Bluebird Su14 Ecu Issue

startyourengines · October 30, 2013

I own a Nissan Bluebird SU14 Eprise (Diesel), YOM 1999, Manual.

The problem I have is that the car gauges randomly stop working while driving and the rpm and speedometer drops to zero, heat meter drops (the entire meter board stops working). The gauges randomly stop and sometimes it comes back on in a few minutes but generally it stops working for hours. Also, the ABS check light is constantly on. (A mechanic also told me that if the gauges don't work, the battery doesn't get charged... so I'm afraid to drive my car).

So, once the gauges stop working the car starts to jump when I give it a bit of gas. Moreover, sometimes when I take my foot off the accelerator, the engine keeps reving at 1250rpm for a few seconds before it drops to 750rpm (idle). It's all kinda messed up.

Thus, I took it to a diagnostic guy and he told me after checking, that the ECU is faulty because the car was not getting connected to the diagnostic tool. But an electrician told me its the faulty gauges meter board (instrument cluster)... Does anybody know what the issue is?? It's such a pain....

Or do you guys know a specialist at ecu probs... also, how much does an ecu cost for an su14?? can we get a reconditioned anywhere in colombo?

Thanks guys...

maheshw · October 30, 2013

hi first where d u locate ?did u check ur electric system? i mean alternator & earth wiring ? i must say that u shud go for 2nd opinions before do anythng.

Magnum · October 31, 2013

Im not an expert but i have seen what you have mentioned happening here in a Suzuki Every and it was an alternator belt issue

Rumesh88 · October 31, 2013

Before going for replacement ECUs etc get your wiring checked for loose connections, bad connectors, fuse box, etc as maheshw commented above. At the same time get the battery voltage measured with the engine running at 2000 rpm and all electrical loads on when the problem props up. You should get a reading of around 14V on a digital meter. Just because a scanner fails to connects up with the ECU does not mean that it is faulty, specially when you have other symptoms too.

Davy · October 31, 2013

I remember reading a couple of threads recently about similar issues on the Bluebird SU14. The problem is most likely in the gauge cluster circuit. I guess that the RPM issues are also part of this because it's controlled by a drive by wire system.

Go through the following threads:
http://forum.autolanka.com/topic/15525-bluebird-su14-problem/

http://forum.autolanka.com/topic/11158-bluebird-fuel-gauge-problem/ <- Not much of info here, but OP has figured out that it's in the gauge cluster (as per his mechanic).

Hope this helps. Good luck!

Edited October 31, 2013 by Davy

startyourengines · October 31, 2013

first off.. thanks for the quick replies guys...

maheshw and rumesh88 - well, i did get it checked by three different electricians before getting diagnosed... firstly, i replaced my battery since the previous was about to die. Then, I checked the alternator (at two places) and it was charging fine. after that, i took it to nishantha at dehiwala and he checked for earth and fuses... he even removed the instrument cluster and did some soldering... (Davy, it was I who posted the su14 issue in general automotive section... i thought the soldering fixed it but it came back again in a week)...

and Magnum - i did a 180 point check and that guy told me to change my drive belt... I assume thats what you're talking about... I'll be changing that today...

I don't think that it is the instrument cluster because a mechanic in kirulapone connected a spare cluster and it still showed the same probs... so, i'm not sure if it's the cluster... then again, I'm not an expert.

So do you guys think if it is an issue related to the ECU or ABS sensors or Instrument Cluster??

Thanks folks

maheshw · October 31, 2013

Still i dont think this a prblm in your ECU. but if u feels its the one who is giving trouble just try to find one to use few days & check. dnt buy. evry time go for 2nd opinion as well. if the replace isntrumet cluster did act as same that menans there is no any problm in your excisting one. did u chek the charging rates with all electric items ON? ac on ? 2500 rpm ? IDLE ? after replace the drive belt just update your status.

Magnum · October 31, 2013

On 10/31/2013 at 5:22 AM, startyourengines said:
first off.. thanks for the quick replies guys...
maheshw and rumesh88 - well, i did get it checked by three different electricians before getting diagnosed... firstly, i replaced my battery since the previous was about to die. Then, I checked the alternator (at two places) and it was charging fine. after that, i took it to nishantha at dehiwala and he checked for earth and fuses... he even removed the instrument cluster and did some soldering... (Davy, it was I who posted the su14 issue in general automotive section... i thought the soldering fixed it but it came back again in a week)...

and Magnum - i did a 180 point check and that guy told me to change my drive belt... I assume thats what you're talking about... I'll be changing that today...

I don't think that it is the instrument cluster because a mechanic in kirulapone connected a spare cluster and it still showed the same probs... so, i'm not sure if it's the cluster... then again, I'm not an expert.

So do you guys think if it is an issue related to the ECU or ABS sensors or Instrument Cluster??

Thanks folks

Get that belt changed, keep the ECU replacement as the last option

The Don · October 31, 2013

Take the car to A*W and tell them to run a diagnostic. They are fairly reasonably priced. Hopefully if the ECU is faulty or another electronic component is faulty, you should be able to figure that out from what the ECU is telling you. Note that the diagnostic system A*W is the manufacturer approved one so will provide more detailed information than a generic scanner.

startyourengines · October 31, 2013

maheshw and magnum - I had my mechanic check the belt, but according to him the belt is is good nick... he said that it just needs tightening... so he did.

