P11 Turbo Diesel-ECU/Electrics Problems

Boy am I glad I found this site. Have a problem with the above car. Symtoms are:
1. Engine Fault Light flashes.
2. Sometimes the Light stays on and the engine will not accelerate, dipping the throttle clears this temporarily. Sometimes the engine will rev up to 4k on its own accord.
3. Most Recently the ABS or and also the Aibag light comes on when driving. When the ignition is switched off they remain on with a faint glow resulting in a dead battery within the hour.
4. Electronic speedo sometimes sticks on one speed and tacho has been nown to bounce from one extreme to the other with the engine off.

If anyone can help with a diagnosis I would be extremelly grateful.
Can anyone also inform me where the ecu is situated on this rhd car, also if the fault codes published elsewhere on this site also apply to this diesel.

Many Thanks.
Mark.
:confused:

first try resetting your ECU, see if that clears any of the problem. then look into the fault codes. do a search on this forum for resetting ECU, which will show you the correct proceedure, if all else fails, you may need to pop into the dealers for a consult check ££££ ching ching!!££££

The ECU should be mounted under the central dash (i.e. below your heater controls).

ABS control is on a seperate computer mounted in the passenger footwell on the LHS (between the footwell and the wing.

To do a test of the ECU yourself, you will need to short a couple of pins together on the diagnostic connector port, located below you fusebox. Problem is that with it being diesel, most of the web-based codes probably won't apply - it's a different kettle of fish altogether. The haynes manual should cover it, however.

The fact that everything seems to be going awol (remember, abs is controlled seperately from ecu) kind of suggests you've got an electrical fault not related to any one circuit. Have a look under your bonnet and check all the obvious wires for signs of damage. Other than that, as the man says, it's off to a dealer for a good ripping off...

I take it you've not driven through any rivers recently then???

I think the most sensible thing, so you dont cause any further
problems, is to go to a dealer & get them to run a diagnostic check
with "Consult". At least this way you'll know for definate & if it
gets diagnosed incorrectly, its the responsibility of the dealer.

First of all thanks guys for taking the trouble to reply, however as a full time student, paying the stealership £100 inc for a "consult" check is just not an option at the moment.

I do have a "friendly" at the above who I am sure would identify any "error code" should I be able to extract one from the ECU.
Eeeyore, I wish I had your message before I spoke to my contact in the parts dept. The various locations suggested for siting the ECU were behind the instrument binacle, the glove box, even under the driver seat. Having dismantled all the above following eeyores advice I find the ECU and ABS in 5 mins.

Eeeyore, the vehicle has not been through water, though I think we are looking at 2 seperate faults.
1. with the exception of the " engine check light," and associated problem re: occasional lack of throttle responsce and surges, which having lasted for 3 weeks has not reoccured for the last 2 weeks the other problems are recent.
I have a hunch that an ECU check would indicate either a poor earth on the airflow sensor attached to the airbox, or possible a fault with the throttle position sensor?

First of all thanks guys for taking the trouble to reply, however as a full time student, paying the stealership £100 inc for a "consult" check is just not an option at the moment.

I do have a "friendly" at the above who I am sure would identify any "error code" should I be able to extract one from the ECU.
Eeeyore, I wish I had your message before I spoke to my contact in the parts dept. The various locations suggested for siting the ECU were behind the instrument binacle, the glove box, even under the driver seat. Having dismantled all the above following eeyores advice I find the ECU and ABS in 5 mins.

Eeeyore, the vehicle has not been through water, though I think we are looking at 2 seperate faults.
1. with the exception of the " engine check light," and associated problem re: occasional lack of throttle responsce and surges, which having lasted for 3 weeks has not reoccured for the last 2 weeks the other problems are recent.
I have a hunch that an ECU check would indicate either a poor earth on the airflow sensor attached to the airbox, or possible a fault with the throttle position sensor? continued Part 2 Below.

Sorry about the double post, I thought the first did not get through!

Could you tell me in relation to determining this first problem, how to go about shorting out the port under the (interior?) fuse box, and extracting the error code from the ECU?.
When looking at the ECU from the drivers footwell, I could not see an LED, however on removing a small nissan sticker half way along the edge I noticed a small hole or recess in the casing is it housed there?

2. Regarding the other dash lights glowing dimly when the ignition is switched off, resulting in a dead battery, could this be a back feed due to a short in the wiring? Could this occur if a live wire shorts to the vehicle body? Is this what I should be looking for?

Looking forward to your replies. Thanks all!

Mark.

I can find out the correct shorting position from my haynes manual this weekend - I can't remember off hand. The problem is that with it being a diesel, as I said earlier, it's really a different kettle of fish. Although I (or someone else here) could list the fault codes, they would probably be for petrol models and wouldn't reply. ECU's for diesel engines are still relatively rare, so it's still a bit of a black art. Don't worry about finding the LED on the ECU. Once you put it into test mode, the ECU light on the dash will do the flashing.

Anyway, do you have a multimeter or voltmeter to hand? If not, get one, otherwise you won't have a chance.

