Toyota is advising technicians to be on the look out for an unusual situation where some Toyota vehicles will have a locked steering wheel even after starting the vehicle. A message might be displayed that says a steering lock is engaged. There is no immediate safety concern, more of an annoyance.
According to Tech Tip, T-TT-0222-13, a variety of Toyota model cars are affected such as:
- 2012-14 Camry
- 2013-14 Avalon
- 2012-14 Prius PHV
- 2012-14 Prius C
- 2012-14 Prius
- 2013-14 Avalon HV
- 2012-14 Prius V
- 2012-14 Camry HV
These vehicles may exhibit a condition where they “will not start or ready-on and the steering wheel lock is engaged so that the steering wheel may only be turned very little from side-to-side.” When this condition occurs, a message reading “Steering Lock Engaged” could be displayed when the steering lock actuator isn’t able to fully disengage from the steering column. This issue will not be immediately fixed by the operated when the car is started or put in the ready-on position with tension on the steering lock actuator.
The suggested remedy for this issue to to gently move the steering wheel from side-to-side to relax the tension on the steering wheel actuator. This should get the steering lock actuator to release and disengage.
Currently, there is no part fix for this condition. With tech tips like this technicians gather information on the problem and report it back to Toyota. They will then look at possible permanent fixes to this issue.
Has this happened to you? What have you done to fix the problem?
