Ok, so doing 60 on the highway (90 East to Chicago yesterday....for those who live here, bad weather), car dies, steering wheel locks....hydroplane sideways on the highway, cause I have no steering control....drop the car in neutral, start back up, gain control. Why does the car lock up if it dies...that seems to be a serious safety hazard, as it was in my case. Also, does anyone have a trick to getting the IACV off...I can get the screw on the right (facing front of car) off, but there is no way in he!! the other one is coming off....I can't even get a vice-grip around it to take it off. Thanks

 

The steering wheel shouldn't lock unless you turn off the key...otherwise you should just lose power steering...

 

yup the weather was just horrible last night..... and it still is.

 

The Ptsssss Ptsssss is probably a Blow Off Valve...Got Boost?

 

 

You're probably not locking the wheel, just losing power steering, making it very hard to turn the wheel. If it did lock, you have a serious problem.

 

Do you know what engine trouble or other problems you may have to make the car shut down?? I know that about 10 months ago when i first got my 95 Maxima, my car kept shutting off in the middle of my drive. When if shut off the wheel would lock up and living in N.C. where we have some skinny country roads, this was not fun. I'm guessing that it might not be Maximas but you might have a problem in your steering column. I found out that my ignition switch was damaged. Hope this helps anybody out a little.

 

I think that may be it, cause it would turn a little, but I needed to use a LOT of force to do so. I think the problem is with my IACV 9dirty?), cause I'm idling around 500 or so, and I've cleaned out the throttle body and just got an oil change. Could it be the IACV sticking?

 

I idle at about 700-900... and yeah, when the power steering goes out, it will become extremely difficult to turn the wheel, but it will turn a little.

 

same problem with old92 g20... at some point the idle died during a turn..i duno how the hell that happend..but i lost my steering..almost hit a parked car.friggin scary..the power sttering went out i was able to turn a lil bit after it died but then it locked up after i turned w/o poweer sterring for a lil bit...almost ****ed my pantalons. good thing for 4 wheel disc brakes.

 

damn, i would **** myself if my car died when i was doing 60...and no power steering to top it off...Lucky you saved it and nothing tragic happened man...



Eric

 

forget why the wheel locked, why did your car just cut off in the middle of driving high speeds on the highway? thats very unsafe for u and everyone else not to mention very weird. I heard of cars dieing while idle at a light or too long but never while driving, especially at high speeds like 60...

 

The people at nissan said that it was because my ignition was damaged so the signal sent to the engine was wrong and some time in the driving part, the engine malfunctioned necause the wrong signal was sent to the engine. This is what caused my car to shut whil drivingv @ 50 MPH. Luckily I pulled into a parking lot at an angle and had enough momentum to get out of the other cars on the road.

 

Clean your throttle body. I dont know if thats the problem but my car died on me for a while and I was idleing very low. IT was also hard to start sometimes without giving it some gas. I cleaned my throttle body and all problems were solved. Its worth a shot. Just go to auto zone or something and pick up a can of intake/throttle body cleaner for 3 bucks and try.

 

when i first learned to drive stick, i wondered what would happen if i threw the car in neutral and took out the key. I waited till i was going downhill, so i still had momentum to keep the truck moving, and then i did it. It was fine until i move the wheel like and inch, the the steering wheel locked up. I threw on my hazards, put the key in, started the truck up, grinded some gears trying to get back to normal driving, and went on with my life.

 

what possessed you to do that is beyond me...nothin i would ever try...least you know what will happen now...




eric

 

Because i was curious, and the thought that something really bad would happen never entered my mind.


also, it was a work truck. Which is why i used it to learn on. None of my friends would let me use their cars.