Indicators / Auto Headlights

[Nic_A31]

OK, so my battery died the other day, I re-charged it and the auto headlights don't work. Turning the headlights to on works just fine, as do high beams and parkers, so no drama's.

Soon after that, my indicators are acting strange, I searched, but not much help.

Left side is fine, right side flashes super quick on it's own, and hazards flashes both equally.

I walked around the car with both sides on independantly, and with the hazards, all bulbs are working fine.

Checked every fuse (need to print me up one of those English stickers), and they all appear intact (I've learnt from experience that a fuse can "look" fine but still be f**ked), so I'll have to go through and replace fuses, one at a time to see if any difference is made.

The only reason I can think one side would flash faster is to do with a dead bulb.

If as fuse is dead, they should all be out, all the bulbs are fine, so resistance should be fine, therfor the flash rate should match ??

Are the indicators in ANYway linked to auto lights ??

Any advice on either or both problems?

Cheers guys

[Nic_A31]

Indicators - FIXED, that stupid mofo connection was playing up again, flashing the bulb, but somehow was the reason for quick flashing.

Still no Auto on the headlights.

One more thing noticed.

I have two of the highbeam symbols on my gauge cluster, one points left, illuminates blue when the high beams are turned on, the other faces right, and ONLY WHEN THE CAR IS COLD, illuminates red when the brake pedal is pressed, once the car is warmed, it stops.

The colder the car, the more pressure is required to illuminate the car, before its fully warmed up, it comes on exactly the same time as the brake lights.

Does anyone dare to suggest ANYTHING at all? Doesnt matter how far-fetched your idea is...

I'm getting my ass handed to me by a 21 year old Japanese sedan...

[CEF33Y]

Indicators - FIXED, that stupid mofo connection was playing up again, flashing the bulb, but somehow was the reason for quick flashing.

Still no Auto on the headlights.

One more thing noticed.

I have two of the highbeam symbols on my gauge cluster, one points left, illuminates blue when the high beams are turned on, the other faces right, and ONLY WHEN THE CAR IS COLD, illuminates red when the brake pedal is pressed, once the car is warmed, it stops.

The colder the car, the more pressure is required to illuminate the car, before its fully warmed up, it comes on exactly the same time as the brake lights.

Does anyone dare to suggest ANYTHING at all? Doesnt matter how far-fetched your idea is...

I'm getting my ass handed to me by a 21 year old Japanese sedan...

Pretty sure the red high beam light signifies a break in the brake light circuit (blown globe) as for why its only doing it when car cold..... dunno

[AdMan]

I always thought it was for that one aswell..

I have a similar problem with my headlights, turn them on, and only one works. Try high beams, none work.. Turn it on auto.. they both work and high beams do to..

Not really a huge problem, but the sensor on the dash gets a little carried away sometimes with turning my lights off while driving down the road cos of a street light. lol.

[DanShirts]

I would start by making sure all the fuses are good and that they all have a solid connection. Use a test light or a multimeter.

The little black spot on your dash is a light sensor (I think), that is what makes the autos work. I've never had any problems with mine, but it might be worth climbing under there and checking it out.

Test the switch and the wires. You can probably use the skyline wiring diagram, should be similar if not the same.

As for the red brake light, top up your brake fluid.

I have a ghost in my car too. The right side head light goes out sometimes. If I get out and tap on the glass, it comes back on. Maybe I should take my own advice.

[Nic_A31]

Its not the brake light, although that isnt working at all, I'm aware brake light can also be your car calling begging for fluid.

Perhaps a short (hency why only when cold), but I should note, despite the light being on when the pedal is pressed, the tail lights, brake lights and reverse lights work perfectly when the car is both off and on.

My Fuel gauge stopped working last night, first all together and now it only displays just under the empty, I know there is ATLEAST 20 litre I put in myself, and the gauge was reading half a tank before it stopped working and I topped it up.

The tacho has also stopped working, so Im guessing I've got a dead gauge cluster, and maybe this somehow links to the auto headlights (I dont know how, but hey, we all know Nissan do wome weird shit with wiring)

Will chase down more diagnostics and let you's know how I go,

Thanks guys

[DanShirts]

Sounds like you need an auto elec.

