Is your car out of warranty?

if you guys are interested, search the GT-R forums and other info as it is rather common for their early 2009 models. they use a different PN steering lock, but probably from the same german manufacturer.

werd is why would a japanese company let a german company build this motor driven electronic device. :shakes head: german cars frequently have electronic problems...why use the same dirty needle? :icon14:

I have the same issue with my car. I've been waiting for over a week for the steering lock assembly to come into the dealership after being on and off the phone with Nissan for over 3 weeks (I got lucky and Nissan will be paying for the parts and labor). And I totally agree with you, Nissan should recall this part. I cant wait for this headache to be over!!!!

do you know the build date of your 2009? :confused:

I have no idea. I'll have to get back to you on that one when I get home. But correct me if I am wrong, but are these issues occurring with all the 09 z's??

not sure if all 2009, but i know the early release GTR's had the same issue. it's using a different PN lock, but same issue.

did you buy your Z around Aug 2009? that's when i bought mine and mine is a June 2009 build date. probably borderline affected/not affected.

i dont dd the car and rarely lock it unless i grab a pop or something at the gas station so probably no issue for me, but can't be 100% sure. we shouldnt have to worry about this though. :ugh2:

Ad me to the list.
Bought the car in April used. Had it towed the first time when I had the fuel pump cut out on me after a hard right hand turn and uphill acceleration. Figured that out at home later while reading the forums. You guys rule btw!!
Got it towed the second time after some dumb chick ran a red and took off the front end about 2 months ago. That was $8000.
Now I leave work today and the car wont start..this time I looked on the forum while sitting there cursing. I tried to reset ecu and that didnt work. I'm getting tired of watching it pull away on a flatbed. I spoke to the service dept and mentioned what I figured it was from what I found out here. I guess we'll see tomorrow. Its out of warranty so I can hardly wait.

Is this problem isolated to just the 2009s? First time I'm seeing anything about it. Now I'm going to be paranoid...

2009 370z. Manual with syncro. Bought in March 09.

Same stuff happen to me today on 12/6/11. Had car towed to my house via flatbad. Thank god the steering wheel lock happened while the wheels are turned straight or the tow truck driver would not have put it on the bed.

I will call the dealership and see about them picking it up.

not certain, but i believe early 2009's.

for the corvette guys it appears when the battery charge is low the lock sometimes can not get enough juice to unlock. the bcm appears to receive an error message from the steering lock and prevents the car from starting. for the corvette giving it a nice battery charge fixed it for some folks.

this can be the same issue on ours as edmund's GTR had the same problem and the blog mentioned his battery was weak and died the next day or something and had to be jumped. with the cooler weather it's maybe possible the battery charge has something to do with it too...(?) i dont know how many amps these locks take but it is a motor driven lock and doesnt look like a real precision device. lol :icon17:

im pretty sure these locks are made by TRW at their germany facility...someone correct me if im wrong, but the GTR's locks were made in germany per reading online posts and articles.

here's some reference from the corvette folks...

Steering Column Lock FAQs - please read before you post (sticky please) - Corvette Forum

Update. Dealership called and said they believe that its the wheel lock. Shocker there, they said they had seen it on a couple altimas but NEVER ona 370. I told them to check out this website cause I aint alone. Lol. Anyway best part was they wanted to charge me $1400. $1080 for the part alone. I told them to not touch it, I would get the part from the us for $480. Lol. Having a great day so far. Uuugh.

korrupt- yah make sure you get the 2 bolts as well. it's a security bolt where the hex breaks off when torqued. it's a pita to get it out but doable with easy-outs or angled long nose pliers (per GTR site).

my plan is to get to the lock before it fails (well, my car's hibernating so i have a while before it inconveniences me... lol :D ), remove the 2 stupid bolts, replace with philips head screws and keep a kit in the car at all times along with a new lock.

i think i will also replace the clutch helper spring while im down there too. :p

48700A is the bolts you need. it uses 2pcs.

