Jump to content
SAU Community

Recommended Posts

I know this topic has been discussed in previous threads, but i cant find the answers i need

My car has been fine until a few days ago, after i stopped at the servo i started my car & noticed the HICAS

light was on & this caused my steering to be heavy. I tried to restart the car & the light stays on

however this is where things get wierd, if i leave the car for a overnight or while im working (approx 8 hrs)

i can start the car & the light will stay off and steering will be normal, but if i was to turn the car off & restart

the light would go on & steering would be heavy again, it seems the car likes to have a rest before it works properly :(

Will driving the car with heavy the HICAS light on & heavy streering cause any damage?

I know a lock bar would probably be the way to go? will this make my steering as heavy as it is with the HICAS light on?

Is there a simple way to fix this? at least until i find the time to fit a lock bar?

i have already tried cleening the contact on the HICAS but with no sucess...

any suggestions??? any input would be greatly appreciated :P

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/243696-hicas-light-on-heavy-steering/
Share on other sites

see if you can do a HICAS diagnostic. it should be able to narrow it down for you. but by the sounds of it, its leaning towards being your vehical speed sensor. it tells the car that its moving and to bump up the pressure to the powersteering system, and it is also needed for HICAS to function. if you just throw a HICAS lock bar in i'd say you'll still be stuck with heavy steering. but yeah, start by doing the HICAS diagnostic and see what it says, there is a tutorial on how to do this in the tut section.

see if you can do a HICAS diagnostic. it should be able to narrow it down for you. but by the sounds of it, its leaning towards being your vehical speed sensor. it tells the car that its moving and to bump up the pressure to the powersteering system, and it is also needed for HICAS to function. if you just throw a HICAS lock bar in i'd say you'll still be stuck with heavy steering. but yeah, start by doing the HICAS diagnostic and see what it says, there is a tutorial on how to do this in the tut section.

Thanks for the quick reply, i think you might be right about it being the pressure to the power steering system, so the speed sensor could be causing the problem, do you know where the speed sensor is located?? i have tried the HICAS diagnostic & the HICAS light didnt flash, maybe i wasnt quick enough??

^^Also check the power steering fluid, Hicas using it aswell.

Fluid level is fine, but i think the hoses need replacing soon...could a slightly deteriated hose cause a pressure drop & HICAS light to come on? I would have thought if there was a leak sufficent to casuse a problem the fluid level would be dropping dramatically?

PS: the car is a Series 1 R33, it also has a Wolf 3D aftermarket computer (plug n' play)

is the speed sensor on the gearbox, speedo, connected to computer??

sorry if this seems like a silly question :P

Take it to your mechanic and get them to plug in the diagnostics computer to trace the fault.

It will pick up all the sensors and give you a reading.

Its just a matter of isolating each point till you narrow it down.

power-steering fluid is only relevant to r32gtst...

im pretty sure 32gtr use super hicas..

which comes standard in 33gtst onwards..

so its done by an KYB motor..not hydraulic!!

correct me if im wrong...

so pwr-str fluid wouldnt have anything to do wit it!

sound lik u need to do an hicas diagnostics..

hey mate ive the exact same problem that you're having. I park my car and get some food, when i come back and start my car the

HICAS lights comes on. I leave it for a long period of time like overnight etc... it goes off, and now it jsut comes and goes randomly its

super weird. Im driving a R33 non turbo, anyone knows how does the HICAS work on this one? Is it fully electronic as well or does it

work with the fluid?

cheers!

hey mate ive the exact same problem that you're having. I park my car and get some food, when i come back and start my car the

HICAS lights comes on. I leave it for a long period of time like overnight etc... it goes off, and now it jsut comes and goes randomly its

super weird. Im driving a R33 non turbo, anyone knows how does the HICAS work on this one? Is it fully electronic as well or does it

work with the fluid?

cheers!

oh good question..lol

well as far as i know..R33 have super hicas..which is the same as as 32GTR..

this runs off a electric motor...and i Nissan used KYB motors...

have a look under ur car and see if you can see these motor on the hicas unit behind the diff...

the motor should have a sticker on it..

sounds like u need to run a diagnostics..there is a way to do it..just search...

  • 4 weeks later...
Take it to your mechanic and get them to plug in the diagnostics computer to trace the fault.

It will pick up all the sensors and give you a reading.

Its just a matter of isolating each point till you narrow it down.

Ive just run plugged in the standard ECU and run a diagnostic system check

ps:diagnostic computer will not communicate with aftermarket ECU

The readout from HICAS was - 25 Engine Rev abnormal signal

Does anyone know what this means?? Would it be to do with reverse (speed sensor) on speedo/gearbox

The error code i chased up on this site for HICAS diagnostic Codes 1993-1999

and came up with: 25 Rear sub sensor input not present

would this be the smaller of the two sensors to the right of the HICAS motor

i guess the sensor or plug could be faulty??