Check the ground, accessory, ignition, and battery signals for your cluster. Have a look at an r32 or s13 (or Cef if you can find one!) service manual.

Does your car have a mechanical tach?

[Nic_A31]

I fixed some more issues last night.

Still no fuel, it wants to sit just over the empty line, but I put 20 litres in there myself, and there should be about another 1/3 tank in there already. I'll try re-soldering the fuel gauge, checking the connection, checking the ECU, and finally, can someone tell me where exactly I should be checking at the fuel tank itself?? never had this problem, so don't know what I'm doing back there.

With the tacho, it turns out signal is sent through the screws you hold the gauges to the board with, I figured three screws on the back, eh, one was missing, so put them back in in different positions, and it didnt work, I went to pull it last night and looked at the board, and noticed it will run from the wiring connection, along the board, through certain screws and into the tach...yeah, the screw/bolt itself is what transmits signal from that silver plastic shit to the actually tacho....

What do you mean by mechanical tach ?

Is there actually any Cefiro service manuals out there?

Even in Japanese???

[Nic_A31]

Can anyone tell me what this is?

Installed, wasnt connected when I took that panel off, didnt notice any difference when I did connect it.

Thought maybe it was a factory turbo timer or something ??

Still havent fixed fuel issue, checked connections everywhere, dont think its worth my time to re-solder, the gauge resets itself to the empty line, so obviously the gauge is understanding signal from somewhere.

Anyone for a quick how-to check any fuel level signal sending units around the tank ??

PS Photo taken on phone, hence shitty quality, but I'm sure you can recognise what it is.

Edited June 20, 2009 by Nic_A31

[daisu]

That is your HICAS computer.

As for the auto headlights and one headlight coming on but not the other etc issues, it's usually the contacts on the indicator stalk. My lights work in auto, parkers, on, highbeams etc But when it is at the ON position the contact is dodgey and they will intermittently turn on and off, so I just leave it in auto.

The red light that looks like a highbeams indicator is a bulb blown warning. Not just for you brake lights but for parkers as well. But since it is only coming on with the brake pedal then it would point to a brake light bulb being blown.

Just like the indicators flash fast even though they were all working it was just a dodgey connection? So I'd suggest pulling the bulbs out of your taillights and checking the bulb holders for corrosion, check the earthing screws on the tail light assembly etc etc.

[Nic_A31]

The brake lights all appear fine as well as the tail lamps. Should I replace all bulbs with brand new ones ??

Alot of wires around the car have been weaved together, but not soldered, depending on time tomorrow, I might go through the whole car and solder them together and seal them, hopefully I dont feel 400 degrees Celcius again.

Indicators was a dodgey connection, fixed permanently this time.

I've fixed every eletrical problem except this fuel gauge and the auto headlights (havent tackled this yet)

Ive checked the rears, the fuses, traced the lines (I am yet to check under carpets), and at the ECU, theyre all going fine, so all I can think of is a dud fuel gauge? time to resolder ??

My speedo cut out today, worked the first two corners, then went out. I took the dash back out and that gray stem of plastic came out with it, so I put it back in and tried to re-seat the gauge, but havent tested it yet.

What happens to HICAS if the computer isnt connected? Could this contribute to the vibration I'm hearing above 50-60 ??

The light wasnt connected either, so I dont know if it was lighting up, and yet to test alot of shit while the car is moving

[DanShirts]

If the bulbs are fine then you shouldn't need to change them.

I would go around your car and solder & shrink wrap any connections that looks dodgey. A few minutes now will save you headaches later on.

I had to fix a broken fuel guage on my gtr a few months ago.. Are you getting a signal from the fuel gauge sender? If you pull up the carpet in the boot and take off the metal cover, you will see the wires for the pump & sender. One pair is for the pump, another pair for the sender, and another for the low fuel indicator. Since we dont have a diagram for this car, you get to figure out which goes where (lucky you). Measure the resistance between the two sensor wires. The gtr should be from 5ohm (full) to 80ohm (emtpy). Cef should be similar.

