95 Q45 Active light on. See details...

[mpoyner]

Background: I have just had to replace the engine in my Q. It had a serious oil leak when I bought it and I didn't know at first because I changed the oil every 1,000 miles for the first 3K miles I put on it. I have since put only 3K more miles on it, for a total of 6K since I bought the car. Unfortunately, I did not keep close tabs on the oil level and learned a hard lesson.

The new engine only has 70K miles on it and runs a good bit stronger than the old engine did when I bought it. It was apparently off of another Active model, because my mechanic said that everything bolted on and all wires, active pump, etc. matched up the same as it did with the old engine.

So, my Active light is on now. He said that I needed to give it time to bleed the air out of the system and add in a little more of the fluid. I am worried about it, though.

Symptoms: 1. When I start the car, there is an audible thumping sound from the left front tire area. Not loud, but I hear it. 2. The active light stays on at all times. The car does not raise up at all, as it normally does when you start up an Active model. 3. Switching the normal and high settings makes no noticeable changes in height.4. The ride is fairly rough, but seems to have become less so since I got it back about two weeks ago.

After performing a search on this board today, I've found directions on how to perform a code search. I will try that tonight and post results. I also have yet to fill in the final bit of fluid because I wanted to let the lines bleed out so there would be room. I assume it's been long enough now that the air should be cleared?

I bought the fluid from Joe in Scottsdale and he said to buy 3 units of it because the system would use 2.5 of them. My mechanic has put in 2. Would it make sense that these symptoms could be simply because of the fluid it still needs?

[maxnix]

Q45tech mentioned it took about three days to purge the system and top the fluid in one of his posts.

[mpoyner]

thanx for the response.

does purging the system just entail driving it? Or is there a more formal process to purging it?

And should the light go off at the point that the lines are purged, or after topping off the fluid? Or is the error light indicative of something wholely separate?

[maxnix]

Don't know. Do you have the FSM? You can download it and all TSB at http://www.nissan-techinfo.com/infiniti/ for a one day subscription $20.

It was an incidental mention in one of his posts conerning active suspension rehabilitaion. Might try contacting TexasOil. Sounds like you may have accumulator problems. Usually, only the four main ones get replaced and the other five are left degraded.

I am jealous of your car, though. Keep it up.

[mpoyner]

max:

I downloaded the manual a while back, but don't have it here at work and the mechanic is looking at it right now. Any ideas where I can find the Active section of the book at online for free? I hate paying for it all again.

I hope that it's not accumulators. The light wasn't on before he swapped out the engine. I'm hoping he hooked all hoses, etc., back up.

[fxjackso]

You may have to top it up a number of times. You may also need to redo the bleeding procedure. With the pump off, there is bound to be air everywhere.

[mpoyner]

bump...

Q45Tech. any thoughts about my original questions regarding the symptoms and what they may mean?

[texasoil]

The THUMP is the emergency valve opening to shut off the active system. The computer is getting a flakey signal telling it either the car is tilted side to side, front to rear, or a strut is extended to an impossible position. If you can , run the self diagnostics key on, engine off, switch fron N to H and back 10 times within 10 sec of key to on. Actsus should sratr self diagnosis and actsus light will start blinking. First series of pulses is the 10's, second series is the 1's, and keeps repeating. If no-go on self diagnosis, check for power to the actsus computer.

[mpoyner]

texasoil,

Thanks for the reply. I got a code of 54, which I believe is the code for the pump.

However, it was just fine when the engine was swapped out. When I got it back from my mechanic, the light was on. I checked the code, that's what I got.

I can't believe that the pump went bad when it was just sitting there without an engine. It must have been hooked back up incorrectly, but I'm not sure what to tell him to check for. He's a good mechanic, but didn't have the active part of the manual. I forgot to print it out for him. I have it now and will take it back to him. Any idea what types of things could be unhooked, incorrectly put together, etc., for it to think that the pump is bad?

[texasoil]

2 things. 1) Do the pull a vacuum on the reservoir thing to ensure no trapped air. The pump will not 'catch suction' if it is air locked.2) check the wiring to the pump --there are 2 solenoids that operate to turn the pump on and off as needed--if they are not connected--no pumping. Test the solenoids for electrical continuity and lack of shorts with a VOM meter