Anyone else seen this. Opinion appears to be that I need a new Crank Angle Sensor but, at £425.35, I don't want to do this if it isn't going to cure my problem. It's been to Middlehurst Nissan who can't bring up any faults on their equipment. Let me give you a description...

 

Driving along on the motorway when the engine will suddenly die as if it has been switched off. You can floor the throttle to your heart's content or wiggle it about, the car will not come back to life. The only way to restore power is to back off the throttle for at least one second, then reapply it. All is then fine. Backing off the throttle for less than this does not cure the problem.

 

I have even tried switching the ignition off when the problem happens and leaving my foot in the same place on the throttle. Switch the ignition on again after the engine has died for a couple of seconds and restart with the starter or bump start. The problem is still there. Only backing off the throttle for over a second cures it.

 

More recently, the car has started running roughly when cold. It now has an alarming tendency to die when pulling out of junctions before it has warmed up.

 

Any similar problems welcome or suggestions as to where I can obtain a CAS cheaper.

 

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

Mike

Middlehurst managed to sort you out aswell eh Mike? Not saying anymore!

 

Sounds like the initial stages of PTU failure to me, could be wrong but they are prone to packing up quite spectacularly! Try and find a way of swapping it out with a known good one, would have thought that the almighty Middlehurst may have thought of that but obviously not!!!

 

If you don't know much about the ignition system on your car it's basically like this. The Power Transistor Unit provides the charge for your plugs, this travels via the wiring loom upto your individual coil packs for each cylinder. Also controls the pulses for your injectors I think.

 

I would suggest ringing either Johnny at GPS who can help you big time, or ring Luke Borg at the Z centre. Forget Nelson Mandelas(Nissan Main Dealers!) they are all nigh useless with this car! Whether they be Official Skyline dealers or not!

 

Both numbers are in the contacts section on this site, no point trying to speculate or brainstorm what is wrong with your car but these problems are quite common. Get it to someone who knows what the fuck they are talking about, asap!

 

Hope this helps geeZer!

 

 

Tim

;-)

 

P.S. Mike you aren't far away from me, I'm in de Wales...aiiiii! What is your car mate? Also, seems like you have experienced the same sort of thing as me. They recommend you change something without a) knowing if the part is duff! and b) not guaranteeing that it will sort the problem out...tossers! If they think it is the CAS then why can't they swap it out for you with a known good one? No, that would be too simple, let's just take 400 large off him for the fun of it! Be careful with Nissan mate, they just see $$$$$ signs!

 

 

[This message has been edited by Timmy_Turbo (edited 05-07-2001).]

The TPS (Throttle Position Sensor) could be involved somewhere. It is basically a potentiometer and it may be sticking, or wearing out or just plain knackered. They are not particuarly expensive.

Thanks for the quick replies.

 

Tim, I've got a 92TT with a few performance mods. Did you have similar results at Middlehurst then? You would have thought that being an official Skyline dealer they would have everything needed to sort this out. WRONG!!! I actually live in St Helens so Middlehurst is a couple of miles from my house.

 

I had also considered the PTU or the TPS. I discounted the PTU (using my amazing expert knowledge (not!)) because of the dependance on messing about with the throttle to start the car again. Also, I would have thought a faulty TPS wouldn't just die suddenly but would cause intermittent problems throughout its stroke. Or would the ECU just shut down until it was happy this had been reset? This being the case, wouldn't I get an error code?

 

Ideally I would swap these, temporarily, for known good items. Anyone know how I could do this, or, is there anyone in my area who would volunteer a temporary swap in return for a similar favour in the future?

 

Cheers

 

Mike

 

My thoughts were along the lines of if you have to move the throttle to make it work then that moves the innards of the TPS. If it has a 'dead spot' or glitch or something then moving it may get over that problem area. This is a fairly typical problem with potentiometers. However, if the Nissan Consult diag. box doesn't pick up that this has hapenned then it could be a red herring.

Thanks for the reply again Andy.

 

I thought this also. However, you can move the throttle over its full range with no effect. It's only when you back off the throttle totally and then, importantly, leave it off for over a second that it cures itself.

 

I would dearly love it to be the TPS as this is very cheap compared to anything else! I was hoping that a dodgy spot on the TPS may cause the ECU to shut down and only resume once a closed signal had been received from the TPS for a length of time. Highly unlikely I would have thought and I'm probably just clutching at straws!

 

Mike

Mike, I've sent you a mail about my thoughts on Middlehurst mate! There are some on here that don't agree with me on their Technical abilites to sort problems out!

 

However, Middlehurst are good at fitting bodykits, BOV's, exhausts, alloys, tyres, brakes etc. Not much different from Halfords to be honest! Except they charge more!

