Steering Lock bypass - elegant solution
 

Read dozens of posts on the steering lock failure and DIY fixes, I opted for the CarKit Company Harness - Steering Lock Harness - Car Kit Company for my 2011 NISMO. An extremely easy and elegant solution. Took me all of 10 minutes. They had it 2tome in 2 days after I ordered it...stellar! Nothing to cut or digging for fuses. For $60.50 delivered to my door, best $60 I have spent on this car and worth it for the peace of mind I won't get stranded now. Easily reversible in the same time frame. I highly recommend it!

like i posted earlier, just cut the brown wire per fritz or remove fuse per daisuke... aka FREE

That is fantastic! I had my steering lock replaced last year,but I am always weary it will fail again.Going to order mine soon! Thanks for this :)

ur cat is saying please spend da $60.50 on his cat food, not some ripoff harness.

It is an option of course but that's a rip off harness. Talk about making huge margins.

rip off?
 

Not sure why you would think it's a rip off. $50 for the harness, balance shipping. I didn't have to source plugs, wires and terminals, assemble it and functional test it. My choice was to buy the harness, not advocating it one way or another than to say it simplified the fix for me. Feel free to cut your wires or dig around and pull the fuse, your choice.

Certainly your choice. That being said, pulling the fuse is also fully reversible and requires no modification of the factory harness.... and is still easier than installing this harness extension.

It's a ripoff because you just paid $60 for something that can be done for free. I'm guessing you spent more time placing the order for that harness than it took most of the people on here to pull the fuse. And the guys that cut the wire were way quicker.

I'm not going to sit here and tell you that you did the wrong thing - to each their own. And it's your money, so only you can tell you whether it was worth the cost. But you should be able to understand how some people are coming to the conclusion that you got ripped off.

Forget that it can be done for free. The parts for the harness cost under 10 bucks at cost. I know it is up to them to set pricing and is driven by market but based on cost of goods, fair retail to me is 20 - 25. Then again, it is an option.

While the price would be steep for high-volume harnesses, it's not that bad for a (very) limited-run product. Especially when you consider that many connectors are sold in minimum lots of 1000, many of the components are probably fabricated by hand, etc.

Definitely not a bargain for the DIYer who doesn't mind digging the IPDM out of it's hiding place or permanently modifying the wiring but I can see where it would be worthwhile for some owners.

YMMV

Another option is to find a local forum member that is willing to remove the fuse for you. Also free (or maybe a beer) :tup:

I'll give you beer for cheap wire and connectors for beer.

do you know 2011 370z doesn't have a steering lock???

http://www.the370z.com/members/wind-...ure96330-a.jpg

How did the ESCL fail on my 2011 last year?

is your Z is the early production of the 2011???

my post is base on my personal experience on my own 2011 370z, and source from this forum.


1) Couple years ago I tried to remove the ESCL fuse, spent 25-30mins to finally open the fuse box that contain the ESCL-fuse, then I found out the fuse is "missing"...!!!! :eek: I double check the picture post in the forum and make sure I didn't miss anything and I ensure the slot which the ESCL-fuse should be there is actually empty.

I did some search online and eventually....



2) http://www.the370z.com/nissan-370z-g...ml#post2096899



Therefore, my own 2011 370z shows me no ESCL in it, and source in this forum shows there's no ESCL on the 370z from 03/2011....



now.... can you remove that trump and "like" my post??? :bowrofl::bowrofl:

Correct sir, my previous 2011 with a production date of june 2011 did not have a steering lock.

I removed my fuse one day during my lunch break before I went for some BBQ. It must've taken me 5 min to dig it out and get on with my life.

personally I suggest removing the fuse since you don't need to cut anything, and meanwhile you don't need to add anything.

plus, you can always put the fuse back if... someday.... you are out of your mind and want to play Russian roulette....

My 2011 Z (built in March 2011) did not have the steering lock. I do think some early production 2011 builds did have it.

All that being said, I'm baffled as to why someone would spend $60 to accomplish what could be done by simply pulling a fuse. Why introduce another component into an already compromised system?

I wonder if the OP actually does have a lock mechanism on his car.

This whole thread reads like something out of the Corvette C7 forum. :bowrofl:

Probably for the same reason I will pay my favorite body shop to R&R interior panels - it's worth spending a few bucks to avoid the aggravation and broken tabs.
It's a convenience and convenience ain't cheap (check out the prices at any convenience store).

Would I recommend the harness to someone who is capable of pulling the IPDM and then the fuse? No. Would I recommend it to someone who has never worked on a car before (or just doesn't want to)? Yes.

You are both right. I have an early 2011 build. With ESCL :twocents:

We purchased in March 2011, so it was obviously built earlier - probably one of the last runs for US models before they removed the ESCL entirely.

2009 Z here, I had mine for almost 3 years and I guess I'm one of the lucky ones that didn't have an issue. That being said I went ahead and pull the fuse before it happened. The forum has very good information, even pictures of this process.

I guess not everyone has the same comfort level when doing certain things. Maybe buying the harness and going that route fell more on his comfort level.

I would had at least giving the fuse a try first, and if it was too much of an inconvenience then going another route, but the fuse method is fairly simple ( and I am in now way a mechanical person).

I imagine the easiest step is to cut that one wire under the dash. You can also attach a couple of plugs on each end of the cut wire in case you want to reconnect them for whatever reason.

it is

and da reason why threads like dis pisses me off is because of all da free work we did to find a free solution is taken advantage by some faker who is capitalizing from our efforts.. and some naive newb goes out and buyz dem? WTF x2

:gtfo2:

:iagree:

Unfortunately a good capitalist economy relies on knowledgeable consumers ... which seem to be in very short supply these days :ugh:

Personally, I think anyone that would spend any money on disabling the ESCL is being silly. But that doesn't make them wrong. There's more than one way to skin a cat.
I think pulling the fuse is the best option. Does that make the wire-cutters wrong? (No.)

How are we being taken advantage of? The harness is an improvement on the cut-the-wire method (no permanent mods made) and requires less disassembly of the car than pulling the fuse. For some people, this is a better option.

By all reports I've seen, the harness works so how is the seller a "faker"?

The OP looked at his options and decided that the harness was his best bet. Doesn't sound like he was being naive; he just decided that the solution that worked best for you was not the best for his circumstances. Personally, I would have used to $50 to pay someone to remove the fuse - but it ain't my car or money.

We're done here :ugh2: