Hicas Creating Havok....

[Spartan-117]

Hey Guys,

Recently I started having an issue with my HICAS, every couple of minutes the light would come on the dash(even when stationary) which would be followed by a fluctuation in revs and slight noise from the rear end. Now it has gotten a lot worse, when the HICAS light comes on now its very erratic, stiffens up my steering wheel and slightly jerking it and every now and then shuts down my stereo while the light is on the dash. Last night even switching my headlights on seemed to get a rise out of it. Could this be from a bad earth somewhere that is effecting these systems?

It has an aftermarket stereo and turbo timer fitted but they have been in for over a year now and problem is only around a month old.

I still have standard steering wheel and last mod was long before the issue started.

[89CAL]

Certainly sounds like a wiring issue. Being that HICAS components exist at the front and rear of the car, its going to be a bit of a pain to diagnose which part is causing it. Seen as its messing with your stereo and headlights I'd start inside the car, may have to pull the dash out and just have a look at all the wiring. Not very helpful but its a bit of a hard one to diagnose without being there

[blind_elk]

How old is the battery?

Haver you checked the tension on the alternator belt? (R32 is notorious for not liking bad voltages).

[GTSBoy]

The #1 concern with these old HICAS computers these days will have to be whether the electrolytic capacitors inside them are still OK, or if they are dying and causing all sorts of other shit to fry in there. I'd be having my HICAS controller apart on the bench in seconds if mine started doing this.

[Spartan-117]

How old is the battery?

Haver you checked the tension on the alternator belt? (R32 is notorious for not liking bad voltages).

Battery is only 1 year old still has good charge. I'll check the belt tension out

The #1 concern with these old HICAS computers these days will have to be whether the electrolytic capacitors inside them are still OK, or if they are dying and causing all sorts of other shit to fry in there. I'd be having my HICAS controller apart on the bench in seconds if mine started doing this.

I have had the controller open and everything looked sweet, didnt test the capacitors though.

I plan on getting a lockout kit in a couple of months but if theres an electrical issue somewhere I want to sort that otherwise I'll still be having issues elsewhere. Going to try and clean up current earth's and add another and checkover as much wiring as possible to see if I can find any damage

Edited May 12, 2014 by Spartan-117

[Spartan-117]

Update,

on the way to auto electrician it died in the arse. 1km away SOB. Melted the fusible link off positive terminal. Definitely something not happy somewhere in the car.

I'll update with an outcome from sparky

[Spartan-117]

The standard connections for the fusible links were the problem all along, seen bottom left in picture. Removed the standard connection and just put ring ends on wires and connected directly to battery.

They werent getting enough power from the standard aged connections so HICAS was first system to get the shits with it.

All good now, no more warning lights no more dramas

[Piggaz]

Why not rip it out and throw it in the dumpster where it belongs?

[niZmO_Man]

Why not rip it out and throw it in the dumpster where it belongs?

Because this

Like the injectors?

[GTSBoy]

Because this

What now? HICAS would be the exact opposite of what you want in a car to make that sort of driving enjoyable. The whole time you are flinging it sideways the bloody HICAS would be fighting you for control of the rear end because it has no idea what the hell you're doing.

HICAS is a miserable attempt to make a front heavy RWD chassis feel like it has faster turn in than it natively does. Below 7/10 driving its veneer of snappy turn in is acceptable. Above 7/10 it makes the car feel like it's trying to kill you.

[niZmO_Man]

You need to calm down, note the " "

BTW my HICAS is trying to kill me at 1/10 driving.

Also, I think Shuto Kousoku 2 came out around 1990, no idea if they had HICAS delete kits back then.

[Piggaz]

Like the injectors?

???

[niZmO_Man]

1:17, something doesn't look right.