Anyone had the same problem?? or any suggestions on what i need to do??

Thanks for everyones input! :P

oh good question..lol

well as far as i know..R33 have super hicas..which is the same as as 32GTR..

this runs off a electric motor...and i Nissan used KYB motors...

have a look under ur car and see if you can see these motor on the hicas unit behind the diff...

the motor should have a sticker on it..

sounds like u need to run a diagnostics..there is a way to do it..just search...

32gtr is hydraulic.

  • 1 month later...

I'm having the exact same problem with my R33 Gtst S1. It just starting doing it one day and it seems to happen every now and then. It seems to happen on warmer days and doesnt happen at all on cold days which is quite weird. When it does happen the HICAS usnit seems to be quite hot aswell. Has anyone found a fix for this yet? Some more info would be great!

Cheers

Sounds like your HICAS pump is on its way out... The steering gets heavier and the light comes on when the secondary pump isnt working.

Mine had the same problem for a while, just buy and fit a lock out kit and pull out the entire HICAS system (or pay someone who knows how to do it). :happy:

Sounds like your HICAS pump is on its way out... The steering gets heavier and the light comes on when the secondary pump isnt working.

Mine had the same problem for a while, just buy and fit a lock out kit and pull out the entire HICAS system (or pay someone who knows how to do it). :D

It's a 33.. they have an electronic HICAS system.

If you bothered to read the whole thread you would have known this.

But, +1 to removing HICAS, one of the best things I ever did to my car.

  • 2 months later...
  • 7 months later...

Before any more complicated answers, one question..

Have you performed a hicas diagnostic on your car?

A) Yes, and let us know the results..

B) No, go and do one, will find the how to in diy and tute section.

Thank you for your time.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • That was the first session so not a lot to take from the day. It was low 20s ambient and the coolant had got to 110 (and obviously had some pressure!) so that still needs to be addressed. I haven't downloaded the data yet but will. I had refilled the auto trans with Redline DT6 because it claimed the best viscosity I could find at 100o. It wasn't really long enough to get a good feel for that; while the trans got to 100o in the session it still wasn't shifting crisply as I hoped. I think I'll try a few more sessions before judging. No steering motor overheat but I'd hope not in only 1 session! But finally the suspension; it was night and day over the standard stuff and the car was a couple of seconds quicker on the same crappy tyres, which is a huge difference. I'll stick with that and get some sway bars and a mechanical diff sorted too and see how that all goes together
    • I guess it’s partially a compromise of how my car is used, wanting to be able to switch from drift to grip with track side on-car adjustment. Also partially with the way the knuckles are set there is more static camber but less dynamic camber gain. 
    • OK, so update from the track day on Friday It was a classic "an unfortunate series of events'. There were a few cars around and when i checked my mirror coming out of the fish hook I notice some smoke from the rear of mine. Looked again and it was getting much worse, I figured I'd blown a turbo or something to got off it and pulled off the racing line. However.... since it is a left hairpin into a right kink, I was on the inside of the next corner. There was a car passing me on the left and a big drop off over the ripple strip on the right......and someone had knocked the witch's hat that was on the apex about 1m onto the track. So, between those 3, I decided to mow down the cone and not damage my car/the other car. Right choice, but surprising result.  The car decided the cone was a small pedestrian so it blew the rear bonnet hinges up to protect their head in the upcoming person to car impact....I didn't see that coming and like an airbag deployment it happened super fast. Straight into the pits from there, everything was driving fine but it became clear it was a coolant leak not smoke, it was billowing up onto the windscreen. Onto the trailer and home. I'll do a separate thread about the repair (once I work out what it is ), but the immediate problem was the bonnet wouldn't open because the front was pinched onto the front bar and would not release. Ultimately we unbolted the hinge from the bonnet, pulled it back a little and it released from the front OK. "There's your problem", the top radiator hose had popped off at the radiator.
    • Yeah that looks like great caster, but I'd suggest trying less front camber some time and seeing if it helps with braking without reducing mid corner speed too much
    • I ended up setting the rear 5mm higher than normal to give some clearance.  My plan is to run the least camber I can in the rear which I think with the extra width is going to need to be -1.75 to -2.00° just to get clearance.  Guards have been rolled and pulled as much as they can/I would be wanting to.  front has the Acostal knuckle with the KPI change and the drop etc. So should be okay with the existing settings I have run with AR1s etc Front: Toe total -2mm(1mm out each side) Caster +7.5° Camber -3.8° Ackerman +15°
×
×
  • Create New...