http://www.courtesyparts.com/images/...703-Z34002.jpg

Steering lock assembly - yellow security light
 

Some info for you dudes....
STEERING LOCK ASSM. $542 - $622
- #48700-JF00B Production Date: 2008.10-2009.08
- #48700-JF00C Production Date: 2009.08-2009.10
- #48700-JF00C Production Date: 2009.10-2010.09
- #48700-JF00D Production Date: 2010.09- Current (You Want This One "D")

LINK: 2010 Nissan 370Z Key Set & Blank Key - 998305

Even More Info: (Electrical)
LINK: 2010 Nissan 370Z Electrical Unit - 253305

The price for the Bolts (#49700A) are: $2.68 as kenchan posted above.
- #48700A 370Z SCREW-STEERING LOCK 48703-06F0A Production Date: 2008.10-2009.10

Thanks to all who keep posting. It is very helpful to all.

awesome info! :tup: thanks!!!

Yes kenchan,
"i think the solenoid is part of the steering lock assy..."

you are correct about that.. I corrected the post..

I believe it was a switch for the gearshift located by the clutch or break pedal, not sure.
That was the 2nd part they ordered, turned out not to be that...
(Thanks for the correction :) )

hey np mwagner. im not a pro at this either. trying to figure out a workable solution before something silly happens.

it appears the GTR guy that fixed his car used 48700–JF00C to replace his bad lock. i am assuming now that 48700–JF00A and 48700–JF00B are the ones that had this problem. the GTR guy also mentioned in his post (and his pict illustrats this) that the locks even appear different.

considering that my car was a Jun 2009 build and 48700–JF00C was put into production Aug2009 to Oct2010, my car has the bad revision lock. actually even some of the 2010's are affected if we go by this as i am sure the manufacturer did a running change to exhaust old inventory (and who knows how many was at their service station).

here's a nice write up for the GTR by "Davin." :)

DIY Write Up: Steering Lock Fix - NAGTROC - The Nissan GT-R Owners Club

http://www.the370z.com/members/kench...-17-57-964.jpg

Ended up there were 2 bolts in one pack. :D

there's a 2010 nismo affected... trying to find out build date.

My service manager is saying its the IPDM. They are waiting for the part and should have it installed in 4 days.

Sound good. seems either the IPDM or steering lock, but most likely the lock causes the error.

Also wanted to update Oct2009 build nismo had the same lock problem.

Just looking at the production dates of the locks... Is it safe to assume any cars built prior to 2010.09 could have this problem?

gale- as of this am I think build date prior to Nov2009 could have this problem.

it's hard to tell, but my guess is that RevA and RevB (built up to Aug2009) can be the problematic one. most suppliers maintain inventory of roughly 4wks + work-in-process parts which can take up to 10-12wks to completely clear out. but luckily for this case it appears it was a process failure rather than material... read the USA VSC below...

JAPAN initiated 3/3/2010 (?) for GTR:
http://www.gtrblog.com/wp-content/up...ck-540x290.jpg


USA initiated 3/28/2010 (?) GTR: highlights root cause of failure is excess amount of oil within the assembly...

CP 2009 GT-R; Steering Lock Unit – Voluntary Service Campaign

Nissan is conducting a Voluntary Service Campaign to replace the steering lock assembly on certain specific 2009 model year GT-R vehicles due to excessive oil within the assembly, which could cause the Body Control Module (BCM) to prevent the engine from starting when the ignition is cycled. This issue does not affect steering or engine operation when the vehicle is already running. See this bulletin for further detail.

Same happened to me guys. Unfortunately I was 5000 miles out of warranty. Wound up costing me 1200 bucks. I drive an 09 370z. I'm hoping to call 1-800-NISSAN1 and complain about it. Maybe if enough of us call them we can get some movement on getting this fixed?

sorry to hear cevans. :( can you let us know the build date of your 370Z?

I can't believe there isn't a TSB for this yet.

had car towed to dealer last night,key light on and wont start or any thing else. just like some of the others,went to store, came out and nothing, service rep just called and told me the stearing cable "went bad" and are on back order. just lucky im still under warrenty.