If you suspect the throttle position sensor or the airflow sensor, there is a couple of options. The first is to check the outputs. www.primeraweb.co.uk detail a couple of checks you can do with a multimeter. The other option here is to disconnect them, one at a time and see if it cures the problem. The ECU should detect the disconnection and go into backup mode. It'll put the ECU light on, but drivability should be sorted.

The two sensors above are worth checking given your original faults. Your latest fault, however, indicates something more central/major. Let me re-iterate these faults - tell me if I'm going wrong anywhere:

1. ECU and ABS warning lights come on whilst driving.
2. Speedo works intermittantly.
3. Rev counter works intermittantly.
4. ECU and ABS warning lights stay on after engine switch-off.
5. Your battery goes flat when the car is switched off.

These sympoms reek of a wiring fault. Either your earth has gone bad, or you are getting a short on one of the lines. The fact that the lights stay on after switchoff, albeit dimly, would indicate that a capacitor is discharging slowly through a high-resistance instead of going directly to earth (sorry for getting technical) - i.e. a bad ground connection. The fact that the ABS does this as well is an indication of something fairly major. The final confusion is with your battery going flat. Regardless of the lights staying on, it shouldn't go flat from this - which would indicate a short, not a bad ground - very confusing.

Ok, so lets start simple. The first thing to ask is did you do anything to the car prior to this - new stereo/speakers, another fault fixed, any extremes of driving &/or conditions??? These things rarely happen by accident, so if you could indicate any possible condition that may have caused this, then we know where to look.

Secondly, check your battery terminals. Are they corroded, loose or any signs of a bad connection? If so, get them sorted. Visually inspect the battery - check for cracks, etc. Also check the fluid level in the pots on top - are they all even?

Thirdly, does your battery warning light come on with ignition, but turn off when the engine runs? Does it come of whilst driving?? Any other sympoms to mention???

Do you have an alarm system fitted? If so, can you manually switch it off? If so, do so.

Have a look at the wiring in the engine compartment. You aren't looking for bare wires touching metal (you'd really know about it then). What you are looking for is damaged wiring, loose connectors, or anything that generally doesn't look "right" (Nissan are clean and tidy - your wiring should be also). Check for any oil leaks which may be dripping on the wiring loom. Check in the fuse box for any signs of water leaking in from the windscreen. Look for corrosion in strange places. You may be dealing with electronics here, but 99% of the time it's a physical factor that's caused the problem.

The last thing I can think of is this: does your engine turn off when you switch it off, or does it run on for a bit??

The diagnostic connector seems to be the same across most petrol model Nissans, so hopefully it should be the same for yours.

What you need to do is connect the "IGN" to "CHK" pins with a spare piece of wire for 2 seconds.

How to locate these pins really depends on which way round the connector is! Before I carry on, let me say that this text is for petrol models - i.e. don't sue me if something bad happens!

Ok, for a 2-litre petrol model, you need to connect the top RHS pin to the one immediately next to it on the top row. For the 1.6 model, the connector is reversed (therefore bottom left). Since is only minimal pins actually in the connector, you should be able to work it out from that.

With your ignition to "ON", connect them together for 2 seconds then remove the wire. Your ECU warning light should start flashing. Long flashes indicate the first digit in the sequence. Therefore 5 long flashes would mean 5. These are then followed by short flashes, which count the second digit. Once you've got the first sequence, there should be a 2 second gap to the next code. Once you've reached the end of the last code, it'll cycle over and start with the first again.

The following codes are relevant for the petrol model. I'd imagine that they'd use the same codes in the diesel range, but some won't be used and there will be some more in addition:

11 Crank Angle sensor circuit
12 Airflow meter circuit
13 Coolant temperature sensor circuit.
21 Ignitiion signal cct.
34 Knock sensor cct.
43. Throttle position cct.
55. Everything's ok.

hope this helps...

Heres a list of generic fault codes for Nissan also:

http://www.200sx.org/ecucodes.html

I hope you're sat down because the cause of your problems is very expensive to rectify.

My own P11 2.0 GX TD is currently in bits at the local Nissan main agents where it is awaiting a new diesel injection pump.

My car was displaying exactly the same characteristics before I had it checked out on the diagnostics machine. The error code it returned related specifically to the governor in the pump which was defective (hence the cutting out and the sudden surging in RPM).

A new pump through Nissan UK was quoted as UKP1645 + VAT. Fortunately, I managed to get one through Feathers in Halifax for UKP900 +VAT. Feathers are one of only two remanufacturers that are approved by Nissan UK.

Sadly, neither of the above prices include labour - but the one good thing is that I have had the delight of a brand spanking new Micra as a courtesy car - they are bloody brilliant!!!!

Hi all

I have a Nissan Primera 2.0TD. Its been in the family from new.
There has been a fault on the car since new, when approching a junction the car cuts out. However this only happens as and when it pleases. More recently the check light has come on. Does anyone have any suggestions?

thanks

l would advise you to go to car dealers if you cannot figure out the problem.