Update: Nissan customer service claims there are no recalls for my model and year - 2009 370Z Nismo. They suggested I could pay ‘out of pocket’ to fix it at the Stealership. Yeah, right. I think I’ll live with no steering lock.
To recalibrate the window fault I was getting:
1. Open window all the way down, close them and hold the button in the up position for 5sec more. Check the auto up function and open closing the door is working again. Do the same on the passenger side. Done.

Nissan USA is clueless
 

OK so I spent 20 Mins with a Nissan USA regional service advisor. He basically told me to pay for the repair out of pocket at the obscene Nissan dealer prices. He refused to reimburse me for any expense.

My plan after doing *lots* of searching about the repairs they ARE doing to the “2009-2010 Nissan Altima, Altima Coupe, Altima Hybrid, and Maxima vehicles“
ESCL-Service-Campaign
Is to now is to buy this part:
It replaces the lock with a blank box (no lock no motor, probably no switches) which talks to the BCM =>ECU so the car starts, but it no longer can LOCK the steering wheel.it always tells the car “everything is good to go”. This is the genuine fix Nissan is doing.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/For-Ignitio...e/352226882999
Part costs like $70... Yay! ...and yes it did say it fits my vehicle when I entered my 370Z Nismo details. Part number is: 48708-9N00A if the above link is gone to the deal. The internet lasts forever and links and people die.

This should fix the problem for anyone with the LATER 48700-JF00D (e.g. D or E) failing and in a way that you “can’t just pull the fuse”. Which happened to me. Remember: If you cant get to ACC then pulling the steering lock fuse does noting.

And BTW if they did replace your unit with a revD or Maybe even E... these will fail as well over time. So pull the fuse or buy the cheater harness for the ‘brown wire’. Do it now. I hope this post will help someone.

BTW- On a safety note.. I’m not into hacking open the old part and soldering switch pads closed. Although some have done that as a fix, it’s not to be recommended as you can buy a Genuine Nissan “ESCL delete box” for $75. I would never want to fear a steering lock could fail somehow and lock the steering wheel at a critical moment. Can you believe they won’t replace a part that costs $70 retail and takes them like half an hour to provide customer good will? What are they thinking?

I used to think my 370Z was ‘dependable’ and that Nissan offered ‘Customer Service’ to their car owners. Do they need someone to have a horrible accident before they address this as a safety Recall on ALL Nissan Vehicles with ANY rev of the ESCL steering lock installed? ‘nuf said.
Best of luck to all Nissan owners. You’ll need it.

Thank You For This Information - I Pulled My Fuse But It's Nice To Have Options

2010 370z Roadster, Steering lock failed, hammering the box didn't work. This did.
 

My lock failed over the weekend and taking a hammer to the mechanism did not disengage the lock. I removed the steering lock mechanism, reattached the harness to the mechanism and had my father in law hold the mechanism and press the movable part from the top, down with a screwdriver. I then pressed the start button, the radio turned on and ACC was displayed on the start button. I immediately removed the steering lock fuse from the the compartment within the battery area then started the car. Thankfully this worked for me. The car starts and I'm confident that I will not have to deal with this again........

If your steering lock mechanism's top part can be pushed down, this disengages the steering lock and give's you the opportunity to remove the fuse.
Don't forget to attach the wire harness when doing this and this is a 2 person job.

Good Luck!