Steering Wheel Locked

[Marcindublin]

Hi There, fellow Legacy owners. I was hoping to crowdsource a solution to a problem I had today. I got gas, got back in the car and put my foot on the break, pressed the start button and... nothing. The car wouldn't start although all of the electronics were working fine and no error messages shows up. The two symptoms were first, the steering wheel wouldn't turn easily and second, the break pedal was very stiff. 

The manual hinted that the steering wheel might be locked and that I had to turn it left and right while pressing the start button. It wasn't totally clear on how or why this was going to much of anything and in any event, it didn't work, at least not right away. After starting the process of getting the car towed to the dealer, I tried the whole left/right/start thing again and thankfully it worked after the 4th or 5th time and the car was fine after that. 

So, my question is an easy one - what happened and how can I stop it from happening again?  The manual makes it sound like some kind of security feature but the fob was readily available. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thank you! 

[MoleMan]

So dumb idea.

 

Did you check your key fob for a dead battery?  Mine is dead on my 3.6 now and I get the same results as you until I put the key to the start button and everything starts up as normal.  And I mean the exact same results. Stiff pedal, everything turns on just no power.

I just have not dealt with the battery due to I rarely drive the 3.6 and have been flying all over getting crappy rental Corollas to finish up Q4 for work.

 

Worth a try for 2 bucks.

[dohturdima]

This happened to my wife recently, and I sent her this YouTube video to help unlock the steering wheel. Apparently turning the steering wheel after the car is shut off locks it, which is a security feature. To unlock it, need to turn the wheel (which will have a slight give) to the left or the right while keeping your foot on the brake simultaneously starting the car. The video is for keyed starter, but the same rule applies to the keyless. 

https://youtu.be/1mOM3yj-P8A?si=uyOvniZyuVmf3gQa