Not sure the exact build date. I called 1-800-NISSAN1 Friday and told them of the situation. This is my 3rd Nissan with the previous 2 being Altima's. I told them I'd like to be reimbursed for at least the part, and that many of us on the forums here have had this problem.

Surprisingly I received a call from a woman about 15 minutes ago relating to this issue. They basically ask you where you get it serviced, how many Nissan's you've owned. She is passing this along to some sort of manager and then they'll review it based on "good will"

I'm hoping they go ahead and reimburse me for the whole thing. I'd imagine if enough of us call that have had this problem we can start a fire under Nissan's butt to fix this issue permanently, or at least cover the part if it's out of warranty.

Good information and good investigative work going on in is thread... :tup:

Curious to see if anyone else gave Nissan a call?

The Nissan rep said I would be receiving a call within a few days, as soon as I hear something I'll update the thread again!

ive not called. i already have my spare lock so it's really a done issue for me. i will install mine when spring comes around.

Got my car back today. I had the lock shipped up here from grubbs infiniti nissan last thursday, great service. Cost me $550 for the part and $100 for overnight shipping. After the tow, 3 hours labour, and dollar exchange rate it ended up costing me $1200. Perfect time of year too.:shakes head:
Dealer wanted to charge me $1080 plus tax for the part here in Canada. I wonder how nissan canada can justify that, $550 U.S vs $1080 Can. Oh well it runs for now.
Kenchan, thanks for the heads up about the bolts. I got those at the same time, they probably would have cost me another $300 Canadian.

had this problem and just got my car back today.
stupid steering lock.. warranty covered it luckily.

Wow, that's crazy. But glad to hear you got your car back. Lol@ potential $300 bolts. :icon17:

:tup:

Wanted to update everyone on the problem I had.

Just to recap: I had problem getting the car to see the keyfob. Could not unlock/lock the car without using the physical key. Took the car to the dealer (not one I purchased the car from). They replaced the keyfob receiver in the car. Keyfob worked but couldn't start the car without putting the keyfob into the key port. Interesting thing was if I took the keyfob out while the car was running, turned the car off, I was able to turn the engine on without putting the key into the key port.

I thought it might be the factory alarm. Putting into valet mode didn't seem to help the problem. Took it to the dealer where I purchased the car and had them take a look. They disconnected the alarm and still had the same issue. After about 6 hours, they called me telling me there was an update to the BCM which took car of the problem.

Hope this helps someone out there.

Okay, finally got the call back yesterday from the Nissan rep. Now I was at work when I took the call so I may have been a pushover. As soon as I hung up I decided to call back and say that I was not satisfied.

Basically, they offered me a $200 service check card that could be used at any authorized Nissan dealership, valid for 6 months. For some reason I thought "okay whatever, fine" As soon as I hung up I regretted it. I left a message asking her to call me back, haven't heard back yet.

When I do get a hold of her, I'm going to basically say that $200 for what cost me $1200 is a slap in the face.

Stay tuned for updates.

Update. Recieved the car back from dealership with new IPDM installed. Drove the car home. Drove the car to school. BOOM same problem again.
http://www.the370z.com/members/forre...didnt-work.jpg
Called the dealership. They are saying either new steering wheel lock or new ECU, they are not sure. I know I would love a new ECU. It would remove that ECU whine.

yah, you should get the whole 1200 check back if your car's under warranty.
if not, then $500 would be nice. :D good luck with that.


but doesn't the BCM suppose to handshake with the steering lock first, then tells the ECU the car's ready to start? :confused:

tell the dealer to check the steering lock revision. there's a barcode on the unit they can scan to get datecode and revision number. If your car has RevA or RevB, it needs to be changed.

also remember that this problem seems to occure more when the battery is weaker (colder weather, some cars with 3yr old poorly maintained batteries). if your battery has better cca due to warmer day, etc. chances are it can make the failed unit work again temporarily.