NATS Unit issues

[nissanmicraxs]

Hi guys

Newbie here and first time poster so I apologise if my post goes against any forum etiquette in advance.

I have a Nissan Micra XS (2004, 1.2L) and two weeks ago, I got into it and it just wouldn't start. It seemed like a dead battery but two different friends' cars tried to jump start it and nothing. Checked the wiring and a few other bits and bobs and all seemed fine so got it taken to my local garage. They said it sounded like an ignition key issue but once they looked at it, they realised it was the immobilizer/NATS unit.

They've looked at it for a full week now, tried putting a new part in and still nothing, it just won't start and if they do get it to start in one instance, it reverts back to not starting the next time. The garage just told me this morning it seems like more diagnostic work is needed on the NATs unit to figure out exactly what the issue is - and unfortunately, all his mobile technician contacts won't touch my car given the issue. They said it sounds 'too much of a headache' to diagnose. So they're recommending the dealership - whose prices can obviously be hugely different from the guys my garage knows. I'm really confused about what to do, I've been reading online and read these electrical issues can rack up hundreds... my car is only worth £1500. Is it worth taking to a dealership?

I've never had issues with my car like this, this is my first ever car so truthfully, I have very little experience with this kind of thing - I would be really grateful for any advice or insights anyone here could offer.

Thank you in advance!

 

[frank]

did they come up with any faultcodes ?

 

[nissanmicraxs]

did they come up with any faultcodes ?

Hi Frank

Thank you for your reply!

I don't know about fault codes specifically and wasn't knowledgeable enough to ask. All I know is, my garage are mainly mechanics, they ran several diagnostics - battery, timing belt (compression test), looked at wiring, the ignition key etc and as all that was fine, they isolated it to the NATS unit. They have some autoelectrician contacts and got two or three to have a look, they said a new unit might help so they ordered a new part and tried to fit that in - but to no avail. What they've told me is they can't pinpoint what's wrong, no one whose heard about it wants to get involved cos it sounds like a hassle to diagnose and so the best shout might be the dealership. I guess I'm trying to figure out in my mind if the dealership is worth going to (they'll charge at least £100 just for diagnostics) or whether I can do my own research into autoelectricians and get someone else to look at it.

 

[frank]

hmm, well codereaders are sub £20 nowadays, and should help to pinpoint the problem, nats cuts the injector signals on k11,s (which is easy to crosscheck by tipping a drop of petrol into the intake)
did they check the timing chain tensioner ?

 

[nissanmicraxs]

hmm, well codereaders are sub £20 nowadays, and should help to pinpoint the problem, nats cuts the injector signals on k11,s (which is easy to crosscheck by tipping a drop of petrol into the intake)
did they check the timing chain tensioner ?

Yeah they did check the timing chain tensioner - how would that affect the NATS unit?

Thanks for the advice.

 

[Enuo]

If cam timing is out will throw a fault code from memory

 

[frank]

how would that affect the NATS unit?

it would,nt i would try a drop of fuel on the air filter first

 

[nissanmicraxs]

it would,nt i would try a drop of fuel on the air filter first

Ah right, so do you think it's not a NATs issue then? Sorry, I'm confused and thank you very much for taking the time to reply, muchly appreciated. I will bring these points up with my mechanic.

 

[frank]

Ah right, so do you think it's not a NATs issue then? Sorry, I'm confused and thank you very much for taking the time to reply, muchly appreciated. I will bring these points up with my mechanic.

no, wetting the filter is to test if the injectors are releasing fuel or not

hmm, well codereaders are sub £20 nowadays, and should help to pinpoint the problem, nats cuts the injector signals on k11,s (which is easy to crosscheck by tipping a drop of petrol into the intake)
did they check the timing chain tensioner ?

 

[nissanmicraxs]

no, wetting the filter is to test if the injectors are releasing fuel or not

Cheers for clarifying! I would have assumed my mechanic would have done this already but I will speak to him in the next half hour and bring up these points. Cheers guys.

 

[MicraMissy]

Did you manage to solve this problem as I have the same and have been going back and forth between my local garage and Nissan dealer. Local guys are convinced it is ignition ring problem OR a loose connection in ignition system. Nissan insist it is timing chain. Locals have changed camshaft and crankshaft sensors with no improvement (as per diagnostics). Then changed tensioner with no improvement suggesting chain is OK (they want to avoid cost of changing chain as they doubt it is the problem). Hence back to looking at ignition as they originally suspected. They can start the car if they disconnect the crankshaft sensor and when reconnected it keeps running. They will check if the 2010 recall to replace an Engine Control Module relay or Ignition relay was done in case that is the problem. After that we have run out of ideas.

 

[Chrisking]

Did you manage to solve this problem as I have the same and have been going back and forth between my local garage and Nissan dealer. Local guys are convinced it is ignition ring problem OR a loose connection in ignition system. Nissan insist it is timing chain. Locals have changed camshaft and crankshaft sensors with no improvement (as per diagnostics). Then changed tensioner with no improvement suggesting chain is OK (they want to avoid cost of changing chain as they doubt it is the problem). Hence back to looking at ignition as they originally suspected. They can start the car if they disconnect the crankshaft sensor and when reconnected it keeps running. They will check if the 2010 recall to replace an Engine Control Module relay or Ignition relay was done in case that is the problem. After that we have run out of ideas.

Does the immobiliser light go out when cranking? If it does, Nissan are correct I'd say about the timing chain. Replacing the tensioner won't cure this. You need to get the garage to measure the protrusion of the tensioner - anything over 12mm from memory and it's stretched. I'd imagine they keep getting P0335/P0340/P0011 as a fault code? It's an engine out job (impossible with it in) and if it isn't done correctly will require a new inlet pulley at big bucks. Hope this helps.