[neeraj08]

Hello forum members, I am facing a peculiar issue with the steering wheel of my Carens.

Car - Kia Carens 1.4 Turbo 7DCT
Car age - 18 months
Mileage - 20k kms

The issue
There's a warning message popping-up on the MID - "Check steering wheel lock system". It appears when I unlock the car and open the driver's door. Then, when I press the Engine Start button, the message pops again and the car doesn't start. I try turning the steering wheel towards left or right, but it doesn't help.

First occurrence
July 2022 - I first saw this message in the car when it was 4 months old. The car refused to start while showing this message on the MID. I had to park the car outside over-night and got it towed to the service center in the morning. The service center folks scanned the car and reported some wire to be loose. I got the car back.

Second occurrence
Sept 2022 - I parked the car after a long drive and this message popped-up. The car refused to start again. I spent 10 mins toiling with the steering wheel - moving it right and left while pressing the Engine Start button. Finally got lucky and the car started.
The issue appeared again in a couple of days. I managed to start the car again after toiling with the steering wheel.
I took the car to the service center and explained the issue. But the issue could not be replicated in front of the service center folks. They asked me to leave the car with them as they would need some time to figure out the issue. Later on, they reported that it is a software issue and the BCM needs to be replaced. The part arrived after 10 days and was replaced under warranty. The service advisor assured that the issue won't occur again.

Further occurrences
Since April this year, the message is popping-up once a month. I get past this issue by doing hit and trail - moving the steering wheel left and right while pressing the Start button. Sometimes, I got lucky in a couple of minutes, while other times it took like 20mins of constant headbanging.
Recently, the issue has been more prominent and has been occurring 4-5 times a week. I took the car for the 20k service last week and explained the issue to the service center folks. The issue could not be replicated in front of them. I took the car back after the service. Next day the message popped-up again.

My observations
The steering in Hyundai/Kia cars gets locked when we turn off the engine and open the driver's door. There's a sound that can be heard when the driver's door is opened. That sound tells that the steering wheel has been locked normally. [This is based on my limited knowledge that I have gathered from forums and YouTube].
Hence, if this sound of steering wheel is heard while opening the driver's door, the car starts the next time without any issue. However, if this sound of steering getting locked isn't heard, the steering lock warning message will pop-up on MID in a few seconds.
I am convinced that this is a hardware issue and not related to the software. Moreover, the issue is severe as it may lead to the car getting stranded out on the road.
I will be taking the car to the service center again hoping this time the video that I recorded will help them understand the issue.

To the forum members - please share your insights or experience, if any, related to this issue.

Video -

https://youtube.com/watch?v=JB4RMagQ_Rw?feature=share

[Shitij]

I have a Seltos IVT Feb 2021 model and I have been getting this message since about 6 months after the purchase of the vehicle. In my case, it has been always just after turning the car off irrespective of the distance/time driven. It used to come up about once a week at that time but I consulted with the service centre 2-3 times and showed them photos of the warning on the MID. They used to say the same that it was a software issue and they have cleared the fault code.

During the last service in March 2023 I strictly told them to do something about it or I will have to escalate the issue. I don't think they changed any hardware because neither did they take any approval nor informed me of any part change under warranty but since then I haven't got any warning.


One difference between your issue and mine is that I faced no starting or steering issue. This warning came on the MID after turning off the car for 5 seconds and went away and the car starts normally the next time.

[Knight Rider]

Please see if there is a recall for your batch, you can try Facebook or telegram group to ask owners of vehicle from similar manufacturing months.

Issue with Kia is that they will not do any mass recall or issue notification, I had a steering noise sound in my 2022 seltos IVT and the steering motor was replaced within warranty. The staff mentioned the issue is due to faulty component however Kia will only change these for vehicle owners who are raising a complaint.

I also got this message once while switching off the car. One point was that the steering was not centered however it went away after the car was restarted.

Try take it to a different dealer too, not sure about your location but i found the dealership in Kerala much better than Bangalore.

[car-dent]

In Cars with Push Button start system, there is a SMK Module (Smart Key Module) which controls the Ignition. Steering lock in such cars is also motorised and is controlled by SMK. If there is a problem with SMK or Steering Lock, you will get an error and car wouldnt start.

We had a smiliar problem recently in our 2014 grand i10. Since it was out of warranty, instead of replacing SMK , we got it repaired from outside.

You should get it checked from service centre and may need to replace either SMK or Steering Lock.

[MT_Hyderabad]

I think that the steering wheel lock system will not allow you to start the car if any of your doors are open.

As per my limited understanding, steering lock means that you cannot start the car and not related to position of the steering per se. This could be due to an open door or a problem with key fob or an erratic battery input when you are trying to start the car. My apologies, I am not well versed with the modern car electronics.

First try with the other key and see if the problem goes away.

