Hicas Light Staying On

[Ninja gts25t]

My hicas light comes on after about 20 mins of driving and stays on until I turn the car off. Any1 else witthw same problem. Ohh and would also like to know how to reset the ecu

[89CAL]

Reset the ECU is easy, Take negative terminal off battery, put your foot on the brake for a few seconds (or fiddle with switches, basically just need to drain any residual voltage) then put the negative terminal back on.

My HICAS light came on after 20 mins of driving above 80kmh when I installed an aftermarket steering wheel and boss kit

I lined the HICAS boss kit up with the prong that moves the HICAS hub behind the steering wheel in the wrong spot so it wasnt instantly turning the hub, there was a couple of degrees of movement before it would move the HICAS hub. This caused my light to come on and I relised and fixed my boss kit so it was in the right spot.

But that would probably only apply if youve only just got a boss kit installed or if youve only just started doing longer trips at or above 80kmh

[Ninja gts25t]

I do have a boss kit with aftetmarket wheel and yrs it is generally when I drive home on Reid het. 90km zone for like 20m

[89CAL]

I could hear mine sort of click as it engaged the HICAS hub prong when moving the wheel slightly left and right when it was out of position, see if you can hear anything like this when you turn the wheel?

[Gemini]

Could it be low power steering fluid?

[89CAL]

I dont think that would be An issue with the electric hicas but check it anyway I guess?

[matticus]

See if you can get your car to go into diagnostic mode.

http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/topic/22193-hicas-diagnostic/

The diagnostic mode will tell you the error code which is cusing the light to come on.

If you cant get it to work then most likely your steering angle sensor is stuffed. the reason it wont work if the steering angle sensor is broken is that the system will see no steering input and it will not complete the required objectives to go into diag mode.

I had this issue, went to a wrecker and picked up a good one for 50$ and installed myself.

now my HICAS is workign properly and good again.

[Samon]

Not meaning to hijack the thread, but it's kinda related...

Anyone else have the problem where if you drive in a straight line for a long time at high speeds (i.e. on the highway at 110 for 15 minutes or so without turning), the HICAS light comes on, and stays on until you turn off the car? I've only done this sort of trip a couple of times, and each time the same thing has happened.

As far as I can tell, there's no real problems with this happening (maybe the HICAS is disabled, not sure), just interested to know if anyone else has this issue, and if they know what causes it?

[89CAL]

Ummmm

That's what this whole thread is about...........

Solutions have just been mentioned. Hicas boss kit installed wrong or inferior, or steering angle sensor issues

In regards to the diagnostic thing. I've never been able to get mine into diagnostic mode when my boss kit was stuffing up. Haven't tried it since I fixed it, probably should try but

[matticus]

If there is no steering input after a certain distance then the HICAS unit will believe there is an issue and go into a failsafe mode. The failsafe mode will move the HICAS motor to its default (central) location and signal the warning. After a key cycle the code is cleared until it comes up again.

One way to ensure that there is no steering input (as seen by the HICAS unit) is to have a non-functional steering angle sensor (SAS).

When i had an issue with my SAS it would flag up after 10km. Got the new SAS installed and problem is fixed. I can also get my car into diagnostic mode.

If instead you have a Nissan consult (an actual one, not an aftermarket) you can connect to the HICAS unit through the OBD port and read any fault codes that are present or have been in the past.

[Samon]

Ummmm

That's what this whole thread is about...........

Solutions have just been mentioned. Hicas boss kit installed wrong or inferior, or steering angle sensor issues

In regards to the diagnostic thing. I've never been able to get mine into diagnostic mode when my boss kit was stuffing up. Haven't tried it since I fixed it, probably should try but

I've had the issue I described with the stock wheel, and two different boss kits. I can easily get it into diag mode, and make the rear wheels turn manually, etc, everything seems perfect. 99.9% of the time, the light doesn't come on... only after extended periods of driving at speed without turning the steering wheel at all (i.e. long, boring straight highway driving)... in the 5ish years and 80,000km I've had the car, it's only happened maybe 4 or 5 times.

