Urgent! Power Steering Issue

[Damo Monster]

Hi there..

In my R32 GTS-t Skyline (1991) I have developed a bit of a problem where the power steering randomly shuts off, along with the HICAS light appearing... No before you all say that its been covered and do a search.. I have searched, and see that others have had this problem, but no one has posted a solution... The thing is, my mechanic (and all the others in town) dont seem to be able to help me... I have checked the fluid level, and its fine.. I dont have an after market steering wheel.. I ran the HICAS diagnostic, and it said that there is an issue with the Speed Sensor and the Gear Selector (its an auto)... the thing that I cant figure is why would it shut the powre steering off for either of these faults? I have had the power steering pump and belts checked, and they're sweet... Also, there is no pattern to it switching off.. it will do it in either a straight line, or a corner, and and any speed... If it was just a light that blinked up, I wouldnt worry.. But I dont want a car that turns off power steering any time it wants.. Things like that can lead to nasty surprises!.. Please help, I'm really not sure what to do next!!

Cheers,

Damian

[blind_elk]

R32s use fluid from the P/S system to operate the HICAS system. So it makes sense that a problem with the HICAS would affect P/S.

If it's random, I'd be looking at a dirty electrical connector.

[Sydneykid]

The power steering is speed sensitive, that's one of the important inputs to the HICAS ECU.

So the speedo sensor is intermittent, or it might have a bad conection at the ECU, check the speedo cable, they break on R32's regularly. Does the speedo needle jump around at constant speed?

Next would be the gear position indicator, so the HICAS ECU knows what gear it is in. Is the selector sloppy? Or does the selector light flash? How's the gear change?

These are all simple tests that any decent mechanic could do. The diagnostic is telling them what is wrong, then it's a simple matter of working through the usual causes. Don't let the fact that it is a Skyline get in the way of the usual logic, speed sensitive power steering is the same on all cars.

Hope that was of some help

cheers

Edited September 11, 2005 by Sydneykid

[Damo Monster]

Hi there..

Yeah I have noticed that over a 100K/ph the needle seems to sticm sometimes, nad then free up as you keep accelerating... but its playing up mostly at 50K, which the needle seems to be fine.. Have also noticed the 100K+ warning chime sounds very sick sometimes, and quite often doesnt come on, or only comes on between 100-110 kph, and never seems to work at 120-160kph... Wonder if that is all related... Have booked the car into a specialist auto electrician in the enarest city as I cannot find any local mechanics who seem to want to know/have any idea... Just hope the auto electrician can fix it (although when I was speaking to him, he reckons it wont be the speed sensor as he said if it was faulty, the speedo would go at all... he seems to thing it will be steering wheel sensors.. which I find hard to believe as it plays up even in a straight line, and I still have the factory m-spec steering wheel)... Anywya, thanks again for the quick replies, and if you think of anything else I can check/do, let me know (its a couple of days before the car goes in, and I'm not looking forward to the bill)...

Cheers,

Damo

[Duncan]

Well I cna help with one of those things, the speed alarm thingy gives up after a while of nagging you, so maybe by the time you hit 160 on that private rd you have been going over 100 long enough that it gives up.

I left the speed chime in for 1 drive from sydney to goulburn......

[Damo Monster]

Well I cna help with one of those things, the speed alarm thingy gives up after a while of nagging you, so maybe by the time you hit 160 on that private rd you have been going over 100 long enough that it gives up.

I left the speed chime in for 1 drive from sydney to goulburn......

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

ha ha.. yes , umm.. private road... anyway, was going to pull the chime out, but when i had a look at the unit it seemed to have two wires rather than one, so wasnt sure which to cut (as the diy i read said there should only be one... but i must admit my nerves had got the better or me by that point so i wasnt looking as well as i could have..).. but that was a few months ago, and this playing up has only been recently, so im sure its not whe i went in there... haveing said that, the dicky chiming and the speedo sticking has always been there...

.. the chime is erratic though.. it only comes on occasionally over 100kph, and always gives up at 110... is that actually normal? sounds quite sick when its going.. no regular tune or anything.. sounds like a dozen old bicycle bells being chucked around in platic bag really...

Edited September 12, 2005 by Damo Monster

[Damo Monster]

Hi there..

Thought I'd post up the results so that anyone having similar issues might get some ideas... the auto electrician found that a lot of bits had dropped off the pcb in my HICAS computer... he resoldered them all back on, and seems to be fine so far.. If anyone else out there has had similar symptoms, it might pay to get your ecu checked out... he said that it was a combination of old/dry joints and everyday vibration from the vehicle operating...

cheers,

damo