Various Questions...

K

Kalistha

Hi all. Used to ride bikes a long time ago, so this is my first car and need some help with questions. I'm no sparkie, so pardon the ignorance. Hope you can help :)

1. Mysterious red light comes up on my display sometimes when on the motorway. Lights up for a moment, then disappears. It's on the bottom right, between the engine oil and battery indicators. What does it mean?

2. Window spray does not work until I have been driving for a while - is this due to the cold weather?

3. Sometimes get a strange screech then hiss (like air coming out of a tyre) momentarily when braking. This comes and goes...any idea what that could be?

4. Low beam works, but is nowhere near bright enough for normal night time driving - lousy bulbs perhaps?

5. High Beam only comes on the left side - is it relatively cheap to get the right hand side bulb replaced?

6. Where are the fog lights? The stalk to the left of my steering wheel has the control, but when I turn it on, it only turns on my normal headlights. For that matter, are there rear foglights?

7. Mine is the diesel model, but it appears to be ridiculously underpowered. In any of the gears, I'm slamming the accelerator to the floor for close to 10 seconds and I can't get it above 3,000 revs. In 5th gear on the M25 on slight upwards inclines, accelerator to the floor and the car is struggling to go past 60mph. It's only on the downwards inclines that I'm able to pick up speed to 70mph. Is this normal....or is there something wrong with the car?

8. Gearshift is sometimes 'sticky' - I try to shift gears and it doesn't go to the correct position and needs a bit of force otherwise it 'judders'. Serious...or ignore?

Hope someone can help - thanks in advance :)
 
The secret to turbo diesels is light throttle application to get the turbo to spool up quickly. Next time you drive try to just depress the throttle about a quarter with each gear change.
 
2. Window spray does not work until I have been driving for a while - is this due to the cold weather?

Yes sounds like its frozen then the engine melts it


3. Sometimes get a strange screech then hiss (like air coming out of a tyre) momentarily when braking. This comes and goes...any idea what that could be?

Check pads are in good condition


4. Low beam works, but is nowhere near bright enough for normal night time driving - lousy bulbs perhaps?

Possibly, not likely. Damaged reflectors dirty headlight, does it have a beam height adjustment switch? Set it to what ever the highest setting is


5. High Beam only comes on the left side - is it relatively cheap to get the right hand side bulb replaced?

Do it yourself, it's not hard a bulb is a couple of quid! You could go to halfords and they'll fit it for a few quid more if your really stuck


6. Where are the fog lights? The stalk to the left of my steering wheel has the control, but when I turn it on, it only turns on my normal headlights. For that matter, are there rear foglights?

Is there no button on the dash somewhere? Some stalks have two parts that turn independently one for the head light one for the fog/s
Yes there are rear fogs fitted to every UKDM vehicle by law


7. Mine is the diesel model, but it appears to be ridiculously underpowered. In any of the gears, I'm slamming the accelerator to the floor for close to 10 seconds and I can't get it above 3,000 revs. In 5th gear on the M25 on slight upwards inclines, accelerator to the floor and the car is struggling to go past 60mph. It's only on the downwards inclines that I'm able to pick up speed to 70mph. Is this normal....or is there something wrong with the car?

Check the air filter isn't blocked first do a good service change fuel filters etc, if still bad you may have a dead turbo, or preturbo gas leak, possibly boost leak


8. Gearshift is sometimes 'sticky' - I try to shift gears and it doesn't go to the correct position and needs a bit of force otherwise it 'judders'. Serious...or ignore?

Could be clutch on its way

Hope someone can help - thanks in advance :)[/quote]
 
also - all these issues sound really serious eg. the turbo, clutch etc. I've literally just had a full service (filters all changed) a week ago straight after buying the car, so I can't believe the service mechanics didn't pick up on any of these.

does anyone have a good mechanic to recommend in or around London to check all of this out for me in greater detail? I'm getting worried now...
 