I've double- and triple-checked the boss kit installation, all looks good, and as mentioned, the diag mode works fine. Perhaps there is a minor issue in the sensor or something, but I'm not too fussed, it's never caused a problem, just thought I'd see if anyone else had the same issue as me (from what I understood from the OP, and I may be misunderstanding, this was a regular, repeatable issue which happened during regular, daily driving...

[scottish lad]

boss kit issue with mine!!!

[jrm]

I do have a boss kit with aftetmarket wheel and yrs it is generally when I drive home on Reid het. 90km zone for like 20m

OP: if your boss kit isn't one designed for HICAS, then this will be causing your issue.

if you cannot get into hicas diagnostic mode (use search to find out how) then this is a good indicator your boss kit isnt right for hicas or your steering sensor is busted.

it wont be power steering fluid unless you have an r32 (those used a hydraulic hicas system, r33/r34 use actuactors)

I've had the issue I described with the stock wheel, and two different boss kits. I can easily get it into diag mode, and make the rear wheels turn manually, etc, everything seems perfect. 99.9% of the time, the light doesn't come on... only after extended periods of driving at speed without turning the steering wheel at all (i.e. long, boring straight highway driving)... in the 5ish years and 80,000km I've had the car, it's only happened maybe 4 or 5 times.

I've double- and triple-checked the boss kit installation, all looks good, and as mentioned, the diag mode works fine. Perhaps there is a minor issue in the sensor or something, but I'm not too fussed, it's never caused a problem, just thought I'd see if anyone else had the same issue as me (from what I understood from the OP, and I may be misunderstanding, this was a regular, repeatable issue which happened during regular, daily driving...

Is it possible that your steering angle sensor is out of alignment? You should be able to use a multimeter on the HICAS ECU (check the workshop manual for the correct pins). It should be able to give you an indication what voltages are 'center' - the HICAS system will get upset if the car detects it's at an angle for an extended period - you may also find at speeds >80kph that your car will 'crab' slightly or the steering wheel may turn slightly to compensate for it.

[smcqueen89]

my r32 has hicas on as soon as i start the car

what does hicas acualy mean???

[jrm]

my r32 has hicas on as soon as i start the car

what does hicas acualy mean???

HICAS stands for High Capacity Actively Controlled Suspension - it's Nissan's rear-wheel steering system.

Unlike some 4WS systems like that from Honda, it's not used in low-speed maneuveurs, but only an assistance for high-speed cornering - it only really activates above 60-80kph. On R32 skylines, the system is hydaulic (hooked into the power-steering system - so if this has issues, then HICAS may too). On later models (R33/R34), HICAS it's electronic using actuators, making it somewhat more reliable.

HICAS takes a number of inputs from the car, including speed, and steering input to device whether to, and how much to turn the rear wheels. It only turns the rear wheels a maximum of about 1-2 degrees, but at high-speeds this assists with corners.

You can see how it operates to assist with cornering at different speeds in this image:

The most common failures of the HICAS system that I've seen are:

* HICAS ECU failures (the capacitors have failed/leaked)

* Aftermarket steering wheel with incorrect boss (need one that is designed for HICAS)

* Power steering fluid low (on R32 models)

* Incrrect steering wheel alignment (ie: the steering angle sensor thinks the wheel is turned when it is straight ahead)

Most people replace the HICAS system with a HICAS lock-bar to get rid of this system that can fail, and because in extreme handling situations it can and will make the car less predictable (as you and the car can 'fight' - if you oversteer and correct the steering with opposite lock, the rear-wheel steering will react to that which can make things worse, so you correct again, and HICAS reacts to that, etc)

Here is a link to the HICAS diagnostic: HICAS Diagnostic Thread

There is a wealth of information on these forums about HICAS - make sure you use search - Note that often using google rather than the inbuilt SAU search may yield better results.