# Weird electrical problems, 98 ka24de manual frontier



## redneck truck (Oct 4, 2004)

Here are a few weird symptoms, which i hope are all related to the same thing:

Intermittent check engine light: P0500 - vehicle speed sensor circuit malfunction

Lack of power, major hesitation (feels like timing) only once engine has reached operating temperature

occasionally, on startup, airbag light flashes and temp gauge bounces up and down in time w/ the flashing, and then returns to "cold". happens for about 3 seconds

last night, coming to a stop, hit a bump, and hear a tick-tick-tick-tick-tick for about 3 seconds, and then 1 tick every few seconds, and the check engine light turned off. ticking may happen at the same rate as airbag light flashing and temp gauge bouncing, so may or may not be related, but don't happen at the same time.

my guess is a bad connection, short, or bad ground, but i've been told it could be a bad cluster, since the speedo (the source of the check engine light), airbag light, and temp gauge are all related, and powered by 1 ribbon cable into the speedometer. so is it the cluster? or some other wire somewhere attached to it? i don't know where the ticking was coming from, but it sounded like electricity arcing or something, so maybe a plug wire, maybe a loose connection. give me some ideas yall!!

- Bryan


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## himilefrontier (Jan 21, 2003)

Have you tried an exorcist? lol.... Seroiusly though, if it seems to be in the cluster, try taking it out and reinstalling it. maybe it has a loose connector. The temp gauge in my AMC Spirit does a similar thing if the cluster is not securely plugged into the harness. Also, some Nissan ECU's are programmed to gradually kill the car when there is no VSS signal ( KA24 powered 240's among them) as an anti theft device. Maybe the VSS gets it's signal in series rather than parallel to the ECU's circuit, thus causing the problems. To remove thecluster takes about 15 min and you will need to remove (in this order:the trim piece that is interference fit around the key lock, the trim piece around the column ( held by screws and the 2 halves of the clamshell snap together), the underdash panel that goes the whole lenght from the radio estucheon to the door and contains the fuse box door, the black plastic bezel around the gauge cluster, then finally the cluster.


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## redneck truck (Oct 4, 2004)

actually, i already had the cluster out, and back in, and the light didn't go out. i thought it was the cluster, but then the check engine light went away. anyway, i replaced the cluster, and while i was at it, i looked around in my service manual for grounds, and the one on the driver kick panel seemed a bit loose. it was loose enough that i could turn the terminal around the screw ...took a little force, but it shoulda been tighter than that. tightened the screw, and it just got looser, so the hole was stripped. fortunately, nissan left 2 more identical holes right next to it, probably for that purpose, so i moved the ground over and now it's tight. so far, i haven't had any weird occurrences, although the truck is still slow.


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## himilefrontier (Jan 21, 2003)

Is it slower than it was, or just not too fast to begin with? These trucks are not the fastest on earth, but I find the acceleration of mine to be quite acceptable for a four cylinder truck.Even after 240,000 miles mine accelerates like the day I drove it off the dealer's lot, and it's all original. I just wonder if there is not something else wrong with it , like a plugged cat, or the ignition timing is off.


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## redneck truck (Oct 4, 2004)

no, there's no way it is supposed to be this slow. i know because it's much faster when it's cold. no bogging, no hesitation, good throttle response, tirespin on 2nd gear shifts. i really don't think it's a plugged cat because it's fast to start with. i think that some sensor that isn't used until hot is fouled or sending a false signal. my 93 hardbody, ka24e, 180,000 miles, with the same 31" tires i'm running on the frontier, is much faster than the frontier, but when i bought it, it was slow. base ignition timing was set at 15deg.ATDC when i got it. fixed that, and the truck is freakishly fast. i already checked the frontier's base timing, and it is where it should be according to the manual and the sticker under the hood, so i'm looking at another problem. possible causes i've figured out so far include:

defective knock sensor ....not used during warm-up, but once the computer uses the sensor, it could be sensing a false knock condition and retarding timing accordingly.

fouled o2 sensor ....also only used when warm, it could be causing a lean condition, causing knock, causing the knock sensor to retard timing accordingly. on my f150, the fouled o2 sensor caused terrible knock conditions, but there was no knock sensor, so it just sounded like a bunch of dimes bouncing around a soup can until i started running premium gas. replaced the o2 sensor in the f150, and it passed emissions, the knock condition and bad idle went away.

plugged egr ....everybody keeps saying that plugged egr ports will cause hesitation, but i don't know why ...but i haven't ruled it out.

plug wires ....i still haven't replaced the spark plug wires, but it seems like a $75 shot in the dark, since new plug wires have never fixed any drivability problems i've had on any of my other vehicles, and it would seem that bad plug wires would make the truck run badly all the time, not just when warm, and also across the board, not just when accelerating.

so what do yall think? still fishing for answers, in hopes that this thing will run right one day, hopefully before i put the 33's on, because i won't be able to afford hesitation at that point. let me know!

- Bryan


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