Is your car fitted with front fog lamps? Because a fair few Micras didn't come with them, the back one should come on if you flick the switch whilst the lights are on. The rear fog lamp should be on the right hand side, where the reverse light is on the left light.

I know this may sound really stupid but are you sure you're switching them on right, there's two twisting notches on the indicator stalk, the first does one click to sidelights, and then second to low-beam, the inner one does fog lights, models fitted with front fog lights will get one click for fronts then a springy push to switch the back one on, without is just a push for back fog lamps. You then push the stalk backwards for full beams, and pull it towards you to flash them.

If you're doing that all right and your low beams seem underpowered and only one of your full beams work then you're right you might have a dud bulb, they're really easy to change, you can buy the bulb from any good auto store, if you buy it from somewhere like halfords you can pay a little extra to have them fit it for you. However they're pretty easy to do at home, from my own experience on the K12 you need small manoeuvrable hands as there's not much room!

The washers not working until you've driven for a bit might be because of the cold, particularly if you've just got water in the tank instead of washer fluid then it will freeze pretty quickly, it could just be a sign that the fluid is getting low though, have a look and check, it's the blue cap up the front left of the bonnet.

The screech and hiss may be the turbo spooling down. What people are saying with the lack of power is that you may need to slightly change the way you drive so that it's spooled up and on the power and that may cure it, not necessarily anything wrong. I learnt to drive in a turbo-diesel corsa and I can understand what you're saying about putting your foot down and not getting much, you've just got to get it right.
 
If there was anything seriously wrong, a service wouldn't pick it up, literally all they do is flush and replace some vital fluids.

Edit: just looking at that picture you posted, that's your check engine light, maybe best to get it looked at actually.
 
Do you know anyone with a code reader? Also, regarding the hissing when braking noise: if you look at the rear of the inlet manifold (black plasticmoulded thing that ort of looks like 4 tubes joined together) on the engine, you should see a black ruber pipe that goes down theback of the engine to the brake booster. Make sure it's in good nick and connected at both ends with the metal clips securely attached :).
 
Tchaaa said:
Is your car fitted with front fog lamps? Because a fair few Micras didn't come with them, the back one should come on if you flick the switch whilst the lights are on. The rear fog lamp should be on the right hand side, where the reverse light is on the left light.

I know this may sound really stupid but are you sure you're switching them on right, there's two twisting notches on the indicator stalk, the first does one click to sidelights, and then second to low-beam, the inner one does fog lights, models fitted with front fog lights will get one click for fronts then a springy push to switch the back one on, without is just a push for back fog lamps. You then push the stalk backwards for full beams, and pull it towards you to flash them.

If you're doing that all right and your low beams seem underpowered and only one of your full beams work then you're right you might have a dud bulb, they're really easy to change, you can buy the bulb from any good auto store, if you buy it from somewhere like halfords you can pay a little extra to have them fit it for you. However they're pretty easy to do at home, from my own experience on the K12 you need small manoeuvrable hands as there's not much room!

The washers not working until you've driven for a bit might be because of the cold, particularly if you've just got water in the tank instead of washer fluid then it will freeze pretty quickly, it could just be a sign that the fluid is getting low though, have a look and check, it's the blue cap up the front left of the bonnet.

The screech and hiss may be the turbo spooling down. What people are saying with the lack of power is that you may need to slightly change the way you drive so that it's spooled up and on the power and that may cure it, not necessarily anything wrong. I learnt to drive in a turbo-diesel corsa and I can understand what you're saying about putting your foot down and not getting much, you've just got to get it right.
Click to expand...

Well, here's what happens:

First twisting notch, front left and right small lamps come on (I assume these are 'sidelights'?) Twist one more time, and the bigger lamp on the left front side comes on.

Twisting the inner notch does nothing. Looking at the front of my car, it doesn't look like it has foglights - if they're supposed to be in the bumper, they're not...

