Filed a complaint against NissanUSA today with the BBB. I am supposed to hear back from them in a few days.

Good for you, and hopefully Nissan takes care of you. Thanks for doing your part to look out for others who may experience the same problem.

Mastria is in my home town and for the most part has a long history of taking care of their customers and being involved with the town. Glad to hear your car is fixed and they're still treating people well. :)

Have they resolved this issue in 2013's?!

I had a positive exp at Mastria, even though I decided to purchase my car elsewhere.

Access to the lock mechanism?
 

Hey Guys,
I am new to this site, found it while searching for answers as to why my 09 Max would not start. Great info here and I am trying the DIY fix but how do I get access to the lock mechanism w/o ripping the dash/column trim off like a caveman??? I only saw one screw by the fuse box and one on the auto tilt column, removed those and did not loosen up. any help would be greatly appreciated.

This just happened to me as well. 2009 Maxima, 50,906 miles. Car wouldn't start after stopping for gas. Over $1300 for tow and repair. Sent emails to dealer and corporation so far.

Sorry to hear that. Hopefully these forums can be a good tool for you in the fight to recover some of what you spent. What a bummer.

Is it still a good idea to remove the fuse associated with the lock, after getting the car to start? I haven't experienced this problem YET but, it sounds like it might only be a matter of time before it happens to me.

What year is your car? Anyone with an 09 should pull it. I don't know a ton about who this issue affects, but I think it's the 09's that it happens to.

I have an '09 with 45K miles and have pulled the fuse. I did not have any problems with it but you never know. Better to be safe than sorry.

I refuse to spend that kind of money! I am too stubborn and the car is just sitting in the driveway. Still trying to figure out how to get to the lock mechanism w/o taking a hammer or sawzall to the dash so I can try the DIY suggestions. Any recommendations?? Sites where I can find specs?

Happy reading.

http://www.the370z.com/engine-drivet...heel-lock.html

I have a 2009 so i should jus pull the fuse??? rite

Awesome news. Nissan Assist says they are planning on extending the warranty on the part for the 2009. 6 years and unlimited mileage.

Starting April 1st you can submit for reimbursement on NissanAssist.com if you have a receipt for costs.

This Forum Kicks ***! oh and some good news too!
 

First things First, THANK YOU all for your posts, My Maxima (2009, only 22k miles) pulled this **** on me about 3 weeks ago, I had only heard about it occurring in the Z as My Brother had it happen to his 370 in January. His dealer in Colorado Springs totally hooked him up so he was all good!! I on the other hand was not as fortunate, so I came to your site and found the DIY methods to get the car going again. The "TAP" method worked for me. Although after about 10 to 15 minutes of tapping, it was more like BASH the unit with a rubber mallet that finally worked. The car started, I pulled the fuse and haven't had any issues since. Meanwhile my wife complained to everyone at Nissan Corporate that she could find. Today when we were having the Strut recall fixed, the lady at the dealership showed us a notice indicating that letters will go out on April 1, and the warranty on this part will be extended just like Doozie350 said in the previous post. The notice also indicates that some eligible customers qualify for reimbursement (subject to specific terms) if they have already paid for a fix. Check out nissanassist.com on April 1.

Hey Guys,

Just a side note, and I think it has been posted already, but i rented a 2013 max (base model) the other day for work, and I noticed that the steering wheel lock never initiated in it, I didn't check the fuse, but I'm sure it was pulled also. Shows me that Nissan or the dealer knows about this issues and to cut cost they pull the fuse.. Anyway

Unfortunately, it is 4/3, and it still isn't on the website.

My 2010 SV prem/tech has the fuse pulled and since its only been to the dealer its obvious who pulled it. So now, I think I'll ask the dealer why the fuse is missing and what does it go to and how much is the part - and since its been disable, I think they should refund me the cost of the useless part that I purchased with the car that they have no disabled without telling me? Just to push their button and watch them stammer.

Some guys have been able to temporarily unlock it by hitting the Steering Lock module. It's worth a try.

Got a letter in the mail today from Nissan Canada,it was about a warranty extension for ESCL.

Nissan believes that the vast majority of owners will never experience the failure of the ESCL,but will be extending the warranty on it from 3/60,000 to 6/unlimited.

They give a sticker to put in the warranty book for this and state any claims for ESCL repairs previous to this notice will be reimbursed.

So they state there may be a problem but stop short of really doing anything:yeahright.I guess we all have to drive and hope for the part to fail (or not) within the allotted warranty time for Nissan to fix this problem.

can someone post a picture of where the fuse should be, mine went to the dealer a handful of times and I think they pulled the fuse

Hi all,

Just wanted to thank you all for saving me hundreds of dollars. My 2009 Maxima with about 35k miles wouldn't start due to the steering wheel lock issue (I know it was the steering wheel lock issue because I am smart enough to read threads on maxima.org ;) ).

