Hello y'all,

For obvious reasons, I haven't been driving anywhere very much. Today when I went out to try and start my vehicle (2008 G37S MT), all I got was that little yellow "KEY" light and a warning in the center of the display that, according to the manual, means "steering lock release malfunction indicator". I tried the little tip in the manual to no avail. Maybe I'm doing it wrong? But basically, my steering wheel is locked in place and the car won't start. I've tried calling a dealer and no one ever got back to me. It's in my driveway in such a way that I'm not sure I'd be able to get it out onto a truck since I can't turn the wheels.

I've searched the internet for tips and stuff; A lot of material that involved turning the car to ACC and then removing a fuse to prevent lock failure. I can't even get the car to said mode, though. I push in the clutch and press the start button and nothing happens other than the warnings appear.

I would like to note that the battery did die today at some point. I managed to unlock the car but that's all that I could get done before I had to jump it with a family member's vehicle. The windows are stuck down because of that, hooray...

If any of you have any suggestions, fixes, or guidance for this issue I would very much appreciate it. I've only had this car a year so I'm not 100% familiar with it yet, and given the lockdown I don't have a huge amount of resources.

Thanks!

 

Battery in the key fob dead?
Car battery cables coroded or loose?
Car battery charged, replaced, or are you trying to jump it?
Do you have a code reader?

 

This ESCL issue mainly affected certain 2009/2010 Nissan/Infiniti models. Rare for a 2008 but possible, I guess.

First and foremost, remove the car battery and either get it fully charged or replace it. These cars take a lot of current at startup. Sometimes jumping does not work- especially if your battery was deeply discharged or if the jumper cables are not a heavy duty type. Get a good battery in there and see what happens.

Now, if the ESCL still won't unlock, your options get limited. You can try the "hammer tap" method or the "steering wheel shimmy." Some have had luck getting it to unlock. More often than not the ESCL module has to be replaced and it is not a easy job- mainly because it is difficult to gain access to it.

You can only pull the STEER LOCK fuse after the module is unlocked. Though while the battery is out it would be a good idea to check that fuse just to make sure it is good.

 

Fob is good.
Cables seem to be okay.
Replaced battery.
No reader. Working on that, though.

None of the trouble shooting seems to be working, assuming I'm hammering and shimmying right. Battery was replaced as the old one was some crusty refurbished thing.

Not sure what I should do next outside of figure out how to get it out if my driveway or learn to replace the part myself, assuming it is the problem. I have the next few months off so I can tinker with it for a bit if need be.

 

Do you hear any noise from the steering column when you press the start button? Or when you press the button to LOCK? If you do not hear a slight whirr/click then the ESCL is the likely culprit especially if you are getting the yellow key light on the cluster.

I am attaching a pic of a 2008 steering column (pic from eBay) showing the ESCL:


Because of where it is located, getting access to it will be a royal PITA. Make sure you are tapping on the right module.

Using my VIN (2008 Coupe/sport) the part number for the ESCL is 48700-1NC1A and it is not cheap. $732.58 from discountinfinitiparts.com



Wish I had better news for you. Maybe other forum members will offer some additional tips/advice.

 

Yeah that's what I'm tapping. How hard should it be? I've been using a soft ended gunsmithing hammer thing.

Pain in the *** or not, as long as it is doable I should be able to get it done. And no, there's no click or anything. Just the KEY symbol, the warning aforementioned warning light, and the push button says "Lock" I think. Is there anyway to at least get the car to accessory mode so I can put my windows up? That's really my biggest concern right now. Like I said, I have a while to work on the module itself. Thanks for the advice so far.

 

If the ESCL is shot, the car will not go into any mode (ACC, ON). It will remain in LOCK until the ESCL unlocks and sends the "ok" signal to the BCM. From what I can tell in the FSM that signal can't be "tricked."

In theory, you could try applying voltage directly to the driver side main window switch. But, I am not sure if the switch encoder would function properly with the rest of the car being "offline." The surest bet would be to apply voltage directly to the window motor. Unfortunately, either way you will have to remove the door panel.

At this point I'm out of ideas. Me personally, I would disconnect the harness and use a jumper wire to try cycling the module- it is only a simple solenoid. Or, I would beat the hell out of the damn thing- that's the NY'er in me- but it's your car....

Because you had battery issues, did you check ALL of the fuses?

Good luck...

 

So I fixed it. Just took the ESCL out and then pushed the lock in and reinstalled it. Removed the fuse when the car turned on. Et viola, the car runs.

Either I'm mega dumb and did too much work or actually did it properly, but I removed the steering column to get to the ESCL box. To make it easier, I replaced the security bolts with something I could reach and not have to drop the whole thing, just in case it happens again.

Here's some links to dismantling the thing if someone comes buy and needs to read it.

Column: https://www.nicoclub.com/service-man...pe/2010/ST.pdf
Wheel: https://g35driver.com/forums/v36-diy...t-paddles.html


There really wasn't an easy way to go about doing everything. It was indeed a PITA. But its done and the car runs more or less the same.

 

Glad you are back up and running. Getting to the ESCL module on these cars is a royal PITA. As long as you keep that fuse pulled, you will likely never have to deal with this issue ever again.

Thanks for the update.

 

Anyone else still have the orange key light on after pulling the fuse? I've also cut the brown wire. The car was starting fine for a couple of months. I got stalled and tried for an hour, tapping the ESCL, giggling the steering wheel, inserting the fob into the dash, using the fob to press the start button. As a precaution, I carry the spare fob that has a new battery. Nothing worked. There was also a red key light. It sometimes wouldn't let me put the car in accessory mode. After pressing the start button and waiting a moment, the dash would illuminate.I had the car towed car home and tried to start it. I jumped in, and there was no fob light. It started right up. Anyone have any ideas?