 

 

Tim

;-)

 

Mike,

 

I had to read that twice. CAS??? Does not match the symtoms. Boy, they are running out of ideas. It has PTU written all over it to me but could be the TPS if it's failing completely.

 

1. Do your OWN diagnostics. Easy to do.

2. Clean all the connectors including cas,tps,ptu,temp sensor,coil packs etc etc.

 

I have a spare TPS if you want to try it out.

I would suggest finding a local Z owner willing to lend his PTU and give that a try too. Thats where my money is.

 

The consult/diag does not always read the errors. A fully dead PTU should provide an error code but maybe not with an intermittant prob.

 

Buy your parts from Courtesy Nissan in the US. Much cheaper even with carriage and vat&duty. Say your a TT.net memeber for a further 25% discount. They provide for all Zeds whether US,Europe or Jap spec.

 

Andy

 

 

Arsen Venger, shame I haven't got my car to hand Mike with me being quite close to you. My PTU has probably only covered a couple of 100 clicks so we could have swapped 'em over!

 

By the way, are you going to Billing at the end of the month? Jap. Auto. Extravaganza...BANZAI!

 

 

Tim

;-)

 

Hi Mike,

 

The ONLY place to take your car around this area is Hiteq in Wigan. I live near Preston and have used Hiteq a couple of times. Their website is www.hiteq.co.uk

First off, how often does the problem occur? If it often enough to check on a shortish drive you are welcome to try mine. Secondly, if you want me to have a quick look over the car then no probs. Just let me know.

 

CheerZ,

 

Andy

Oi, Vodka King of Preston, are you going to be up for fun and frivolity over the weekend? Seeing as I can't MSN during the week geeZer???

 

Tried Yahoo messenger but it only works with Intel versions of Linux e.g. RedSplat and Free BSD...PHUKET!!!

 

I wondered why Matty had gone so quite for the passed few weeks?!?!?!?! I miss the Elk Hunter!!! LMAO!

 

 

Timmy No Mates!

:-(

 

Mike, my motor is going into RC Developments in Warrington on 18th of this month, will be there for 9 days, your welcome to help yourself to any parts you like as the engine will be out too, Smithy, I.O.M

I have a spare PTU if you want I can post it to you as long as I get it back.

 

As Im alittle to far away to drop it off.

 

If you want me to post it email me your address.

 

 

Timmy

 

try www.imici.com instead.

 

i use this at work, as its the only way i can get it through the firewall....

 

it is a bit clunky to use, but at least it's usable...

 

and you can use it for msn, yahoo and icq all at once

 

------------------

UK 92 TT White

Mongoose K&N AVCR

KYB Eibach

 

[This message has been edited by craig (edited 05-07-2001).]

Thanks for all the replies and offers for help. Very useful.

 

The good news is I've now isolated the problem. I read the fault codes off the ECU last night and it came up with TPS. Now quite why Middlehurst couldn't find this I don't know! Something else that troubled me was the engine management warning light didn't display an error condition when the documentation I've read says that it should for TPS failure.

 

So, I disconnected the TPS (engine management light still doesn't come on!!) to make the car run with whatever alternative inputs it uses. The car now runs fine, better than it has done for ages. I can't wait to see what it's like with a new TPS.

 

What worries me was that Middlehurst were quite happy to let me fork out more than £400 for a replacement part that I didn't need, when I diagnosed the fault using nothing more than a screwdriver. Also, they could have recommended disconnecting those sensors that the car will run without, to see if any caused the problem.

 

Once again, thanks for all your help.

 

Mike

 

[This message has been edited by Mike Duffy (edited 06-07-2001).]

Only one thing to say really - see a specialist. Usually the first thing that Nelson does is look for the manual and the credit card reader when a Z turns up. This is a bad sign.

CheerZ Mike, nice to see another satisfied customer!!! LMFAO!!!

 

And to all you who gave me loads of shit about Middlehurst I've got one thing to say! TOLD YOU F**KING SO!!!

 

 

Tim

;-)

 

Springers Thought for the day!

 

"Just because the said Dealer sell an exotic sports car doesn't make them a motoring God by any standards. At the end of the day they sell Micras and Primeras and probably spend more time sevicing these pathetic models than they do repairing supercars! In Mike's case he was duped into nearly believing that he should open up his chequebook and sign away a blankety blank! Luckily, due to his better judgement he resisted temptation and walked away with his wallet intact! So finally, don't believe everything you hear, judge for yourself and at the end of the day you will only have yourself to answer for...'till next time, take care!"...roll credits...

 

Mike, it's either the PTU or the PTU loom, I had similar problems, but they all went away when I managed to aquire a s/h PTU loom for £15.00