Urgent help please!! Steering wheel locked. (1 Viewer)

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My daughter has my 1999 landcruiser and is about 50 miles from me. She said the battery light came on so she pulled over and stopped. Once she tried to restart the engine, which starts fine, the steering wheel will not move. ANy quick suggestion before I need to drive out there? So, starts, but cannot turn the wheel . Thanks.
 
Kinda sounds like it got locked up against the pin. Usually you can turn the other way to relieve the pressure and get it moving. It should have gone free when it started though.
 
Have her turn it off , then turn it on holding the wheel one direction or the other, hopefully it will unlock.

Usually it binds the key, so it won't start. It's rare it will start and the wheel not turn.
 
So, it turns out that the wheel is not locked per say, but that it just won't move. We are having it towed to a toyota dealer. It is out in Byers, Colorado, and don't know any shops that otherwise would be good to bring to. Thanks for the suggestions above.
 
In that case, the serpentine belt probably broke, that’s why battery voltage drop because alternator isn’t spinning. Power steering pump isn’t spinning either which leads to a very stiff steering wheel on this heavy truck.
 
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In that case, the serpentine belt probably broke, that’s why battery voltage drop because alternator isn’t spinning. Power steering pump isn’t spinning either which leads to a very stiff steering wheel on this heavy truck.
Hmm, she said the air conditioning also went out, which I read was also affected. Is this something that I could drive myself to a shop or too dangerous due to the lack of steering? Don't have the skills to fix this myself.
 
definitely sounds like a serp belt broke, no power steering, no ac, no alternator regenerating. Yes you can drive it, but only if your battery is fully charged, you can maybe drive for 30 minutes? Just turn off all electrical stuff like radio, lights, etc. Steering wheel will get lighter as you move
 
Just take a serpentine belt in hand....and install it where the vehicle is. A five minute job.
It is on a local Toyota lot. I ran by to check and the belt is shredded. I don't have the know how to fix this unfortunately. Hopefully this will means it won't cost much at Toyota.
 
As long as the ripped belt did not do any further damage, this should be a 5 min fix to replace the new belt.
 
Ugh, that sucks. Good opp to learn how to replace as a diy.

Yep. Just route the belt, press down on the tensioner, done! Not many skills needed for that. But some folks are not physically able to lean over the engine...I understand that. Most folks just don't 'want' to, which is fine too.
 

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