Help! Hicas Light On, Power-steering Gone!

[Stitch]

Just before I went for a quick drive, switched the car off for about 5 minutes, jumped back in and noticed the HICAS light is on solid and the car steers like a tank. A quick check of the steering belt and eveything seems fine (that is all I have had time to check so far as I am at work) but it's got me worried now, I just forked out a ton of cash to get it serviced and I'm hoping that it's not a major problem. I know nothing about the HICAS system. Really need help here.

1993 S1 R-33 GTS.

EDIT: Started car earlier and steering works fine again. Any ideas?

Edited March 19, 2009 by Stitch

[R33 Ribby]

hey i ahve simalar prob hicas light comes on bout 10-15km or 10 min of driving but handels well .

stupid hicas

[wrcboi]

same prob for me hicas light turns on

[PM-R33]

Have you guys done anything electrical recently? If so, disconnect your battery to reset the ECU and it should fix it. If not, you know something is not connected properly.

[jimmy_james13]

same thing here mate

[pipster11]

got fluid in the resivoir?

[grigor]

Don't know about the heavy steering, sounds coincidental, but how many with their Hicas light coming on have an aftermarket steering wheel?

That's the problem I've seen. The machining on the boss isn't accurate enough, so the car thinks you're turning a never ending corner. Hicas computer eventually throws a fault.

Usually won't happen around town as you're continually turning corners, but a highway with long straight road is something else.

[R33S2]

Hicas and power steering are related somehow, I got rid of the Hicas for this reason. Every time it rained my hicas light would come on and no power steering. Try replugging all the plugs on the hicas (near the diff) and power steering (under the bonnet) I used elec contact clearner and it worked untill it rained again.

[rnbguy]

any solutions to this????

my hicas almost always comes on when i turn car off and on within a space of 1-2 hours, if i leave car off longer the hicas light doesnt come back on... t also sometimes comes when i drive..

[Marlin]

You'll usually find it's due to too high resistence in wiring from age. The culprit is typically the front right earth strap to the engine from the body. Hence it's worse when it rains, same as coils and plug leads.

BUT, it's worth checking the health of your alternator and battery first, as if these are suspect it will also drop out.

[Stitch]

Just thought I'd update on my situation.

The power-steering fluid was topped up when I had the car serviced about two weeks before the issue begun, this raises suspicion.

I had my battery replaced with a much larger one just yesterday, this did not fix the issue.

I do have an after-market steering wheel fitted which has been in the car for over 3 years, would the problem take this long to develop as far as the steering wheel is concerned?

I have a can of contact cleaner, I will go crazy with it on the plugs and connectors tonight.

I have also attempted numerous times to get the car to go into diagnostic mode without success.

The issue does not appear to be weather related. Rain or shine the problem is still there.

The power-steering is definately affected by the HICAS. The power-steering works fine when starting the car in the morning, it is only if you turn the car off and then back on that the HICAS light comes on and the power-steering does not work at all. It seems you must turn the car off, leave it to sit for about 45 - 60 minutes before you are able to start it again without the HICAS/Power-steering failure. I think this piece of information would be key to working out what the problem is.

What is affected by leaving the car off? The only thing I can think of is its something heat related and I am by no means a mechanic so I might be being naive or missing something stupidly obvious. But that's what all you guys are for, right?

Thanks in advance

- Ben

Edited April 23, 2009 by Stitch

[Stitch]

I went home last night and was ready to go mad with contact cleaner, but before I did it I started the car up after driving it home - no HICAS light. Went for a drive, turned the car off, turned it back on still no problem! This is strange as it would do it 100% of the time before. The car has now stopped and started 6 or 7 times in a row without the HICAS issue.

I'm thinking it may have been something to do with the battery after all, as this is the only thing I have changed since the problem began. The old battery didn't even have enough charge to push my power windows back up and they got stuck down, this is what prompted me to change the battery.

[rnbguy]

thats weird we're having the same exact problem....

i went through a phase where i'd turn it off and on and itll be okay but it stuffs up again...

have you got a turbo timer installed by any chance?

im trying to find the problem and honestly dont know where to begin.

[Stitch]

have you got a turbo timer installed by any chance?

No turbo timer, the car is NA

[rnbguy]

hmmmm im pretty stuck, i dont mind the hicas light but would be good if we could stop it from disabling power steering.

[Stitch]

Yeah, it is annoying! I had the autoelectrician look at it and when he saw the battery in it he scoffed. It was far too small for the Skyline, especially with all the electronic jazz they have going on. In hindsight it was pretty obvious but I never got around to doing anything about it.

At this stage I am only assuming that it is the battery, if it fails again I will post here.

[tommo87]

Just before I went for a quick drive, switched the car off for about 5 minutes, jumped back in and noticed the HICAS light is on solid and the car steers like a tank. A quick check of the steering belt and eveything seems fine (that is all I have had time to check so far as I am at work) but it's got me worried now, I just forked out a ton of cash to get it serviced and I'm hoping that it's not a major problem. I know nothing about the HICAS system. Really need help here.

1993 S1 R-33 GTS.

EDIT: Started car earlier and steering works fine again. Any ideas?

cheak your hicas fuse located under ur steering wheel, and to fix powersteering get a new cable!!!!!!!!.

[rnbguy]

fuze is fine ...

why would you assume its the cable? power steering works fine when car is on for first time, then looses power steering the moment you turn car off and on again without leaving it off for 30-40mins

[Munkyb0y]

Hicas and power steering are related somehow, I got rid of the Hicas for this reason. Every time it rained my hicas light would come on and no power steering. Try replugging all the plugs on the hicas (near the diff) and power steering (under the bonnet) I used elec contact clearner and it worked untill it rained again.

Bahhhhhhhh!!!

this happened to me last night. it had rained, but nothing major.

this morning, power steering is fine again. when you removed the hicas junk off the diff and locked it, did this solve your problem?

my hicas light has been on for months now, but my powersteering has been fine. i highly suspect my steering position sensor is stuffed and that's what throws the light up in my case.

has anyone found a solution for this?

[R33S2]

Yes ditch hicas, I had success with the Tomei unit.