Car troubles with hicas and lights

[chopobo]

hey just got the car and its already showing all the common symptons skylines have

1. driving for a while and when going at low speed the whole engine just cuts off and hicas lights turn on aswell as the other red lights. steering wheel loses power steering. have to stop and start engine again to make it go away. ive read threads of same problem but can't find a general solution?

2. Left light doesn't turn on till i accelerate sometimes

3. cabin light flickers like a strobe light when i open car door sometimes.

4. one of the red lights in the dash flicker on for a micro sec when i'm turning. dunno which one but ill find out tomolo.

and i got some general questions.

the oil pressue guage i assume (the one on the lower right of the dash), what is the normal value it should be at? and what does oil pressure mean? what happens if it is low or high?

i opened up the boot to look for hicas and i find the battery and some kinda white translucent plastic box with all these wires coming out of it and next to that stuck on the parcel shelf is a metal box. is that the hicas? and is there sposed to be jus one metal box?

where can i find the ecu? i read you can pull it out and it shows a lil led display which you can set certain values?

and how long does it take to reset ecu? unclip the battery at the back right? and then press on the brake lights till it diminishes? and then connect it all back up and start her up and give her a good run?

sorry about all the questions guys. i'm jus curious after reading this forum for so long and just want to get full use of my beloved skyline.

hehe thanks

[Lozza150]

Hicas....in the boot ..it's above all of teh other stuff.... there will be the window wiper box and then furthur back the hicas box. Mine got some water on it once (due to a dodgy rear window washer that squirts all over the Hicas not the window) and that caused it to go spastic... it's ok now.

ECU is behind the passenger side kick Panel......

My oil pressure sits at above the 4 mark (normal) under load moves up towards 8....i had the mechanic check all that out and it's "fine" as far as he's concerned....

Sounds like you have a case of "lets add stuff to the wiring loom and then pull it all out before we sell it to an Australian Gai jin..." well maybe not... but i think you should see someone that know's a bit about the wiring on a japanese car to see if they can help you

Loz

[chopobo]

thanks mate that was helpful

[silver gts-t]

last night i had the same problem, sorta mine cuts outs instantly n loose the usual p/s but my prob is the immobiliser?

u got 1? mine car cut out, i called nrma, he jiggled the wires in the alarm n the reds came on n i was off!

for round 5mins which then it cut out again n i had to repeat the process.

[chopobo]

lol nah i dun have immoboliser

i think it might be my blow off valve

its a turbosmart supersonic type3 one

maybe its releasing too much air but its tight as can be

[silver gts-t]

yeh could b

ive heard of leaks in plumbing causing engine cut offs

[FLIP]

i have sort of the same problem. The abs, tcs, and slip light are turned on most of the time. It's a pain in the a$$ and i dont know what to do about it. I've tried bringing it to different shops but they tell me they have to keep the car for a few days which i dont really want to do because of the labor cost. It doesn't really affect the performance of the car except that the abs and the slip don't work

[chopobo]

does anyone know how to get rid of the fuel smell in the cabin?

is it cos im running rich or im boosting it when engine not hot enough?

and everytime i start the car the aircon goes click click click. how do i get rid of that noise

[DarKZer0]

I dont know much about cars but the fuel smell could be fuel injectors leaking fuel as I had same problem. Hope it is only a leak as it can be fixed for under $20 - a simple seal can fix the problem. Cant say anything about air con as I got no idea. Hope it helps man...

[Cake]

Originally posted by chopobo

1. driving for a while and when going at low speed the whole engine just cuts off and hicas lights turn on aswell as the other red lights. steering wheel loses power steering. have to stop and start engine again to make it go away. ive read threads of same problem but can't find a general solution?

mine did this once, when i installed a boost gauge and forgot to re-connect the ground wire from the immobiliser to the car. i could start it if i revved it and really pushed it but when i dropped the revs everything would just cut out. sounds like a similar electrical problem you are having there.

and everytime i start the car the aircon goes click click click. how do i get rid of that noise

mine does this very rarely, sometimes when very cold or parked on a slope overnight. i heard it's a very expensive problem to fix and not easy. pva_glue from these forums knows more about it you can pm him. i just live with mine as it hardly ever happens and if it does, goes away after a few minutes.

chris

[chopobo]

yeah it happens everytime i start the car now

but it goes away after a while

im also getting these knocking sounds in engine bay, sounds like a tennis ball is bouncing under my hood

i definetely think something electrical is wrong with my car cos sometimes while im driving the battery warning light would come on for a sec and tuen turn off, its making me paranoid.

