Interesting that the 2012s don't have the lock. At least they have a temporary fix for you. It would suck to have the Z out of commission for a few weeks because of this.

Well, at least you're not without your car for the next 3 weeks. Good that the problem wasn't something else.

I was told those things go out on the altimas more than on ours. Oh and mine said national back order with no time frame. 2 weeks possibly but a dealer from this website got it for me in two days...
If he wants the shout out I will

hm...that is interesting

x2

mr.onzedge- good to hear you can at least get you car back. :tup:

but hummm... im quite surprised to hear the 2012's dont use steering locks... do they have other security measures? :confused:

i'd be VERY INTERESTED to see what the underside of the 12's steering column looks like. i should go visit my dealer sometime this Spring to take hentai (up steering column) shots with my droid. :ugh2:

hope the dealer lets you see the bad steering lock so we can get the Rev number....

Very. I wonder why they got rid of them... :rolleyes:

あなたは確かに日本人です。。。

hey, i prefer to roll on the floor and look up with a flash light, but that would be too werd. :ugh2: :icon17:

:bowrofl::bowrofl::bowrofl:

I was going to make a joke about you having to go inside the car to look and relating it to 中出し, but you are too classy of a gentleman for that kind of juvenile, adolescent, potty humor :tup:

I want to know if the car will start with the lock removed? Or if the ECU can flashed to remove the code that allows the car not to crank after it's removed? If thats how it works . I'd like to see this come off my car now if it can.

Mmmm, pie.. :yum:

i am 99% sure it will not start without the steering lock as the BCM needs to receive an 'all clear' and constant signal from the steering lock during initial self-diagnosis before start.

lolllll

Read this on FB, sorry to hear Mr. onzedge. Glad you now have the Z back home while the part arrives to the dealership. I have subscribed to Kenchan's DIY thread and will need to check mine and the bros Z since both are 09's with early mfg dates. Better it happen while your car is still in warranty than having to shell out $500 + later. Both Z's are coming up with the warranties running out (3 yr/36k), already looking into extended warranties taking them to 75k mi. Sounds like the wise route to go, not to mention if it happens to me then that one part covers 1/3 of the extended warranty price.

If Courtesy Nissan has the part in stock, can't your dealership have it transferred to them? I am going to ask my dealership to stock one in the event this happens to either one of our Z's.

The dealer checked everywhere, even Courtesy Nissan and no luck. I don't really mind waiting all that much, especially considering she is home as of this morning. The Versa they loaned me is a screamer.

:tup:

To make a long-story short, I had the steering lock problem (December 16, 2011) and the part was back-ordered for over 4 weeks. What a nightmare!

Mine happened this past thursday :(

A Recall isn't going to do much good if the replacement parts are completely unavailable...unless they develop a procedure to remove the part entirely, since the 2012 apparently doesn't have them anymore.

Since Nissan isn't being receptive to e-mails about the issue, I propose that we start moving to media outlets to raise awareness - the fact that this issue could possibly mean being stranded in the middle of nowhere and it cuts across three separate Nissan models (the Z, the GTR, and the Maxima) definitely warrants a voluntary service at the very least, especially since this isn't a "wear and tear" item by any means.

Good idea. It also impacts the Altima.

x2

Email for Nissan North Amerca customer service:
customersupport@nissan-usa.com

--------------------------------------------------
The big guns emails:

darryll.harrison@nissan-usa.com
CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS for SOUTHEAST
ATTN: Darryll Harrison (Manager)

scott.stevens@nissan-usa.com
Nissan Corporation
ATTN: Scott Stevens (Vice President)

NOTE: Darryll Harrison is/or was on Facebook.

We need to overflow their emails concerning this issue!

I got a letter from Nissan saying that my car "may be subject to a Nissan service recall campaign." I wonder if this is what they will be checking for me. I better bring it in soon because I don't want this to happen to me! It's bad enough that I got a stuck clutch twice in two years!

I had the problem last month and it took two weeks to get the steering lock. I double checked and they did install the "D" unit on mine. I checked a bunch of dealers while I was waiting, including Courtesy Nissan and no one had any in stock. They all told me it was on back order. From the sound of things, my 2 week wait was less than most. I guess I got lucky.

Nissan really should do a recall on this!

AZ

I was thinking more along the lines of sending the story out to car sites/blogs, as it appears Nissan isn't really responding to e-mails regarding the issue nor are they taking an effort to address it. Putting the issue out in the public domain on car-related publications and sites would definitely get Nissan's attention, and could possibly force them to respond (with something besides a canned reply).

Furthermore, pushing information on the steering lock issue alerts other Z, GTR, Altima, and Maxima drivers to be aware of the high possibility of the issue afflicting them; not everyone who owns one of those cars is on the forums. One my ex-girlfriends' parents drive a Maxima, and while I hate that bitch, I think her parents are fantastic people, who only happened to accidentally raise an idiot - it would be awful to see them driving out to the mountains to go hiking or camping and then getting stuck out there.

I'm on board with this... how can we help?

good to hear! :tup: please keep us posted on your car.

i think with japan's production finally kicking up to near full since the 3/11 disaster last year all the suppliers are coming up kind of short on supply for service parts. :)

:iagree: Who among us is going to take the lead?

Does anyone know of a 2011 model going out?

Based on what I've read on this thread and Kenchan's DIY, I've also emailed Nissan North America (no response yet) and I also contacted my local dealership service department that I purchased my Z from back in 2009. I provided the service manager the background on what has been happening to other 370Z owners and the part(s) in question. He replied back that he had his folks look into it and they confirmed that no TSB was out for this on the 370Z. He said they have had only one instance to date of this problem at their dealership. That was interesting to me because that is one more I (we) were not aware of.

This very real first year of production (unknown) problem, is why I bought an extended warranty. As foolish as it sounds.

I bought an extended warranty also and it does not sound foolish at all. Although mine is under factory warranty still, I don't like the idea of sheeling out serious dollars when I pass 36,000 miles, which will likely be later this year.

That's funny. How do they explain why the 2012 models don't have them (per onzedge)?

Also my dealer gave me a extended warranty at no extra charge. I was pretty shocked.

mr.onzedge- while you were on your painful biztrip to hawaii :icon17: was your car hooked up to a battery manager or your kids drive your Z around while you were out?

i ask because there might be some link (not verified) of cars with lower battery charge having this issue more than others.

especially for those in very hot or very cold climates cca can vary greatly...and 3yrs is about when batteries start to show wear if not on battery manager.

I'm going to gather up the appropriate data and then write something up on Monday and shoot it out to some of the car sites I frequent - Edmunds' Insideline, Jalopnik, and Autoblog - any other suggestions?

Is it possible, then, to mitigate or overcome the issue by getting a new battery?? Could be an easier fix than the $500, out-of-stock part.

EDIT: Perhaps nevermind - just saw this post from the other thread...

Waaaaaaaasabi- we're just trying to understand the situation. Over oilling is likely on the earlier recall but I don't think nissan's supplier completely understands the problems.

I noted this in the diy already.

My car was not on a battery charger and I was only gone for 5 days total. I do not think any of my guys messed with the Z -- they know better. Besides, we changed the locks and codes. :icon17:

Scotty in Star Trek III stated that "The more you overtake the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the drain". It could very well be that it is simply a bad design with too many moving parts/interfaces. Why else would Nissan simply eliminate the lock entirely in the 2012 models?