Where's the springy push to switch the back fog light on?

Pushing the stalk does nothing.

Pulling the stalk flashes the bigger lamp on the front left side.

The screech and hiss happens after I brake - when I lift my foot off the brake pedal - that's when it happens - can't be the turbo can it?

The power issue - it's literally a loss of power when I'm cruising even on a slight upslope. Usually I'm at about 60mph, in 5th gear on the M25, I'm trying to pick up speed but instead I'm starting to slow down even though I gradually depress the accelerator all the way.

In any case - how do you drive so that the turbo is spooled up?
 
Guy said:
Do you know anyone with a code reader? Also, regarding the hissing when braking noise: if you look at the rear of the inlet manifold (black plasticmoulded thing that ort of looks like 4 tubes joined together) on the engine, you should see a black ruber pipe that goes down theback of the engine to the brake booster. Make sure it's in good nick and connected at both ends with the metal clips securely attached :).
Click to expand...

Nope...no code reader..was hoping to find someone knowledgeable in the London area or close to it on here...

I'll have a look in the morning at the manifold thingie...
 
Not a chance, they'll want probably at least £50 for the privilege.
Not joking.
Engine management and car being very slow could mean you're cars in "safe" mode.
 
davey1991 said:
Not a chance, they'll want probably at least £50 for the privilege.
Not joking.
Engine management and car being very slow could mean you're cars in "safe" mode.
Click to expand...

You'd be aware of it if it was in safe mode. My mum's K12 went into it a few weeks back, orange flashing engine management light (but on a newer dash to this one) and the speed was limited to 40mph, if you tried to go above it would just horridly refuse. It made for one exciting trip down the M40 though, nearly got wiped out by more HGVs than I can count on one hand.
 
Well it definitely goes over 40mph. It just struggles going over 60 if there's an incline.

Can't find the manifold thingie as well - saw a few rubber pipes and they all looked ok. Couldn't see the bottom ends though
 
Kalistha said:
Well, here's what happens:

First twisting notch, front left and right small lamps come on (I assume these are 'sidelights'?) Twist one more time, and the bigger lamp on the left front side comes on.

Twisting the inner notch does nothing. Looking at the front of my car, it doesn't look like it has foglights - if they're supposed to be in the bumper, they're not...

Where's the springy push to switch the back fog light on?

Pushing the stalk does nothing.

Pulling the stalk flashes the bigger lamp on the front left side.

The screech and hiss happens after I brake - when I lift my foot off the brake pedal - that's when it happens - can't be the turbo can it?

The power issue - it's literally a loss of power when I'm cruising even on a slight upslope. Usually I'm at about 60mph, in 5th gear on the M25, I'm trying to pick up speed but instead I'm starting to slow down even though I gradually depress the accelerator all the way.

In any case - how do you drive so that the turbo is spooled up?
Click to expand...

Yup, first notch is the sidelights. Twisting one more time should make both bigger lamps come on, so you do have a blown bulb there. Like has been already said, it's quite easy/cheap to replace.

Not many of the earlier micras had front fogs, they where mainly on the higher trim levels so you're correct yours probably doesn't. If you flick that switch with your lights on then you should see a bright red light come on at the back of your car, this is the fog lamp.

Pushing the stalk should have the same effect as flashing, but they should stay on until you pull the stalk back towards you.

As for the screech and hiss I thought you meant it was as you braked, so, I've really no idea there.

That's probably not normal and coupled with the engine warning light, there's probably some kind of problem there, especially if your foot is flat to the floor, it should be taking off. Even though this point is irrelevant now I feel it's worth mentioning still, driving so the turbo is spooled up often means just keeping it in the right rev-range. If you find it struggles or bogs down in whatever gear you're in, change to a lower one.
 
Tchaaa said:
Yup, first notch is the sidelights. Twisting one more time should make both bigger lamps come on, so you do have a blown bulb there. Like has been already said, it's quite easy/cheap to replace.

