My 2010 Suzi won't start

Ask technical questions or post on problems/issues related to the Kizashi under this topic. Symptoms and pictures of your problem are a good idea.
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IA_Kizashi
Posts: 7
Joined: Mon Nov 27, 2017 4:29 pm

My daughter has a 2010 Kizashi SLS. She'll be going off to college soon and her car is having this issue. Like others, it seems to happen primarily when cold. She went all summer with it only happening once and now that it is colder, it is frequent, just like last winter.
We get in and receive the message to turn wheel to release lock, when the steering wheel isn't locked. Based on this thread, all signs seem to point at the steering wheel lock module 3710057L11 which I found here https://monsterfactoryparts.com/parts/2 ... eid=217481
However, her steering wheel does indeed lock and unlock, as it's supposed to. Does that eliminate this module from being the issue?
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Ronzuki
Posts: 2382
Joined: Wed Nov 17, 2010 5:33 pm
Location: Lancaster County, PA

Not necessarily. It may lock and unlock as it is supposed to (2 of the 4 wires), but, there is most likely feedback to the Ignition Control Module confirming the state, locked/unlocked or both positions. Those sensors (or more likely switches), if present, may be faulty signaling to the ignition god-module incorrectly. In my world, reed switches are the cheap option for sensing electrical, pneumatic and hydraulic actuator positions. Again an option not standard. Reeds are the least expensive, and consequently, the most prone to failure since they're a very tiny, flimsy, mechanical switch. When required, I specify the significantly more expensive, non-mechanical, inductive type proximity sensors (if available) for any given actuator. Not likely at all that the car has the inductive type in there sensing that steering lock's position.

I can't wait for someone to take one of these dead things out and open it up to see what makes it tick. Anyone wants to send me their dead one, I'll attempt a post-mortem on it. Pictures of it's installation would be good to have as well. May even be able to figure a work around, who knows.
Ron

2010 Kizashi GTS, CVT, iAWD (3/10 build date)
2011 SX4 Premium Hatch, CVT, iAWD (12/10 build date)
2018 Mazda CX-5 iAWD Touring
2014 Wrangler JKUW (GONE, traded :D :D )
1991 Samurai, 5-Speed, EFI, Soft-Top ( :| sold)
IA_Kizashi
Posts: 7
Joined: Mon Nov 27, 2017 4:29 pm

Ronzuki I will purchase a replacement and see if that fixes it. If it does, I'll send you the old one.
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Woodie
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Location: Laurel, MD

This is beginning to look like a bigger deal than I thought. From the looks of the horrible cartoons in the service manual, the lock is further down the steering column than I thought. Might have to remove the steering column to replace this. Also there's something in the troubleshooting section about the lock motor being unregistered to the keyless start module. I hope that doesn't mean that a new one needs to be programmed to match. Doesn't say anything about that in the replacement instructions.

The communication is serial, so there's no simple switch with it's own set of wires reporting back to the module. Sounds as if there's a lock and an unlock switch, but they're reporting to some chip inside the motor housing and then it's reporting back to the keyless start module via a serial line.

Also, the lock motor is built like a back vault. It's inside a cast metal block, and the cover is held on with breakaway screws that bottom out in their holes and then the heads break off. They're going to have to be drilled out to get it open.
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Ronzuki
Posts: 2382
Joined: Wed Nov 17, 2010 5:33 pm
Location: Lancaster County, PA

Woodie, you have got to be kidding me!? A freaking motorized actuator? Registered to the ICM? Really? That's how it's being referred to in the manual? Well that's a whole different ball-of-wax then, and not a good one. One black box connected to another black box that no one has the capability to understand, let alone repair...great. The fact that it's constructed of pot-metal and purposely made tamper-proof is not encouraging. I would have never thought that level of complication would be required for something so simple.

A DC motor, so likely then a stepper or servo. Well it wouldn't surprise me at all then that it needs to be "registered" with the god-module. If it is a stepper or servo, it would have to be. The more accurate term would be homing...to teach the ICM where the lock and unlock positions are. Do they detail this registering process in the manual?

If this is truly the case, then IA_Kizashi's lock-box-motorized-module may not be faulty at all since it is actually locking and unlocking. It may simply (and I use that term loosely) need 'someone' to re-register it, or, teach it where home is again so the ICM will permit ignition. More uneccessary hi-tech electronic gremlins, great. This ought to be fun considering very few of the experts out there (including what's left of the OE service people with the expensive tools) can successfully replace and link TPMSs in a Suzuki. Just read yet another TPMS post on the SX4 forum. The solution: live with the light or tear the cluster out and disable it. Not an option here when the car won't start.

This is the kind of ongoing and rapidly escalating crap I am loathing, and rant about, in my post regarding autonomous vehicles. These types of unnecessary 'things' are the precursor to the unattainable "full autonomy" that I damn sure don't want to pay for or have to deal with. Fact is we are paying for the R&D right now with BS like this.
Ron

2010 Kizashi GTS, CVT, iAWD (3/10 build date)
2011 SX4 Premium Hatch, CVT, iAWD (12/10 build date)
2018 Mazda CX-5 iAWD Touring
2014 Wrangler JKUW (GONE, traded :D :D )
1991 Samurai, 5-Speed, EFI, Soft-Top ( :| sold)
BLyons
Posts: 226
Joined: Sun May 24, 2015 12:22 am

I called the closest Suzuki service center when I read that about registering the lock, and the person I talked to looked up their replacement procedures and said there was nothing in there about programming it, so a new one should work on its own. Doesn't mean he was right, but that's what I was told.
Black 2011 Sport SLS AWD
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Ronzuki
Posts: 2382
Joined: Wed Nov 17, 2010 5:33 pm
Location: Lancaster County, PA

That is what Woodie also stated...nothing in the "replacement instructions". Replacement is one thing, making what was replaced function is something completely different. Not surprising really, in this day and age of limited and cryptic "instructions".