[OSH13T]

the click click would be that u ran out of air con gas...

the same thing happens to me regarding the hicas and engine turns off, anyone got any ideas why and how to fix it?

[lambo]

For the HeadLight coming on and off due to acceleration.

Mine also have the same problem. Its got into a state that the left light doesn't turn on at all. The Auto Electician i went to trace the problem to the switch inside the cabin. In R32 its the round switch we turn to get the lights on.

Apparently the contact are very dirty due to sparks from over wattage. Someone else put higher wattage blub inside the headlight and cause the switch to work at higher temperature. This cause sparks to generate and have carbon deposit on the contact.

Get it clean by a mechanic or auto electrician.

[chopobo]

i figured out the stalling prob

it was the bov

i just removed it and no more stalling ever

still get that annoying air vent clicking thing

but thats a common problems and i read its expensive to fix

[predator]

chop chop: yeah, i get the "click click" as well, apparently there is a little module you have to replace.. but while my dash is apart I can't see anything that appears to be ticking. Done it for months, but not often - don't really worry me.

For the fuel smell, just check all fuel lines, fuel rail, and all that sort of thing near the intake plenum. If you can see small bits of fuel, it could just be a simple clamp or hose that is split slightly. Whatever it is, I'd check that one out thoroughly - as fuel sitting there is NOT safe, and if its enough could easily combust (even if its just fumes).

3. Cabin light - ha..least yours is working! Um, its probably just the switches in the doors not seated properly or frayed wire. Unscrew them and check the plug things.

4. Could be door light? esp. if turning. Happened a lot in my old car - when i'd turn it would flicker on as the inertia moved the door enough to activate the door sensor. Adjust the door so that the door sits closer in the catch (next time i see ya i can probably show you what i'm talking about). That should fix that problem if its that.

Oil Pressure - yeah, sits on about 4 for me.. rises to 6 or 8 (under quick acceleration) and then back quite rapidly. Basically as it says, shows the pressure of the oil going thru the block. So if you accelerate, more oil gets squirted through, higher pressure (which is perfectly normal). If you have very low oil pressure continuously you are either leaking oil or have another big problem.

LH and RH headlights have separate fuses in the boot fusebox. Check them to make sure they are properly seated in the fuseholder and/or replace them. Could just be that.

Yup, you're right with the ECU reset method. Its just near the passenger kick panel and not to hard to get to if u get on the ground at the side of the car and reach in.. a few screws to pull the whole ECU out (I think its 3). If you wanna do all the diagnostics...check www.meggala.com

[chopobo]

yeap thanks gordo

my importer fixed the headlights, fixed the cabin light and the stalling problem

clicking thing? blah, i jus blast the stereo and ignore it.

fuel thing happens when i hit boost really hard

i dunn what is what in my engine

maybe one day you can check it out for me

[Mildman]

I know this forum is pretty old now but did any of you guys check the alternator?

These sort of problems, fuel cutting out, HICAS light coming on under load of power steer and headlights...a lot of times happens to be the alternator just can't provide charge to everything at once (if the alternator is dying).

THis really pisses off the HICAS sensor, and when the car gets real upsets decides it just can't be bothered delivering fuel either.

[cooks44]

Regarding the air con "click, click"... I read on a Skyline site/forum somewhere that it is simply a worn nylon air box gear. (At least that's what my air con "click, click" is). Yes, it would be expensive to pay someone to fix it, they'd have to dismantle the entire dash.

But, I also heard that the air box is common to a standard Aussie Nissan, with the part available for about $20.00 from Nissan themselves.... I just can't remember the part no!

So if anyone knows it, I'd love to know - I'll pull my dash apart myself to fix the problem!