Not many of the earlier micras had front fogs, they where mainly on the higher trim levels so you're correct yours probably doesn't. If you flick that switch with your lights on then you should see a bright red light come on at the back of your car, this is the fog lamp.

Pushing the stalk should have the same effect as flashing, but they should stay on until you pull the stalk back towards you.

As for the screech and hiss I thought you meant it was as you braked, so, I've really no idea there.

That's probably not normal and coupled with the engine warning light, there's probably some kind of problem there, especially if your foot is flat to the floor, it should be taking off. Even though this point is irrelevant now I feel it's worth mentioning still, driving so the turbo is spooled up often means just keeping it in the right rev-range. If you find it struggles or bogs down in whatever gear you're in, change to a lower one.
Click to expand...

Hmm. Ok, rear fog lamp is not working then.

Strange that Pushing the stalk does nothing but flashing does. How many bulbs are there in each front headlight assembly? 2?
 
Well, two yeah as the indicators are in a different unit on the K12. I could explain how change the bulb, but it's much quicker and simpler if you just consult the owners manual, it has details of how to do most of that. Does the foglamp light on your dashboard come on?
Kalistha said:
Hmm. Ok, rear fog lamp is not working then.

Strange that Pushing the stalk does nothing but flashing does. How many bulbs are there in each front headlight assembly? 2?
Click to expand...

Yeah two, the sidelights at the top, and then the full beam and dip beam are in the same bulb, which is in the big assembly. As for changing it, it's really simple, have a flick through the owners manual, it'll tell you how. There's a light on the dashboard for the fog lamp, so if that comes on but the light at the back doesn't, then it's blown, but again, easy fix, owners manual.
 
Tchaaa said:
Well, two yeah as the indicators are in a different unit on the K12. I could explain how change the bulb, but it's much quicker and simpler if you just consult the owners manual, it has details of how to do most of that. Does the foglamp light on your dashboard come on?

Yeah two, the sidelights at the top, and then the full beam and dip beam are in the same bulb, which is in the big assembly. As for changing it, it's really simple, have a flick through the owners manual, it'll tell you how. There's a light on the dashboard for the fog lamp, so if that comes on but the light at the back doesn't, then it's blown, but again, easy fix, owners manual.
Click to expand...

Great, except I don't have the owner's manual :(
 
Kalistha said:
Great, except I don't have the owner's manual :(
Click to expand...

I find it really stupid that previous owners keep this sort of thing, what on earth are they going to use it for! I can't remember the exact process as I've never needed to change a headlamp bulb myself. Halfords will charge you a bit extra on top though to fit it, so if you don't feel like attempting it, that option is always there.
 
Tchaaa said:
I find it really stupid that previous owners keep this sort of thing, what on earth are they going to use it for! I can't remember the exact process as I've never needed to change a headlamp bulb myself. Halfords will charge you a bit extra on top though to fit it, so if you don't feel like attempting it, that option is always there.
Click to expand...
Yes, really annoyed about that. Have the service manual though, but that doesn't tell me how to change a bulb. LOL
 
I think they're the same thing just with different names, they all say "HBU472" and have the same diagram . I'd assume that so long as you don't get an off-roading bulb, or a blue one that wont match your other lamp, you'll be okay. Like I said I've never personally needed to replace a bulb before.
 
ok, went to halfords, got the lights sorted out, paid them to fit 2 in for me so that was £38. On the upside, I observed the guy and now know how to change those bulbs. ;)

Popped into a Nissan Dealer, they wanted £100 just to diagnose the car...one guy mentioned the hissing from the brakes might be the brake booster. Doesn't sound good :(
 
this is a photo of what's under my bonnet. which one is the screen wash bottle? Top left of image seems to be brake fluid...bright yellow on the engine itself seems to be engine oil? That leaves bottom right black cap...? or is that for anti freeze?