You speedo is driven by that plastic stem. It isn't supposed to come out of the cable. You are going to need a new speedo cable.

I've always been told to use a hicas locker if your going to disable hicas.

[Nic_A31]

Definately going to take a day out and take the whole car apart, resolder the last mofo's dodgey half-ass efforts (previous owner of my 94 Maxima has done the same thing - cant blame em), then never have to worry about it again, hopefully.

I briefely checked the connections you mentioned, I didnt go as far as pulling them apart to test with a meter though, I was going to resort to that after resoldering the wires and checking the floorplan.

That weak ass POS plastic drives the speedo....???

Yeah, ok, f**k that, whole new cluster with old odomter I reckon. Behind the cluster, how hard is it to convert to electrical speedo ??? (If this has been covered before, never mind, I will actually search for this after this post )

No HICAS lockbar (I dont think, cant see one, but never actually seen one anyway), but doesnt bother me, I'll keep it as is until I pass the pits, and even after that, I dont plan on drifting this thing around every corner, so 1 degree of rear steering wont hurt.

Edited June 20, 2009 by Nic_A31

[daisu]

Yeah, if your hicas computer was unplugged then chances are your rear steering was going all over the place. Converting to electronic speedo would involve retrofitting an electronic speedo from something like an R33 to fit in your cluster. Or make the R33 cluster fit in the cefiro and rewire all the dash plugs...

Just get a new speedo cable from nissan and gotta be careful when reinstalling the cluster so as to not break that plastic spindle.

[Nic_A31]

Looks like a pain in the ass to install a new cable.

Temp Gauge has now f**ked up on me as well, I guess the whole cluster is dying.

Dont cable speedo's die quiet frequently? if so, I'm up for converting to electrical.

If I fit another cluster, is there a wire I can use from the ECU, or do I need to run new shit off the gearbox??

[DanShirts]

Speedo cables are not that hard to replace. 30 minutes max.

I doubt the cluster is dying. It is probably a symptom of your other electric problems.

I don't think its worth the time or money to convert to an electric speedo. But it's your time and money so I won't try to talk you out of it.

[Nic_A31]

How long is a new cable going to last me?

Should I note I did pull the clusrer out the other day, and the plastic tab came off, I put it back in, and the speedo did work until i pulled the cluster again.

I'll try reseating it and see what that does, but if I have to be super carefull everytime I pull the cluster I'd rather go to eletrical and not have to worry about it again, and I gather I'm going to be pulling and reseating the cluster a fair bit judging by the problems I'm having unless I pay an auto eletrician (....LOL) to do this shit for me.

[daisu]

A new cable is probably going to last another 20years, the one in the car atm was probably the original from manufacture.

On cars with cable driven speedo, the ECU gets the speed signal from the cluster. So converting to electronic you will have to fit a speedo sensor to the gearbox and wire that in somehow.

[Nic_A31]

According to my compliance plate, my RB20 is a 98 model, if it was a 98 model, the ECU would have support for eletrical speedo, yeah?

or, could they still be running the 88 model ECU ?

On eletrical systems, does the ECU register speed and send it to the speedo? or other way round ?

There are a few dodgey wires around the joint, I dont know how deep the pits will inspect my dash, but I'll fix it up anyway, so while I have everything out, a few extra steps might not hurt, but at this stage, I'm leaning back towards a new speedo cable perhaps.

On that note, cant see anything on FAST, does anyone have a part number for the cable?

[daisu]

That would probably be the year of compliance, I doubt your RB20 was built in 98.

I'd say that in an electronic speedo setup that the signal from the speed sensor is sent directly to both the ECU and the cluster, rather than being sent from one to the other.

I'd assume the signal sent from the cluster to the ECU (in an analogue setup) would be the same type of signal sent from an electronic speed sensor. You could then use something like an Apexi RSM then to display your speed rather than worrying about trying to fit an electronic speedo behind your cluster.

I'd say it'd be alot easier just to replace the cable. They are the same cable as used in the R32 GTST, try searching the forums here for the speedo cable I'm sure it's come up before.