Steering lock problem solved (for real)

Ghostvette

At the risk of being overly rude, an engine needs 3 things to start; air, spark and fuel. If you are sure you have fuel (the gas gauge is just an approximation), then all you are missing is spark. Crank and no start is usually crank sensor. Ours are in a location that is not too prone to getting dirty from road crap, however, a leaking CSC can raise havoc with it. Since your car will start eventually, you might have a fuel issue. Check and make sure the fuel pump hasn't fallen off inside the tank.


GL

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2015 Magma Red 6MT Sport Tech/2012 Fairlady MB 6MT Base (RIP 08032018)https://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/370Z/Coupe/

DemandedAce

Pulling the fuse did absolutely nothing for me as well, my car still has the lock frozen about 90% of the mornings that I get in and I have to bang on it to get the car started daily

Ghostvette

Pulling the fuse does work, if you pull the fuse after starting the car and you pull the right one. It's up by the battery, kinda buried. Some people cut the brown wire going to the steering lock. There is a thread in the DIY section that has pictures.

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2015 Magma Red 6MT Sport Tech/2012 Fairlady MB 6MT Base (RIP 08032018)https://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/370Z/Coupe/

SouthArk370Z

Are you sure you got the right fuse? If you hear a whirring noise from the ESCL when you press the start button, you pulled the wrong one.

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mishuko

Drove into work. Flood warning. Hoping not to get drowned car lol

DemandedAce

For probably the tenth time in the past ten pages of this thread, yes I pulled the right fuse - and no it did not work.

SouthArk370Z

It sounds like the locking pin is not fully retracted. Put the fuse back in, cycle the ESCL (let it lock and then unlock), remove fuse again.

Edit: It might help to give the ESCL a few whacks right before pulling fuse

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Mankind has progressed past the need for war but we haven't evolved that far. - NachoMahma

mishuko

But did you really pull the right fuse?

DemandedAce

Tried that a few times as well, it drives me insane lol. In the winter it seemed like it was each night that hit 30 or lower it locked up again, but now it is literally every day I get in it is locked. The nice thing is that it isn't fully seized so I can generally kick it pretty hard and get it to loosen, though some days I still need to use the hammer.

The weirdest thing about all of this, is that I haven't had the fuse in for a few months now - this is happening daily (re-engaging and releasing) while the fuse isn't even in. It doesn't make ANY sense (I have a degree in electrical and computer engineering, so I know how absolutely no sense this makes)

At this point I'm probably going to put the fuse in, let it lock, free it up, bang it a few more times, pull the fuse and then cut the brown wire and see if anything changes. Honestly, the Z has completely gone to **** since December for me. In December my CSC failed on the road and needed that replaced, then a week later the steering wheel locked up, then my driver side lock mechanism stopped working so I can only unlock/lock with the physical key, and then my passenger lock started the same thing so now neither door locks/unlocks electronically anymore.

Then, for good measure, some guy wanted to race on the highway and I'm not about that, so he proceeded to get pissed off and cut me off before dropping a gear and spinning his wheels which kicked up a big stone and broke my windshield nicely to the point where I need to replace it now.

Been a super bad past few months with this car, she's lucky she's fun to drive when she actually works >.>

DemandedAce

Gonna make me cry man

SouthArk370Z

Cutting the brown wire does exactly what pulling the fuse does (kills power to motor that moves locking pin).

It sounds like you may have a mechanical problem, not an electrical one. Possibly too much grease, which is not letting the locking pin travel to full stop.

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Steering Lock Links - Search The370Z Bookmarklet - FSM @ NICOclub
Mankind has progressed past the need for war but we haven't evolved that far. - NachoMahma

DemandedAce

So at this point would the recommendation be to just cut my way into the unit itself and find a way to disengage the pin manually?

SouthArk370Z

That's what I would do. There is at least one DIY on this site explaining how to get the thing apart and which switch(es) need to be jumpered.

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Steering Lock Links - Search The370Z Bookmarklet - FSM @ NICOclub
Mankind has progressed past the need for war but we haven't evolved that far. - NachoMahma

DemandedAce

Do you know where this DIY is? I've been hunting for a while now and can't find it. The closest I have found is Kenchan's DIY for removing the box, but does not explain opening/modifying the box. Fritz posted a while back a thread stating he had pulled the box and dismantled it, but he never posted any pictures or real steps, and when people asked him to (since it was in the DIY) he got defensive and they all started arguing about lawyers and liability until a mod closed the thread lol (this was a 2012 thread).

If you can find it or have it earmarked please send it over to me, I'm looking now though and still can't find anything on the internals of the unit yet which is really what I need at this point.

Sidenote, it seems like the unit can be removed/disengaged but still plugged in - does this fit what you have seen (I haven't been able to remove mine yet)? If so, it seems like I could theoretically remove the two safety fastening pins and just strap it somewhere underneath the steering column where it can do whatever it wants all day while not actually engaging anything.

Thoughts?

SouthArk370Z

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

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Mankind has progressed past the need for war but we haven't evolved that far. - NachoMahma