Super S weird electrical issue.

CMF_geanie

» CMF Member
Member since:
Posts:
Hello All,

I have a super S for about 3 months now and it had been driving really well until the weekend just gone.

A few things that seems unrelated happened before my car suddenly decided to not start.

My fan used to work on all settings but was working only on max setting. I read up on this forum and managed to fix it by removing the solder and re-soldering the resistor card.

Thinking everything was fixed, I drove the car for a few days before i noticed that my instrument cluster clock has reset( it didnt used to do this. ) Not thinking much of it i set it, but it reset again after i turned off the car and turned the car on. So, i am a bit miffed by what is causing it.

Next, i emergency braked while cruising around Northbridge because i was distracted by all the classic cars that were driving about, and almost hit the car in front. The ABS came on and worked well. Nothing was out of the ordinary after that, until i turned off the car.

After i turned off the car, when i tried to turn it on again, the abs light came on and would not turn off.
I disconnected the battery to reset the system but that didnt work.

I drove for about 10 mins and then parked up. When i came to start the car, i noticed that the instrument cluster didnt light up when i turn the key, the car started but the rev and meters were not showing any movement. I rev-ed it a bit and all of a sudden, everything came to live again, and the ABS light is still on.

i drove for another 15 mins and parked the car. The next day, when i start the car, the same thing happened, i need to rev the engine to get the instrument panel to work.

After driving around, i switched my car off, and when i tried to start it, i hear the starter click, but it doesnt have enough juice to turn the flywheel. I walked home and drove my wife's car to jump my car, but when i crank the micra, it started normal. weird.

When i got home, i check the battery voltage and it was ok.
i turned the car off and tried to restart it, and it wouldnt turn over.

i thought this was an immobilizer fault, so i rewired it back to factory, but the problem is still there.

i took the instrument cluster out as i never remember seeing an engine check light before, and there were no engine check light in the cluster.

i removed the lower cover to have a look at the ECU, but there were no sight hole with led nor were there a screw. can anyone tell me how to get fault codes on the k11 please?

i pushed start the car thinking it might be a low battery issue, and it did start, however, the engine went into a state where the rev seems to be moving up and down in a fixed time manner, maybe it was in safe mode. it did this a few times before it died. (there's fuel in the car so its not running out of fuel)

Has anyone experience this or know what's going on? it was driving fine last week and it's pretty much not usable now.

I'd ordered a haynes manual, but any suggestion on getting the fault code will be appreciated. There is a 14 pin grey plug under the fuse area, but since there's no engine check light, i am not sure where i should look for the flashes.

Cheers

Geanie

 

CMF_Micra_King

» CMF Member
Member since:
Posts:
Your right it is an odd problem. In all the years I have been on this site I have never seen anyone else post up such an issue. Could it be that your fix on the resistor card has some how caused the issues? eg shorting out causing havoc to the rest of the cars elec system eg computer?
 

CMF_geanie

» CMF Member
Member since:
Posts:
Maybe, i'll have a look at the resistor card again tomorrow.

Oh yeah, one thing i didnt mention was that when the car was idling and the idle was hunting like its in the safe mode, reving the engine hardly gets the revs to go up, ie the response was poor.

I bought a battery charger today and is charging the battery now. Will check the voltage tomorrow if i can get the car to start to check if the alternator or the voltage regulator are working normally.

 

CMF_david (2)

» CMF Member
Member since:
Posts:
my friend had similar (abs light/not starting) issues, but not exactly the same. He found if he fiddled with the wiring near the red plug it seemed to help.

Also, there seemed to be a corellation to the days being really hot so try parking the bonnet in the shade on hot (35C plus) days.

Check all the wiring near the battery, especially near the red plug. My friend's plug actually goes softish on hot days, and has melt marks on it..

Loose wire would explain some of your symptoms at least....like clock resetting.

My friend's car is also a super s.
 

CMF_Mike R

» CMF Member
Member since:
Posts:
check the earthing points and the heavy earth leads to the engine , they can snap or corrode . this can cause that type of starting problem , and the other issues may be a result of a poor earth .
 

CMF_geanie

» CMF Member
Member since:
Posts:
I checked the earthing tonight and they were all good.

With my battery fully charged, the car starts with no issues. the gauge cluster comes on on ACC, like a normal car.

i checked the voltage of the battery, and it was 12.4v when the engine is running, so i suspect that the alternator is not working.

Anyone in Perth knows a wrecker i can call to buy an alternator?

Also i tried taking the alternator off, and i could not. i'd taken all the bolts that holds the alternator in, but it seems like the alternator is still held in the cast iron bracket because there's a tube that extends into the alternator casing.

Any ideas on how i could take the alternator out?

Cheers for your suggestions so far.

 

CMF_solarice

» CMF Member
Member since:
Posts:
sounds like a vacuum leak for the hunting, Unless the emergency brake has kicked some crap up into the fuel system....

The not starting could possibly be the starter on its way out?

Though some of your other issues deffo sound like a bad connection somewhere.

Best and probs only way is to check every possible connection and give them a going over with wd40. iirc the connectors on the drivers side engine bay send some / most / all (lol) the signals to the cluster. I had a dash warning light problem before i cleaned the contacts on one of the plugs.

sorry i cant give you a deffo though :) hope you get it sorted.

 
Back
Top