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This last week my R33 S1 has been losing power steering, only after a reasonably long trip though. Say about 45min to an hour of driving. When i stop the car and then start it again minutes later the Hicas light is on and I have no power steering. Anyone local have any experience with this issue? Also this week there's been a sickly tapping or knocking noise comming from under the bonnet somewhere. Sound gets faster when I rev the car. Just mentioning it in case the two are related

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That was my first thought but fluid level was right where it needed to be.

checked engine oil, that sickly tapping noise sounds like my engine rev fast knock goes faster = spun bearing

Yah engine oil is still at a good level and a good colour. What was your spun bearing in?

Silly question, but are all your belts still there? Not spinning on the pulleys?

Could be a speed sensor issue, both the HICAS and power steer need the speed sensor to detect how fast your going. I'd be doing a search on that, maybe something's come unplugged or broken. Speedo working? If not I'd be pretty sure that that's the problem.

I have a similar problem with my HICAS but now stays on all the time, from what I have read mine is probably the HICAS ECU not working but haven't had the chance to change it over to see if that fixes it, will let you know if I do fix it.

I used to have a similar noise from the engine (was after some spirited driving), oil was a liitle low and sounded like lifter noise changed the oil and noise has basically dissapeared apart from when first started for about 10 seconds. hope this info helps a bit.

The sickly noise sounded like a really loud tractor, noise started one day very quiet then 2 days later it was real loud and like a said a tractor. Also started nearly stalling. Replaced plugs and flushed oil and its almost completely gone. Mechanic said Lifters were blocked a little.

Will try and do a hicas diagnostic today. Mechanic couldn't find anything wrong with the power steering (although I dont think he looked to closely) The power steering is starting to cut out more frequently now. Last week it was only after a 45 min plus drive. Now after like 15 min if I stop and turn the engine off, then turn back on HICAS light on and no power steer..

Have a slight rubbing noise from the belts atm, just had a new timing belt put in so I'm not sure if its that or not.

need to describe the knocking noise better... power steering pump fail?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWP4FryCqsw

Hopefully this link will work, this is a video of how the engine was before it got fixed. Mechanic said a mixture of bad spark plugs and blocked Lifters.

Couldnt get the diagnostic to start today :happy:

Edited by awsam
that def sounds like there is no oil getting pumped up too the head is your oil pressure gauge showing anything at all ?

Yah oil pressure gage is usually above the half way mark, bounces around slightly depending on temp and how spirited I'm driving lol But generally stays above half way.

Now that it's cooled down in Adelaide a bit I'm finding that the Hicas & Power steering thing isn't happening at all unless I've driven my car for quite a while. So seems heat related. A search in google found me 3 solutions other people have had. One person replaced the speed sensor, another replaced a specific capacitor in the hicas unit or something that was leaking black stuff on the circuit board, another simply unplugged his battery to reset the computer. I haven't tried any yet since it cooled down. Seems like a common problem with R33's after searching it, I'm surprised there aren't more detailed solutions especially on here.

ur power steering pump is f**ked,

the knocking is the bearing in the front of the pump, once the sensor on the power steering line under the motor senses pressure drop , it routes all the fluid bypassing the rack,

get a new pump.

ur power steering pump is f**ked,

the knocking is the bearing in the front of the pump, once the sensor on the power steering line under the motor senses pressure drop , it routes all the fluid bypassing the rack,

get a new pump.

How much does one of them go for? Is it a big job replacing?? Are you going by the video I posted? Because that turned out to be blocked Lifters :D Your description sounds about right though ^_^

  • 3 weeks later...

**UPDATE**

Went to Synergy to plug into their scanner and my Hicas wouldn't respond at all. Didn't matter if Hicas light was on or off.

Leads me to think a thread I found in google about a transistor in the Hicas computer leaking black stuff could be the cause. Need to try and borrow a working Hicas from somewhere so I can plug it in and test it out as I can't afford to buy a new one and just wait and see..

  • 3 weeks later...

Another update, Synergy put another HICAS in and still no communication.

**UPDATE**

Went to Synergy to plug into their scanner and my Hicas wouldn't respond at all. Didn't matter if Hicas light was on or off.

Leads me to think a thread I found in google about a transistor in the Hicas computer leaking black stuff could be the cause. Need to try and borrow a working Hicas from somewhere so I can plug it in and test it out as I can't afford to buy a new one and just wait and see..

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