[Ethnicul]

Originally Posted by neeraj08

There's a warning message popping-up on the MID - "Check steering wheel lock system". It appears when I unlock the car and open the driver's door. Then, when I press the Engine Start button, the message pops again and the car doesn't start. I try turning the steering wheel towards left or right, but it doesn't help.

There is a solenoid which activates the locking and unlocking of steering wheel. It could be either an issue with the solenoid or the tyres are exerting more twisting force on the steering and solenoid is not able to unlock.

Are you parking with the tyres rotated in any direction? If so can you try parking with straight tyres. Before switching off, free the steering and drive a meter or so.

I have a KIA Sonet DCT, and had got this issue few times, while parked at an incline and tyres rotated.

[neeraj08]

Update:

I took the car to the service center two weeks ago and luckily was able to replicate the issue in front of the service center team. The SA informed that the Actuator needs to be replaced. They ordered the same and asked me to wait for some days. He also mentioned that I can use the car till then. Incase the error pops-up, he suggested me to lock the car, wait for some minutes and then try again to turn it on. But in reality, it seldom helped.

Fast forward 12 days, the part (Actuator) arrived and I fixed an appointment at the service center. After the tedious processing of the warranty claim formalities and then the part replacement, the SA took me for the test ride on my car.
While on the test ride, I parked the car on the service road and turned it off. Opened the driver's door (to engage the steering lock) and locked the car. Few seconds later, I unlocked the car and BAMM! the error popped up on the MID.
The SA (vainly) tinkered with the wires, but the error kept coming up. Since the car had stopped about half a mile away from the service center, the SA called up support to look into the issue.

I discussed the issue with the GM (Service) and asked why's there a lack of diagnosis and research from the service team. He acknowledged the gap and asked for the car to be kept with them at the service center for at least a couple of days to do a thorough diagnosis. They suspect it to be a wiring issue and the car is at the service center as of now for the checks.

Take-away till now: After two (under warranty) part-replacements, multiple visits to the service center over the last month, the root cause of this issue is still unknown.

[akp]

Originally Posted by neeraj08

Update:

Take-away till now: After two (under warranty) part-replacements, multiple visits to the service center over the last month, the root cause of this issue is still unknown.

Any further update on the issue?

[neeraj08]

Update and Closure:

My car was kept at the Service Center for further analysis. I agreed for this, provided that I get a courtesy car for the time my car is with the dealership. The Service GM first agreed to provide the courtesy car in a couple of days but couldn't provide it later. My car was at the center for more than 2 weeks. Despite me pushing for a courtesy car to the GM, I only got the different reasons from the dealership for not giving me the one.

On to the issue - The folks at the service center finally managed to find the root cause. It was the wiring. They swapped the wiring (related to the Actuator) with another car in the service center and found it worked without any faults. I am not sure why they didn't try this method during the previous reporting of issue.
The new wiring set was ordered by the dealer for my car and the tracking number was shared with me. The part arrived in about a week.
The service guys replaced the wiring set, did some tests and got the car ready. Long story short, I have driven the car for more than 4k kms after this and the issue hasn't cropped up.

PS: My car was inside the service shed for about 3 weeks. The dashboard was half open with wirings exposed, 1 of the windows were completely rolled down and the car was covered with bird droppings from outside. It was a painful sight. There are some scratches that the car collected during its stay at the service center, specially over the parts with piano black finish. Not sure if I can do anything about it.

Takeaways:

• The problem was caused by the faulty wiring.
• The Kia Service team found the root cause only after fiddling and replacing other two parts related to the steering wheel.
• The dealership could not arrange a courtesy car for me.
• The condition in which the car is kept at the service center, makes a car lover like us loose sleep.

[akp]

Originally Posted by neeraj08

Update and Closure:



Takeaways:

• The problem was caused by the faulty wiring.
• The Kia Service team found the root cause only after fiddling and replacing other two parts related to the steering wheel.
• The dealership could not arrange a courtesy car for me.
• The condition in which the car is kept at the service center, makes a car lover like us loose sleep.

Could you kindly share the name of the dealership (and the city)? Thanks.

[neeraj08]

Originally Posted by akp

Could you kindly share the name of the dealership (and the city)? Thanks.

Sent you a private message.

[ss125_i10]

Originally Posted by neeraj08

Update and Closure:
...

Takeaways:

• The problem was caused by the faulty wiring.
• The Kia Service team found the root cause only after fiddling and replacing other two parts related to the steering wheel.
• The dealership could not arrange a courtesy car for me.
• The condition in which the car is kept at the service center, makes a car lover like us loose sleep.

Thanks for sharing this useful information especially for future owners like me who have booked and waiting for the delivery.
Sorry to hear about the service experience, though good that you finally got it fixed

Did you escalate to Kia and then dealer service did the root cause?