The troubleshooting procedure, according to Woodie, indicates this registration issue. As I recall the architecture of that goofy electronic service manual, there're hyper-links diverting you to all sorts of different areas in the manual when viewing any given section or topic within the manual. If they are calling the lock a motor, then as I'd stated, it's highly plausible for a registration of some sort may need to be performed. Unless, translation from Japanese to English is responsible for the term motor to be used instead of solenoid. I've run into issues w/ technical German translations like that.
Ron

2010 Kizashi GTS, CVT, iAWD (3/10 build date)
2011 SX4 Premium Hatch, CVT, iAWD (12/10 build date)
2018 Mazda CX-5 iAWD Touring
2014 Wrangler JKUW (GONE, traded :D :D )
1991 Samurai, 5-Speed, EFI, Soft-Top ( :| sold)
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Ronzuki
Posts: 2382
Joined: Wed Nov 17, 2010 5:33 pm
Location: Lancaster County, PA

Looking at the electronic manual right now. There's a diag procedure under the DTC tab...Index List section 10E 'Keyless Start System', DTC B1160. Those who are getting a message on their dash's HUD may find this code set IF you have a way to read those codes. Anyway, under that DTC code there's a step by step cause and effect walk through of the symptoms that would presumably set the code and it ultimately boils down to replacing the steering lock unit buried in the column or replacing the ICM (Ignition Control Module) if there's no wire or connector issues. Neither of those are good.

The steering column has to be removed to gain access to the lock unit in order to remove/replace and looks to be a gargantuan pain in the azz. There's also a non-reusable bolt holding the unit in the column that needs to be 'chiseled' (manual's term, not mine) and replaced w/ a new one because the bolt's head snaps off when it's properly tightened.

The ICM being faulty and needing replaced, besides being outrageously expensive, will pose other challenging issues, I'm sure, for the pairing of the FOBs to the new ICM so you can start the damn car.

Knowing what I've experience over the years with all sorts of electrical connections, I'd be reseating any connectors that have anything to do w/ this module and steering lock unit first. That alone may clear up some people's issues. Bonus, doesn't cost anything. We routinely need to reseat connectors and circuit boards in brand new components when faults and problems arise on power-up and configuration checks. Not at all uncommon.

Elsewhere in the manual under the Bookmarks tab...Section 6B, 'Steering Wheel and Column' under Repair Instructions, which covers the column removal/install and the lock's removal/install, is also an 'Auto Steering Lock Unit Inspection' section. It contains information for performing 'Auto Steering Lock Unit Terminal Voltage' checks. Appears to be an in vehicle test at the lock's 6-pin connector which can be accessed by removing a cover or two. Rather cryptic information, and I'm not sure what it's really going to prove.
Ron

2010 Kizashi GTS, CVT, iAWD (3/10 build date)
2011 SX4 Premium Hatch, CVT, iAWD (12/10 build date)
2018 Mazda CX-5 iAWD Touring
2014 Wrangler JKUW (GONE, traded :D :D )
1991 Samurai, 5-Speed, EFI, Soft-Top ( :| sold)
Kizzy13SLSAWD
Posts: 9
Joined: Fri Dec 01, 2017 6:53 pm

Has anyone looked for a suitable steering lock emulator? I know Nissan and Mercedes owners have used these with great success.

I had this exact problem on my Mercedes. The steering lock used a crappy 50-cent electric motor from China to move the steel lock pin in or out of the slot in the steering column. Over time, the grease in the little motor dried out and hardened until the lock pin no longer functioned (it was worse in the cold too because of this). I could hit it and get the car started occasionally, but after a few failed attempts, the motor self destructed inside the unit.

Mercedes wanted $2200 + labor to replace the steering lock and wouldn't sell one to an individual since it was considered to be a "critical part of the theft deterrent system." My car is insured for theft with $0 deductible - so I frankly don't care if someone steals it. I took an angle grinder to the steering lock and cut it clean off the steering column (which was not easy in the tight quarters).

Then, I ordered a readily available steering lock emulator from England, which arrived a week later. I plugged that in, and now the ignition module believes that the steering lock is in place and functioning normally each time I start the car.

Based on the description of the problem happening more during cold spells, I would bet money that the Suzuki issue is similar if not identical. The metal pin on the lock can't move because the grease in the DC motor is dried out/thick/cold. So the ignition module won't allow the car to start since it believes the lock is still in place. That's why it would tell you to move the wheel... hoping that the lock isn't working due to friction binding the pin.

At the end of the day, I would take a $35 emulator over an actual steering lock every day of the week. Cars get stolen, but I'm just not worried about it. Better to have it stolen once than to suffer through countless strandings. I haven't got the time at the moment, but someone should see if an appropriate emulator exists. If not, be super grateful that Suzuki will sell the steering lock to individuals. Mercedes would not.
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KuroNekko
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Joined: Wed Aug 15, 2012 5:08 pm
Location: California, USA

Kizzy13SLSAWD wrote:Has anyone looked for a suitable steering lock emulator? I know Nissan and Mercedes owners have used these with great success.
If it works for something like a Nissan Altima, it should work for a Suzuki Kizashi. They have the same parts maker for components related to vehicle security from what I can tell.
2011 Suzuki Kizashi Sport GTS 6MT (Black)
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