R33 Gtr Fob, Hesitates At 2.5krpm, Ticking Noise In Boot?

[slknv]

Hi guys!

I picked up my R33 GTR this morning from compliance in Melbourne, drove it home. Of course, the battery was flat so I got a jump start at the compliance workshop, filled up petrol and was on the way.

One weird thing is there's a ticking sound coming from the boot at the rear (near the boot lock), sounds like a relay tripping every 20-30 second or so. Makes the radio and dash clock go off for a split second.

Also, when I accellerate in gear, there's a lot of hesitation around 2500rpm, car jerks quite a bit, tacho flicks down then up, then it's more or less OK over 3000rpm. I haven't given the car any stick of course, and it's booked in for a service this coming Wednesday.

Was just hoping any of your experts out there could give me any indication of what's going on? Is the relay/ticking in the boot related to the hesitation at all?

What's the normal advice for replacement parts for a fresh GTR from japan?

Thanks for the help guys, I'm impressed at all the knowledge on this forum and I'm sure someone's got the answer!

Tim

[Godzilla32]

Hey mate, good to hear about your new car!

The ticking is most likely as you suspected, a relay. There are 2 relays there. One is for HICAS and one for the fuel pump. My housemates GTS4 does the same thing actually. However in his case, i discovered it was HICAS relay not the fuel pump. Run the diagnostic check on the car or get it scanned with a scan tool to find out what trouble codes you might have.

As far as the hesitation goes its something that i'd have to experience, but check for:

Miss-fire in the ignition system - Check for hair line cracks on the coil packs. Condition of all the ignition system wiring looms. Spark plug condition and gap.

TPS - Dead spot on the contacts inside the TPS causing it to ground as you hit the bad contact

AFM's - Dirty or not operating correctly, check voltage under load.

Fuel pressure - Should be approximately 250kpa, 50kpa more with pressure reg vacuum signal disconnected

Few things to look at first up anyway

Forgot to add about servicing items. Obviously an oil change and oil filter is necessary. Check air filter/s. As previously mentioned spark plugs. Brake fluid and clutch fluid for cleanliness and moisture. Fuel filter is a good idea to change. Check all your gear oils for cleanliness, IE: front diff, transfer case, gearbox, and rear diff. Check coolant for concentration and cleanliness. Give the car a thorough check over for leaks. Check brake pad thickness (probably ok though as it is part of RWC). Depending on how many km's it has, check if its due for a timing belt change. If so its a good idea to do the belt tensioner, belt idler and water pump at the same time. At the moment thats the main things that come to mind. If i think of anything else i'll add them

Welcome to the expensive hobby of owning a GTR!

Deren

Edited August 16, 2008 by Godzilla32

[slknv]

Hi Deren - thanks for the info

Hesitation has all been fixed up, dodgy connections to the battery was the problem, that's all

Still getting the clicking relay in the boot; it's this one:

Larger picture: Clicking GTR Vspec relay in boot

also uploaded a vid of it clicking to youtube: ATTESA relay clicking video

I've been told it's the ATTESA relay, and it could be due to a dodgy relay, bad ATTESA pump, faulty pressure switch, faulty accumulator? Haven't got time to troubleshoot it right now, but there was a link someone sent me to get the ATTESA diagnostics happening (checking LED flashing in boot ECU next to battery?). I've done a whole heap of searching for this relay tripping and there's a few others who have the same issue, but not much information on how they diagnosed and fixed the problem.

Anyone had this relay problem, what was the outcome? Be great to hear of any further info. Can anyone recommend a good workshop/mechanic in Melb to diagnose & fix this problem?

Car has got its RWC done now (needed new windscreen, CV boots, castor bushes, battery tiedown, engine wash) and booked in for vicroads inspection Tuesday sept 3rd!

Main other issue is that I've got some outrageous fuel consumption going on, done maybe half a tank of fuel to go 100km? I'm booking it in for a bit of a service in a week or two, will get the shop to check O2 sensors and injectors as that's what I imagine are the main likely culprits. Also the other day after about 15 mins of driving I heard this weird noise under the dash, sounded like a servo going nuts (think of old school CD players when they're searching for a track on a dirty CD, that's what it sounded like!) Idled the car today for 20 mins but the sound didn't come back.

Tim

Edited August 31, 2008 by slknv

[Godzilla32]

The diagnostic system would be a good idea to run but you need to see if your getting 4wd once you can drive it. AFM's could also be a cause of bad fuel consumption but you would generally expect more than just bad consumption from dud AFM's. Unless one has died and its reverted to using a single AFM. Thats something the ECU does in that situation. Need to get your AFR checked. Get the car scanned for trouble codes and if nothing is found its just a matter of testing each sensor for its ouput.

The buzzing will most likely be an electronic actuator for climate control. Its quite common on R32's and i think they generally have the air mix door actuator fail. Have to get in there while its doing it which will likely require dash removal. If they are anything like the R32 its quite easy to do, so dont be scared of having a go.

If you need any further help feel free to PM me. GTR lover here

Deren

[ZimNismoBoy]

Hi there im from zimbabwe

I have a R34 Gtr that was sitting for about two years and it seems to be giving me the same problem.

The relay in the boot keeps ticking every 10 or 20 secs.

I dont know what to do to resolve it tried bleeding the system no joy.

Still clicks and the pump wont engage?

please email me [email protected]

[mosquitocoils]

I'm not sure if this is of any help AT ALL, but I'm having my power window relay click when I press the switch instead of actually activating the circuit (R33 GTST). Another member on here had the same problem and apparently filed the contact points... I GUESS there was some gunk on there, or the metal wasn't very conductive anymore, so by filing it, it exposed a conductive surface again.

