The Max

Hang on a second. Now we have conflicting information. NRMA guy says your battery is fine, auto electrician says it's not. Did either of them tell you the voltage of the battery? With the battery at 12.0V, your steering lock module should still actuate. If it's lower than that, it could be a problem indeed. The photo in your previous post, I can't get access to. You've got it locked out. If the lighting around your ignition switch is non-existent, then it's more likely that you've got a dead battery than an IPDM problem. Not saying that it's impossible for an IPDM to go bad but it's less likely than your battery. Until we get a more conclusive statement about your battery, I think we're back to blaming your battery for now. Does your photo have any information about the battery power?

Unplug the sensor cable on the brake fluid reservoir and see if it goes away or not. If doesn't go away, it is not the fluid level switch. How did you test the parking brake switch?

IPDM is the Intelligent Power Distribution Module, which lives next to your battery (sandwiched between the battery compartment and the front guard panel). Basically, it's the one which manages the distribution of power to many (if not all) electronic components in the vehicle, powering up only what is needed, when it's needed. This includes your steering lock module. Once you give me access to your scan results, I can take a look at the FSM for the relevant codes and see what they refer to. If there is something going on with both BCM and IPDM, then my guess is that the problem will be between the steering lock module and the IPDM. The IPDM is then throwing an error code back to the BCM, to let it know that something didn't go right. I'm hoping that's the case because steering lock modules and IPDM are easy to replace. BCM, on the other hand, is a bitch because it is your vehicle's security system (i.e. the immobiliser), and that requires diagnostic tools that can register the replacement BCM with the ECU, Infotainment system, Instrument Cluster, etc. If you happen to need an IPDM, you might be able to make use of my old one, which had nothing wrong with it but under the bad advice of some less knowledgeable folk, I replaced it, thinking it would extinguish the bonnet pop-up diagnostic code after my front-end was hit. I couldn't be bothered swapping it back. Something to keep in mind but probably not the module at fault, in my opinion.

I paid $1600 to buy the replicated Consult3+ scan tool and software from AliBaba back in 2012, at a time when Nissan were charging $12k for theirs, which included a Panasonic Toughbook notebook. So long as he doesn't rock up with some crappy little Android application and a Bok Choi Wun Hung Lo OBD2 tool, I'd say he's charging a fair price for his services.

It's certainly worth trying. Otherwise, maybe your BCM is not happy. Ultimately, quickest and easiest way to diagnose this is to have someone with a scan tool pull the error codes and go from there. Otherwise, if it is anything to do with steering, then without knowing the fault code and taking a gamble, I'd be looking at the steering lock relay and locking module itself. I've attached the relevant pages from a US FSM, so pinouts ought to be relatively similar enough to diagnose that part at least. Mods, if this is likely to get this forum in any kind of trouble, feel free to remove the attachments with my apologies.

That was my first thought. It always pays to have even just a cheap and crappy digital multimeter from Jaycar so you can actually measure your battery every now and then. It's a good way to keep an eye on the life of the battery and be prepared for the day you should consider replacing it before it leaves you stranded.

I've often been recommended Ferodo as well. Must be pretty good if you had to mention them twice. I'll stick to EBC Red for the Nissan but the crapbox BF wagon might get Ferodo instead of the Bendix Ultimates I've been buying on special every now and then.

Well, don't keep us in suspense. Which ones do you recommend?

If only we could say the same for toilet paper.

Because I haven't seen any Bosch Icon wipers sold here in Australia, only Aerotwin. The Icon wipers are made for LHD instead of RHD. Replacing them is definitely as easy as you describe but their orientation is a bit odd for the reason I explained before about the funky asymmetrical aerodynamic design.

Grab the VIN off your VIN plate riveted to the driver's side strut tower. Then punch it into this site: https://nissan.epc-data.com/ It'll give you the production date.

Fair question but I read this and figured if it really is the case, then that's the way I'll go. https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/showpost.php?s=b24f005f56e46e74ecc0926c5b0349d9&p=19652599&postcount=13 I know it's dangerous to take the word of a BMW driver but I like to live on the edge sometimes.

They just perform better for longer compared to all the usual blades you find at our typical retailers in Oz. They have a funky design to them to combat winds at high speeds so that the wind isn't fighting against your wiper motor on the freeway but in reality, you'd have to be doing some seriously illegal speeds or driving through a hurricane to have that as a problem. That, however, is why they look a little oddly placed when upside down.

Won't help you if you're in a hurry to get replacement wipers but unless someone has found the Australian equivalents here, I have Bosch Icon (complete arms) on mine, which I bought from the US via eBay. They are mounted in the opposite direction of what they were intended for, given the RHD vs LHD thing, so they look a little oddly placed. Bugger it though - they work and they work really well.

Heheh. Chump change compared to some other solutions.

It's basic electrics, so any auto electrician whose workshop doesn't look like a barnyard will be fine, I'm sure. Definitely the safest thing to do because if you don't understand low voltage electrics at a basic level, you could end up doing way more damage than just a snapped steel release cable. There's no dark art to these things. It's button, solenoid, wiring or BCM. In 57jam's case, he seems to have ruled out wiring, buttons and solenoid. That's not a promising sign from a cost point of view.

Indeed it has. There is a sticky thread near the top of the list about this.

Damn, Leroy. After seeing that video, I've realised that while our V36 vehicles have issues with the oil galley gaskets or replacing water pumps are an arsehole of a job, the Q50 is just a complete nightmare for any kind of servicing. They've just done everything so very wrong!! From the spaghetti coolant systems, plastic oil pans, to the ECU being in a hot engine bay (they could learn a thing or two from Ford's stupidity with the Falcons on that one), I wouldn't even want to hand it over to a mechanic to fix anything given the amount of labour needed.

Yeah, I couldn't see myself paying anything for a Merc these days. Japanese cars have enough electronics in them as it is. I don't want quadruple that, as is typical of Mercs.

...again.

Congratulations mate!

Yes. Don't forget as well that the hazards button in the upper panel interconnects with that main button cluster as well, so you would need to do some creative rewiring and relocating of the OEM headunit if you want to retain the basic functionality.

Relays are typically located close to the fusebox. So for the interior ones, look for your fusebox and then look around it for the bank of relays.

That spec looks like you've stepped up a bit - from 110A to 150A. Nice one!

Found the manual for it. No CAN bus interface. Rules it out for me. I like to know what I've dialled in for climate control. To be fair, the data codes pertaining to that would likely vary between manufacturers and even models within the same manufacturer if they were to change any particular component in their system. It'd be a bastard to account for all of them. Interfacing with our cameras will likely require some work because if I remember correctly, the cameras are natively composite video but then pass through a serialiser in the boot first before they get integrated into the selection of video signals in the infotainment system. In which case, you'll likely have to extend some coax cable from the two cameras to the back of that Alpine. Got to give them credit where it's due though, it supports FLAC file formats. That's a major plus given the uptake on supporting that format is still pretty crappy. I like it overall and the touchscreen on these would be much friendlier to operate than our OEM resistive panels, which require either big buttons or needle fingers! Not to mention their capability of supporting swipe gestures, which our resistive screens don't do well at all.