Hi, i've had a problem with speedo and power steering cutting in and out on a random basis, i have looked at the tech article by jedi-77, i have removed the speedo and checked for dry solders all seem to be ok, also pulled out the speed senser in the transmission and the cog on it looks fine, i've tryed a search and it seems others have had a similar problem, one difference is that my "a/t" warning light comes on for a bit when the car is started but only when the speedo and power steer dont work, i was wondering if this light could point me in the right direction. Had this problem for some time and is costing me a bucket load of cash. Any help appreciated. Grant Dwyer grantd@gwengineparts.com.au www.gwengineparts.com.au
Since I bought the car 5 weeks ago the steering was hard. It goes hard after 10 sec starting the car. I went to Auto Transmission specalists and they told me the steering is OK and I can't expect any better as it is 1992 model. They did Diag with a PC and it said speed sensor circuit error. But they told me it may cost 1200 to fix the cruise control. Called Nissan and they said they will charge 90/hr to find out the problem. It may cost 1500 for entire job. Went to wrecker and bought the cluster, didn't manke any difference. Swapped the cluster with A/T computer, ASCD unit and Power steering controller for 250 as they didn't want to refund for cluster. I was getting annoyed as all those three controller has been replaced and the speedometer works, but still speed sensor circuit error pops up. Checked ASCD hold relay, ASCD cancel relay, Switch in brake padel and all fuses. But no luck. I was about to give up. At last it took me 5 nights(7PM-10PM) continuous checking and it is the faulty cable from speedometer to A/T computer, ASCD unit and Power steering controller. Didn't bother to pull out the whole harness. I ran another cable from cluster to A/T computer, ASCD unit and Power steering controller. And Guess what, Now all works. Power steering and Cruise controller. The only interesting bit is there was no reading in Multimeter when measuring the voltage betwn Speed sensor out terminal and ground, the reason is it is square wave and frequency is more or less than AC voltage. So DC and AC selector will not show up anything. Thanks again to all member as they have posted the required information to find out how the speed sensor and power sterring is related to each other. Now I am stuck with A/T computer, ASCD unit and Power steering controller from a Z32 twin turbo 1992. If anybody interested let me know. They are all in working condition.
Had a similar problem A few months after I bought my zed I had similar problems. I ended up removing the solder from every joint on the speedo and resoldering them all. It took hours, not had any problems for the last 3 years.
Update... I ran a new wire from the speedo to the p/s control unit under the ecu and it's still doing the same thing, except now i have a "werrrrr-ing" sound comming from behind the dash that gets faster & louder the faster i go, but no noise when the car isnt moving. Is there anything in there that actually spins? because its kind of a spinning/wizzing sound, maybe i've disrupted something in my travels. Am i best off getting the speedo sent away and tested? My worry is that it will test fine because the problem comes and goes. Any ideas?? Thanks, Grant Dwyer grantd@gwengineparts.com.au www.gwengineparts.com.au
Have a similar prob at the moment, my speed sensor locked up shearing off the plastic teeth, so I replaced that and have my speedo working again, but not power steering which I thought would be fixed at the same time. Most likely I must have stuffed the solders trying to repair what I thought was faulty solder connections originally, making it worse for myself. Anyway I'll find out soon enough when can test my bros and see how it goes.....
Some answers... From my experience I can narrow it down to 3 things... - Speedo cluster (resolder joints, check Odometer and Trip meter are working) - Speed Sensor unit (Remove and replace with a known working one) - Wiring (Check for damaged wiring. The wiring flows up under the drivers side wheel arch) All three things are related and will cause the Speedo to work intermittently or not at all. When the speedo has a fault, the power steering will stop working after 10 seconds or so of driving. As you mentioned. You have soldered the joints on the speedo. I would eliminate Speed Sensor unit from the equation by swapping it with a known working one. Has your car had any work done on it recently which may disrupt the wiring? Cheers Rob.