Anyway, long story short, had the car towed to Great Neck Nissan in NY and they reluctantly fixed this issue as part of the extended warranty. They try to tell me it was because of the Viper remote start I had on my car, had to put up a a lil fight for it but they accepted it eventually....I wouldn't have had a clue about this if it weren't for you guys. So again, THANK YOU ALL!

car ESCL Failed ,Have a 2010 Nissan Maxima SV. The build year coincides with the problem as well as the part number. Refuse to pay for it and if they will not authorize repair,will be selling car and going back to Honda. Don't believe in car payments so paid in full, haven't had the car a year

well, my 2009 with 65k ran into this issue tonight. Can anyone link me to the warranty extension as I know I'll need to have the module replaced and then pull the fuse?

For anyone that runs into this issue, here is the warranty extension letter directly from Nissan's site:

Electronic Steering Column Lock (ESCL) Warranty Extension

2010 Maxima Steering Lock Failure, 78,000 miles
 

This forum has been invaluable to me in dealing with Nissan issues for the past 5 years. I bought a 2010 and two months later the dealer quit Nissan so I am now DIY, because the closest dealer is over 100 miles.


Car died last Friday afternoon. I "tapped" on the SLU until the security bolts were loose enough to unscrew with my fingers. I removed the unit and called the dealer. The SLU part would cost me $540, $300 to install, might have to reprogram the keys, and the cost to transport would be around $800 to $900. They would not give me a part to try and return; if I picked the part up, I bought it. Nissan would not do anything about warranty. They have been replacing a fair number of the lock units and were very aware of what happens when the lock fails.


I put the part back in the car and pressed the dead bolt lock pin all the way in with flat blade screw driver, and with the bolt pressed all the way in, I worked the screw driver into the area between the dead bolt pin and the side of the case and twisted the screw driver slightly to apply lateral pressure while also applying downward pressure. While doing this, I pressed the start button slowly. After about three tries, there was a slight noise in the lock unit and the car started. I immediately pulled the fuse for the starter lock while the car was running and things seem to be working.


I have filed a complaint. This forum is great, I hope this helps someone else.

Hi all. I had this issue happen to me last night. I have a 2010 (build date 8/2009). I pulled this TSB from AllData:
Classification: EL10-003

Reference: NTB10-0532

Date: April 13, 2010

IGNITION WILL NOT TURN TO THE ON POSITION

APPLIED VEHICLES:
2009 Maxima (A35)
2010 Maxima (A35) built before 1N4AA5AP3AC 812165 / Sept 30, 2009
2007 - 2009 Altima Sedan, Coupe, and Hybrid (L32, CL32, & L32HV)
Question: has anyone had the issue repaired under Nissans special extended warranty for a 2010 with applicable build date?

failedunlocked
 

My column lock failed today. Apparently in the unlock position, but will not start. Everything I've read says they fail locked. Anyone heard of unlock failure, and would it cause the same problem?

jbojacket. If the issue is the ESCL (electronic steering column lock) that failed, they fail with the steering wheel in the UNLOCKED position. If you can get the ignition to turn on just once more, you can pull the steering column lock fuse. It is #40 10amp mini fuse in the under hood fuse box on the drivers side.

Thanks, I wasn't clear on failure mode. Headed back to work to see if I can tap it free.

Thanks to all! After pecking on the slu for about an hour, I decided I had nothing to lose so I dropped the bottom of the dash, took off the cross bracing and whacked it twice with the business end of a 1/2" drive ratchet. Apparently, I wasn't hitting hard enough before because after two good strikes I hear the glorious sound of the "you just saved 1000 bucks" dinger also known as the door chime. Popped the fuse and drove home. Thanks again!

2010 Maxima ~92,000 miles
no prior issues

This happened to me today. I went to discount to get new tires. I went in and gave the keys to the DT associate, he went out to the car to get mileage reading, but he couldn't start the car. I went to go check and the "intelligence key warning light" on; steering wheel & brake were hard. After several hours of messing around, I called a tow truck and, they gave me an ETA of 1830.

I went home and started reading and came across this post thread. I went back to discount tire around 1815 and tried the first option outlined by ghozt and IT WORKED in one try!

I called the towing company and cancelled the service.

Ghozt do I need to pull the fuse to make it permanent a solution?

Thanks

also what if you have power tilt for the steering wheel? clearly it wont be able to moved abruptly lol

yeah pull it next time the car is started. dont pull it when its off.

I read through this thread and I'm wondering if there is a definitive answer to what year or date this affects or more importantly doesn't affect? I have a 2010 and 2014 max. I'll look up build dates and send those if needed. Thanks

Those are good questions. Also which models are affected? .... S, SV, Sport, Premium, or all?

So, just experienced the steering wheel lock last night at a local restaurant.

Had it towed to the dealer this morning and they reported back - $1,100 for part and labor. (Really?)

Am now in the process of determining build date and next steps; e.g. fuse fix, etc.

Thanks for the info. here and everyone's contributions!

Update: 2010, Jan 2010 build, just under 42k miles

I have a 2010 Maxima with a build date of March 2010. I went to check the fuse under the hood and it is missing.

I thought Nissan added a warranty extension on the steering column lock. The link below is for 2009 Nissan's.

http://www.nissanassist.com/web/ESCL...qs.php?menu=62