Might be worth a try? Might not, but hey, who knows

I'm going to try it to my relay when I get a chance, and some sandpaper.

[ZimNismoBoy]

Thanks for your response.

I tried that and also tried to bleed the system again.

But now she clicks and the motor engages for a fraction of a second and then switches off again.

Not sure whats going on with the attesa system i wish some one could help me on here any gurus out there?

[DaveB]

Hoping you've solved this problem now and can enlighten us all!!!

...but yeah ATTESA info' is damned hard to come by eh. Nobody knows what's going on. It's all one big black box.

Only it's not; it's two boxes. Which are more like cylinders. They're mounted above the diff'. I'm pretty sure that the momentary engaging that the motor is doing is quite normal; I have exactly the same trouble in my R34-vintage series 2 stagea (with the R34 ATTESA system) and I have 4WD working fine; I have run the ATTESA diagnostic for the stagea and received a "pressure switch" fault.

So I think what has happened is, the pressure switch reads low, and it triggers the pump to activate to bring the pressure up. As soon as the pump activates, the pressure switch reads high, and it switches off again.

So by this stage most people with this problem should have arrived at the realisation that the trouble is not, in fact, the relay. It's doing it's job; switching on and off. But it's WHY it's switching so often that's the trouble (apparently it's normal for them to switch every x seconds or minutes - can't remember what it is).

I have discovered that the accumulator unit is actually a pressurised nitrogen canister, a bit like in a gas lift strut assembly I suppose, and the label on it warns against dissassembly. I was just going to replace mine as FAST shows it as a separate unit:

The arrow points to the accumulator. I'm assuming here that R34 stagea is similar to R34 GTR ('cause that's all I've got to go on )

Here's a pic' of the unit:

...so, not knowing much about how this unit works, I guessed before that the accumulator was just a sort of 'reservoir' for hydraulic pressure. But now I find that it's a pressurised gas container??? So either the pump pumps hydraulic fluid, and the gas is just there to prevent foaming or to provide a reference or...??? or it might pump gas.

But if the accumulator unit is pre-charged at the factory with nitrogen then removing it might let the gas escape (bad). Or, it might be charged by the pump, in which case removing it and somehow replacing the switch might be a good idea.

If the relay clicking is driving you nuts like me, you might like to check the part number on your accumulator unit and see what a new *accumulator* unit costs from Nissan (I know a complete pump assembly is 6+ grand so just the accumulator )

I'm going to keep investigating and see if I can't find where the damned switch is, because replacing the switch might fix the issue too. I think it's one of these two culprits.

*please* if anybody knows more about how this unit works post up and enlighten us - 'cause this clicking relay is driving me nuts (and wearing out my pump!)

Edited January 18, 2010 by DaveB

[DaveB]

Ah well I just did some quick googling on basic hydraulic storage system types (I suddenly thought... HTF do you store hydraulic pressure anyway???) and it seems that the ATTESA setup might use a "hydro-pneumatic type" hydraulic storage type. ie, there's a piston or diaphragm or something in-between the compressed nitrogen and the hydraulic fluid, and the pump pressurises the fluid against the compressed nitrogen, and the pressure is thusly somehow held in the system... rather than dissipating as soon as there is any flow of fluid (regulates better that way I guess)... anyone who knows anything about hydraulics care to comment on this?

It may still be possible to simply screw the accumulator unit straight off & replace... but death may await the first person to try it!!! (or loss of hands/eyes/etc).

I might just swap the whole unit from a second-hand one. I could try to keep my pump however if I can remove it without opening this gas system.

[DaveB]

Easy - for future reference, just release the hydraulic pressure in the ATTESA system, and remove the accumulator - here's what it looks like (it's the cannister on the right, with the yellow label on it):

Then either recharge, or replace it with another (charged) accumulator, and screw back on, making sure to replace the O-ring first.

Too easy ...but remains to be seen if it will fix my problem, I haven't replaced it yet. Just got the old one off.

[TuLaLiT]

Hi dave,

how difficult is it to remove the ATTESSA unit ??? and how do you remove the accumulator ?? just by unscrewing it ??? no special tools required ?

thanks

[rob-gtr]

The diagnostic system would be a good idea to run but you need to see if your getting 4wd once you can drive it. AFM's could also be a cause of bad fuel consumption but you would generally expect more than just bad consumption from dud AFM's. Unless one has died and its reverted to using a single AFM. Thats something the ECU does in that situation. Need to get your AFR checked. Get the car scanned for trouble codes and if nothing is found its just a matter of testing each sensor for its ouput.

The buzzing will most likely be an electronic actuator for climate control. Its quite common on R32's and i think they generally have the air mix door actuator fail. Have to get in there while its doing it which will likely require dash removal. If they are anything like the R32 its quite easy to do, so dont be scared of having a go.

If you need any further help feel free to PM me. GTR lover here

Deren

hey mate

iv just recently pruchased a gt-r and im hearing that clicking sound. just going through posts it may be a few things what it the most common and it started after i took it home from compliance ??

thanks mate

[Mr R32 GTS-T]

I too have recently purchased a R33 GTR and can hear the same clicking has anyone found a solution or any advice on it would be great.!!!

[bogeye]

how come this thread died, i want answers! Does any of these people experience their battery drained when the car is off? I have to keep taking my battery off so i can come back and start it AND ITS REALLY ANOYING!

[Tony55123]

hi I have a gts4  r33 coupe have had a clicking noise in the boot for about 3 weeks just had a service all vacuum pipes changed as they were cracked still got clicking noise now car stalls hard to start loses all power then comes back to life is the fuel pump going goes anybody now what the problem is