***Erratic idle, stalling, loss of power, fouled plugs, fuel starvation symptoms, fluctuating revs, surging, engine management light lit, running rich ***
I had all of the above problems with a 2001 (51 reg) Nissan Micra 1.0 SE. The car would run ok until it was warm and then all hell would break loose. Got a local mechanic to check the car over and he advised giving it a service to start with as the plugs were fouled. The car ran like a dream after a minor service and clean of the airbox but this lasted for 2 weeks and then the problems started again and the infamous engine management light was permanently lit.
Took it to garage who plugged it into a diagnostic computer but there were no codes stored. Waste of £25.
Also, read that this can be caused by incorrect spark plugs, so off to the Nissan dealers {note, now spelt correctly, and not the slang version! - DD} for correct plugs but problem still existed.
In the end decided to go for the Air Flow Meter/Throttle Body. The company which supplied the remanufactured AFM had only sent it with 2 of the 3 sensors attached. After calling them they advised that we should use the 3rd sensor from our faulty AFM/TB.
After fitting the AFM/TB and missing sensor the car ran ok till warm but then the symptoms started again. Called the company who supplied the part (who's company test-ECUs) and they arranged to send out the 3rd sensor at no additional cost. Next morning, replaced the sensor, warmed up the car and hey presto it runs like new again! Disconnected the battery and after reconnecting the engine management light no longer appears.
From my own experience I suggest if you experience the problems listed above to get down your local scrap-yard and try the sensor that fits to the unit (its controls the idle apparently). If this fails, I'd try a 2nd hand AFM/TB to confirm that is at fault. The scrap-yards we did visit in Birmingham were happy for us to test their part and only to pay if it cured the problem - definitely worth trying to diagnose the problem, unless you fancy shelling out the best part of £300-500 bills on a remanufactured one only to find out it isn?t at fault. Hope you find this useful and it saves you time.
Edited by Pugugly on 13/09/2008 at 18:55
|
**UPDATE**
Car broke down a week later. Would start for a few seconds and then cut out - loads of black smoke.
Luckily I hadnt sent back the old AFM yet and decided to get it fitted. Car starts up, no black smoke but erratic idle problem still present.
Have been sold a dodgy AFM! Thanks to ecu-testing.com
|
It's only a few cracked solder joints that fail on these throttle bodies. There was a great link on here that showed exactly how to repair them.
Have a search for "Micra throttle body" - it was about 6-10 months ago.
|
www.micra.com.au/technical-articles/cg13de-throttl...p
April by the way. Thanks.
Edited by Pugugly {P} on 14/10/2007 at 19:32
|
Can you post a follow-up as to how the desoldering (if done) goes? I have posted the desoldering link in the past but never had cause to actually do it, so I'm interested to see if it works, and how tricky it is in practice.
|
|
I did the soldering job on my 1994 1.0 Micra as I had severe running problems and to be honest the car has never run better since I have owned it, I am no mechanic but I bought a soldering iron set off e-bay for £4 and it took me about half an hour in total.
|
I've got a 1993 K11 and its been running erratically ever since I had it about 3 years ago, not all the time but it would either have a fast tickover after a long run or the engine would cut out. Sometimes on the overrun it would kangaroo along rather alarmingly.
I read this thread downloaded the instructions for the re-soldering job, bought some silicon gasket stuff (0.93p) and set about doing it. The instructions are great and cannot be faulted, after leaving it for an hour I tried it and it was like driving a new vehicle (it's done 93k) and the tickover is so quiet I thought the engine had cut out again!
That was two weeks ago and it's still OK
My thanks to everyone concerned.
Jim
|
Hi Jim
I have exactly the same symptoms and suspect I need to carry out the re-soldering but the link to the instructions now fails with "Bandwidth Exceeded" is there any chance you still have a copy of the file I could get a copy of?
|
|
click on the link then on the pdf. thanks to whoever put that up its very useful and saves so much money doin it yourself rather than a pricey mechanic
Edited by Pugugly on 13/09/2008 at 14:43
|
|
Whoa guys. My mums 98 'S' 1.3 had exactly the same symptoms, it too eventually refusing to re-start. We too did the diagnosit check, and other then stuff to no avail. It in fact turned out to be a faulty distributor. Once changed the car ran faultlessly. Well worth checking
|
karen r -
"pricey mechanic" by that do you mean the person who has trained for 20 years to get the knowledge to repair almost every car that comes through the door?
Or the person who has most likely spent in excess of £20k amassing an amazing variety of hand tools to repair almost any car that comes through the door?
Or the person who has spent £20k to £40k or more on diagnostic equipment to diagnose almost any car that comes through the door?
Or the people like screwloose et al who give their FREE TIME, FOR FREE to help people complete their own repairs after posting replies to members of the public?
I wonder whether it was a "pricey mechanic" that first posted details on whatever forum it was on how do re-solder the nissan throttle body?
What a cheek.
|
|
take it ur a mechanic then!
|
Karen r,
Yes, I am a fully qualified technician and business owner as it happens, as are a good many of the forum members giving specific, detailed advice - FOR FREE on this and many other technical forums.
There is an old saying - you may have heard it before "never bite the hand that feeds you" - sound advice I think.
Nuff said...
Pricey mechanic :)
|
Hi,
This is my first post so please be gentle.
I have a 1999 K11 with what sounds like the exact same fault.
HOWEVER.....
I have replaced the following in a mission to try to get the darn thing running correctly
HT Leads, Dizzy cap (x2), Dizzy (x3), complete throttle body change including three combinations of sensors (Air Flow Meter, Throttle Potentiometer etc), air filter and battery. I have also checked the fuel pump is in full working order.
Yet I still have the problem.
Engine management light does not illuminate when the fault occurs, only if the engine stalls.
Any suggestions? You help and advice is humbly accepted.
Edited by Bob Flemming on 25/11/2008 at 21:30
|
