So I tried to start my 2003 LS430 this morning and the key wouldn't turn and the shift wouldn't move. The car was not dead, as it complained when I opened the door with the key still in the ignition.

I called the mechanic and one of the guys said it was an antitheft feature. He couldn't remember how it was turned on, but his directions to force the steering wheel left and right while trying to turn the key brought the car back to functioning. (The steering wheel hardly moved, 1/2 inch to the left, 0 to the right, but apparently enough.)

Does anyone know how this stupid feature is activated, so I can avoid doing it in the future? And the reasoning behind how it is supposed to deter theft as opposed to leaving the driver marooned? My call phone picked this time to get flaky, just to add to the stress,

Thanks.

 

Sounds like it was just the steering wheel lock to me, sometimes locks if you try to turn / twist on the wheel after the ignition is turned off.

Just remember the solution and you'll be fine.

 

i hope so. Looking up steering wheel lock led me to this old thread where people were trying everything under the sun and some things worked for some people not for others. I miss my old simple previous cars... but I drove them until they became unfixable, so now I am stuck with this type of thing.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-...-t-turn-2.html

 

Actually I’ve had it in every one of my old cars going back to the early 70s across both domestic and import. It’s not just your Lexus, you’ve probably just been lucky not to lock it in others in the past

 

My previous cars were a 69 Mustang and a 92 Buick. I think they were much simpler cars than the Lexus. I am still in shock over how many more controls the Lexus has.

 

Yep! But they're all pretty intuitive once you get used to them.

Doing a bit of googling, you just missed it on your Mustang. Federal government mandated the locking steering column in 1970 and that's when they added it to the Mustang. I remember my 1973 Firebird having the same issue you did with your Lexus and having to put my shoulder into it to shift the wheel to start the car.

 

If the steering lock kicks in while the tires are under tension, it will have that same effect as what you are describing, making it kind of a pain to get it off sometimes
The function basically makes the car undrivable if someone hacks the wires behind the ignition switch to hotwire it, because the mechanism is just a spring loaded pin that slides into a slot in the steering column when the key is not in the ignition.

If there isn't a key present, the steering wheel won't be allowed to move, and the locking mechanism is usually bolted on with one way security bolts that are usually installed with a press, that doesn't allow them to be defeated unless someone hacks the dog ****** out of the steering column.

You may have bumped the wheel or pulled on it when getting out of it the last time you drove it. If you try to crank the wheel while the car is off, it will trigger the lock as soon as one of the slots lines up with the locking pin.

My 75 Cadillac has it as well. Sometimes with age, the steering column can get slightly out of alignment, and the pin will no longer line up, which is probably what happened on your 92 Buick.

I drive a 2016 Ford Transit at work, and if the steering wheel is locked, it won't even let you insert the key into the ignition at all!

 

How do you get the 2016 Ford Transit out of steering wheel lock if you can't put the key in the ignition? I am trying to be sure I know how to get out of this mode if it happens again, and what worked was turning the steering wheel left and right and trying to turn the key at the same time.

(I wish there were a way to disable this feature permanently.)

 

I’m certain it’s the same as every other vehicle, you rock the wheel until you can get the key in or get it started.

Not something you can disable, just learn how to get around it. Now that you know about it and how to easily overcome it, you don’t need to stress about it!

 

Yes, no need to stress. All modern cars have the steering wheel lock. And all will lock up if you are in a turn, like at the end of my driveway, when you turn off the ignition. Simple, when the key wont turn, I just pull the wheel to one side OR the other, dont need to do BOTH ways, just toward the side you were turning toward when you shut it off. Often happens while turning into a "nose in" parking space if you havent straightened the wheel before touching the curb.
Just isnt something to stress over. Its real, its understood, its not going away, and it takes less than a half a second to move the wheel just a bit.
Relax.........

 

This actually didn't work. I was on the phone with the mechanic and he told me try turning the steering wheel to the left and try turning the key at the same time. No luck. So then he said try turning the steering wheel to the right and try turning the key at the same time. Also, no luck. Then he said try turning the steering wheel back and forth to both sides and try to turn the key and that did work. See my concern about this is, ref the link to the old thread above, people seem to try all sorts of stuff and if they are lucky they find something that works for them.

I will express my opinion here that this is a very stupid feature and should never have been implemented or should have been implemented in a much more understandable way.

 

NO, you just didnt turn it hard enough in only one way. .....it works.....my suggestion is sell the crappy car and buy yourself a Chevy Nova! How much do you want for it, I may be interested.

 

it's the same thing, you basically just gotta jiggle the wheel a little bit, and the key will slide right in.

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DaveGS4 is right on. Assume you finally figured out that you can not simply turn the wheel back and forth but that it must be turned with some force to free the ignition. Sorry for your frustration. It happened to me several miles from home after stopping for a break. Had to use some force when turning the wheel to free the ignition to be able to turn....