The Don - bro, when I did the 180 point check, they tried to run a diagnostic but, sadly it couldn't connect... He tried it several times. So, I'm kinda out of luck here. Are you saying that A*W diagnostic might work? If so, I'll deffa take it there... I'm just scared of the price. :/

so you guys are pretty confident that the ecu cannot be affected that easily?? what about the abs sensors?

The Don · October 31, 2013

The ABS has a different ECU if I'm not mistaken. So does the air bags.

The A*W prices are very reasonable. The thing is if an external diagnostics failed to connect it could be for many reasons. But if the Nissan factory diagnostics fail to connect that is a different issue. I think you can see where I'm going with this.

With Nissan's you are fortunate to have a relatively good agent whose prices are reasonable and they are also very flexible. If the ECU is faulty you should know quite quickly.

startyourengines · October 31, 2013

Alrighty The Don, I'm gonna give em a call tomorrow and make an appointment on the weekend and get it checked out. I also gave a call to this guy at wattala (CN Electronics) who apparently specializes in ECU related issues and he wanted me to drop by after Monday (just as a last resort). If all else fails, its a direct drive to wattala. :/

The main issue is that when the instrument cluster stops working, the vehicle jumps when I give it a bit of gas. Such a PAIN in the ***. Sigh

startyourengines · November 6, 2013

Guys, I took it to A*W... and they said that it has two different issues:

1 - the engine reving issue is due to a faulty injector sensor... apparently, the su14 comes with 3 normal and 1 electronic injector (or something like that)... so he told me to change that injector which costs 45k brand new... is it ok to replace that with a reconditioned one?? if so how much do you think it would cost?

2 - the cluster dropping and vehicle jumping issue needs to be diagnosed it seems... they wanted three days and they didn't gimme an estimate.. so I didn't take that offer.. :/

but, as I mentioned before, I took the vehicle to this place in wattala (CN Electronics)... and those guys tried to diagnose with 3 different tools... it kept saying "link error"... the problem with it not being able to connect was due to the socket being 16 instead of 14 (not sure what those numbers meant, but he said that the diagnostic tool connector in the car was the wrong size).... so he told me to drop the vehicle on sunday night so that he could figure out what is wrong by monday... I think i'm gonna give it a shot... hope it works... fingers crossed.

Davy · November 11, 2013

Your car should be having an OBD/ OBDII connector which has 16 pins, so it's not "wrong". The guys at the shop don't seem to be having the right OBD diagnostic tool with them.

Rumesh88 · November 11, 2013

On 11/11/2013 at 4:49 AM, Davy said:
Your car should be having an OBD/ OBDII connector which has 16 pins, so it's not "wrong". The guys at the shop don't seem to be having the right OBD diagnostic tool with them.

Some Nissans of 1999 - 2000 period had 14 pin OBD connectors(not sure if only for JDMs). OP's comment sounds somewhat other way round. In fact you can get a conversion plug from ebay.

The Don · November 11, 2013

You can replace the injector sensor with a used item, but it goes without saying how long it will work can't be guaranteed. A trip to Delkanda should sort you out as that engine should be fairly common.

In terms of A*W as long as you tell them that not to do any work on the car until they are willing to give an estimate should have done the trick. Then they will simply charge for labour used for diagnosis. Personally when it comes to electronic issues I'd rather them than some wanna be electronic wizz kid mess up my car. I had to replace an ECU once thanks to such a failed repair. I mean its not to take anything away from good auto electricians but I would only use somebody who I know or comes recommended.

After the issue is diagnosed then I always have the option of taking the car to somebody else.

startyourengines · November 14, 2013

Right, the car just got back...

Apparently, its not an ECU issue... the guy removed the ecu and checked it completely and it works well it seems (I still didn't have an opportunity to check it).. Anyways, the two issues:

1 - The engine reving issue was related to an improper linking from the electronic diesel pump to the injectors it seems... So the guy serviced the electronic diesel pump and till now that issue has not appeared. Thus, I'm quite happy with that. A*W on the other hand wanted me to change the first injector itself... Confused. But, the job done by CN Electronics seems to have solved the issue.

2 - the instrument cluster gauges dropping to zero which caused the vehicle to be jumpy during acceleration has "hopefully" been resolved. The guy first did something (didn't explain what he actually did... very fishy) and told me it was resolved. So I took it home yesterday but, while driving back home, it showed up again. I was way too annoyed coz I've been dealing with this from the day I bought it (1st Oct 2013). So I took it back to him today morning and that guy removed the cluster and took the speedometer gauge apart. He said that the speedo gauge is the only gauge that has a connection to the ecu. Apparently, the other gauges are linked to the speedo gauge (computer chips) and one individual connection is linked to the ecu. So he replaced the board of the speedo with another nissan one which has a different mileage, just to check if the issue occurs. Till now it hasn't, so he wanted us to drive it for 3 to 4 days and see if the issue recurs. If not, he told me to be bring it back to replace the current mileage memory chip with the original one.

As I have no idea about any electronic issue of a vehicle, I'm not able to say if this sounds like a solution... but it seems okay... So i'll keep you guys updated within the next week. Hope it works fine. Fingers crossed.

By the way, if you guys think that this doesn't sound like a solution, please do let me know.

P.S. It cost me 13,000/= bucks.

mriyazh · January 25, 2014

Hi. Startyourengines. Did you solved your problem of the meter board issue. I am having the same issue in my su14 diesel. Did the guy at CNelectronics solved it.