 
My screen wasg goes in a under a little blue cap by the driverside headlight. Don't put it in the black cap - thats the coolant!

Closer look at your picture, your screenwash will go into the little white circle in the bottom left of your picture - should have a blue cap on top of it.
 
Kalistha, don't order a screenwash cap just yet. I replaced mine when it came back without it after a service. I bought a new one for a few quid and then found my original somewhere lost in the engine bay. If I can find it, I'll chuck it in the post :).

Oh, and just to clarify:

Rear left (black knurled cap with yellow writing) is brake/clutch fluid reservoir.

Yellow one on the engine is engine oil.

Bottom right cap with yellow pic on it is engine coolant.

Bottom left (white ring with missing blue cap) is screenwash resevoir.
 
oops. too late - thanks for the offer but I just ordered one on amazon :) I hope it's not the catalytic converter...managed to find out my friend's cousin is a mechanic so he'll take a look at it next weekend for me. fingers crossed.
 
Kalistha said:
oops. too late - thanks for the offer but I just ordered one on amazon :) I hope it's not the catalytic converter...managed to find out my friend's cousin is a mechanic so he'll take a look at it next weekend for me. fingers crossed.
Click to expand...

That's lucky! I know from my own experience what a pain a vague problem like that can be. I had to deal with a nissan dealership initially and it was hell!
 
Tchaaa said:
That's lucky! I know from my own experience what a pain a vague problem like that can be. I had to deal with a nissan dealership initially and it was hell!
Click to expand...

well he works on vans for his dad's despatch company....so i'm not sure how familiar he'll be with my car. but at least he'll be able to make some sort of initial diagnosis i suppose.
 
fitted the new screen wash cap today. now the question is, what brand of screen wash is good to use, what are the proportions to mix with water, and can i fill it right up to the top?
 
Kalistha said:
fitted the new screen wash cap today. now the question is, what brand of screen wash is good to use, what are the proportions to mix with water, and can i fill it right up to the top?
Click to expand...

In a daft moment for me whilst trying to wash my car today, I managed to fill the bucket with screen wash instead of shampoo, and couldn't figure out for ages why it was such a thin mixture but it got a hell of a lot of dirt off the car, so I'd guess it does pretty well. It's just a big thing of mixer that we got from costco, not missed a beat so far, my washer jets have never frozen even in -15 last week so I'd recommend it. Was probably dirt cheap too knowing costco.

The mixture is usually written on the bottle of washer fluid, and yeah you can fill it right to the top, or at least I always have with no side effects.
 
Lidl do a huge container of screen wash that if you work out the temp it'll go down to without freezing against the final volume it makes works out something like 15x better value than the ready mix from Shell! This is the stuff, best value anywhere and it's German!

screenwash.png
 
Thanks for all your help folks. A little update from me: my mate's cousin who is a mechanic checked it out, and was preparing to replace brake servo, do a gearbox oil change, and arrange for a proper diagnostic check as he said the turbo wasn't spooling up at all.

Then yesterday, after filling up at the petrol station, the cashier pointed out to me that there was a leak under my car. Last straw, really. I took it straight back to the dodgy dealer and kicked up a stink. Pointed out to them that despite being 'sold as seen' (which is illegal according to OFT anyway), they are legally obliged up to 6 months to put right any underlying faults - either repair, or replace the car with another.

It was going to be difficult for them to repair as they are not also a garage - just a car dealer. They also pulled out a trump card - the company's owners had gone into administration recently and a new owner had taken over in the 1 month in between. I'm not certain on whether the law would oblige the new owners, so I didn't push it too much.

Ended up topping up £200 and leaving with a 2005 Yaris T-Spirit. Not too bad I suppose, considering it would have probably cost me the wrong side of £500 to properly do up the Micra.

So, guess I'll pop in from time to time here, but won't be too regular :) Thanks once again for all the advice. Great community, and much appreciated.

Who knows...I might end up with another Micra in the future :)
 

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