There was a guy on some of the UK forums based in Birmingham who either worked for or had connections with the 3rd party that supplied these electric PAS columns to nissan iirc. He had some software to be able to take a used one and re-programme it to used to be in another vehicle. I can't remember if you had to physically visit him or whether he could do it remotely. It might be worth digging in some of the UK forums to find him.
Oh yeah I remember reading his posts. From what I recall, he had to visit you or you had to send him the thing which makes it a non runner for us on this side of the pond. I do remember one garage/tuning place up the country who can get these second hand ones and initialize to be used by other cars. Once I put this in, will see how i get on before sending it off.
@noorshah96 Yeah although I got the impression that you might have been able to send them to him and he could do it on the bench. Although as he was quite concerned for people's safety then I think he wanted to do it in person to make sure it wasn't going to self steer and cause accidents. Had a read on those threads last night, it appears that a virgin eps module will download the appropriate profile settings from another module on first boot depending on the car and pair it with the NATS immobiliser data.. Each type of Micra had a different profile depending on the engine\type as I guess they differ slightly and not sure if there were any settings unique to that column either. I believe he was removing that NATS pairing from a used good unit so it could be installed in another vehicle. He had concerns about other remanufacturers just taking your old eeprom data and copying it into another column due to safety issues. Other parts of the world didn't have the NATs requirement I believe so they can swap more easily. Such a shame that good Micra's are going to be scrapped over these issues. I still have my mum's ipdm on the bench still waiting for me to drum up the courage to clone it's eeprom!
Oh yeah, you've explained it well here his concerns and the process. The Micra I have is my parents too and getting the time to get at it is slowing it down. Too good to break but not good enough to drive unfortunately... I'll revisit his threads again and probably try to get in touch once I get back to it. Thanks for sharing the info 👊🏽
Hi from Dublin, I seem to be having the same problem with my 2004 Micra. It looks like the power steering has gone. There's a red PS symbol on my dashboard and steering is very stiff. I've been given different advice from different garages - one telling me the car is now scrap, one telling me to send the steering column to a place called ECU testing, another telling me they can fix it for about 800euro... I honestly don't know who to believe or what to do at this point! Have you had any luck with repairing this issue? Everything else on the car is in good condition, and I'd really rather not get rid of it because of this one fault. But if it can't be fixed, I'm not sure if there is an alternative? I'm a bit at my wit's end at this point! Any help is appreciated.
Hi From Tralee 👋🏽 I fully understand your situation (and pain). I had done a lot research on this topic and also spoken to garages and got mixed opinions as you've said (wish I had done it before tackling it myself but someone has to step forward for the DIY community 😉). Their suggestions are valid I must admit to some extent and the decision is going to be yours depending on how far you're willing to go money and timewise. As a first protocol, I'd suggest you get the car battery changed to a good one, even swap it with another car in the house which has a similar size but good battery. This is often due to bad battery as the PS is too sensitive for the voltage/amperage. If the battery is a few years old, it's worth getting a new one. This is the cheapest fighting chance God willing. All other options are gonna be hit and miss. In my case, if you check the 2nd video update that I gave, the first steering column I got from the blue Micra didn't have matching numbers. 2 mechanics I spoke to said that it has to be matching so I ended up getting another one. Which I was told by the scrapyard that it is matching but still is one digit off but I haven't tested it yet... I can see why the garage is asking for that much money to fix as theirs a lot of work involved and they need to make a profit as well. So, if I find a fix, I'll obviously share and update here, might be a few weeks. Cars' perfect otherwise like yours but is unfortunately parked up since (we have a spare thankfully). But as I said in the start, you need to weigh out your options and make a call. Ring a few more garages and you might get lucky with someone who has done it successfully. There's one I know of in Tralee who has so I'm sure you'll find someone there...
I think you should be able to do a straight swap. As some mentioned in other comments that if you do the change while the battery is still plugged in etc.
I haven't gotten to the bottom of it yet to be honest. It's still standing there. My main fault was to try starting it with the "donor" cars key. And I've also heard that I should've left the battery connected in while doing this replacement of eps. Tried a lot of things with my scanner but seems like the ECU has blocked it any reprogramming etc. The car still won't start and I'm asking around to see if someone can sort it fore but just been busy. Will make a video once I've a good update....
I got now this problem i replace ps with second hand it works till i take battery out car wont start after some nats error and wont crank i put the old ps and start straight now my luck was i keep old part
Thanks for the tip. I actually have opened up the old PS Module but will try this to get started and follow your tip ... Also to add guys, the part I used had a slight variation in the part number so I'm gonna find the exact one for replacement
@ it works i drive the car around i go for inspection later on if you have strip them its easy to conect them from the top cover i had to remove the whole column
Hi, I'm in Cork and I'm hoping you can help me with a few questions! I have a 2002 K12 Micra with the intermittent PS issue... after 15mins of driving, the PS stopps working and the PS light comes on. When I turn the car off & on, problem goes away for another 15mins. If I replace the steering column with one fm another car: Do I need to use the donor cars key chip? Can I just disable / delete NATS!? Do I need to leave the battery connected when changing the Column? Can I install a small inline 12v battery somewhere to stop the NATS issue should the main battery every get disconnected. Is it possible to swap the old NATS receiver from the origional column into the donar column to avoid any future problems? I'm really confused by all the comments. It seems like it should be an easy fix, but I can't believe how over complicated the system sounds and how it's nearly impossible to fix. Sounds like there were two guys in the UK repairing the columns but they've stopped now.
Hi Jonathan, All very good questions and I hope that I could answer them. But unfortunately, I'm trying to find a solution to all these myself. I had done a lot of research, especially after the video and in the older nissans, you could just remove the nats chip from the ECU but don't think you can on this or at least I haven't come across any video or thread yet so I haven't tried myself. This car is still standing as-is since I did this unfortunately, I haven't been able to go at it but don't know what I'll do. My plan now is to buy another steering column which has the same part number as mine (this was slightly different) and also the one that came from an auto + fully smart key, not the one with a little button. Before I do it, I've been told to install the old one back in and try to at least start the car before trying a different column. We'll try and update here whoever gets to the bottom of it first 😅
There was a guy on some of the UK forums based in Birmingham who either worked for or had connections with the 3rd party that supplied these electric PAS columns to nissan iirc. He had some software to be able to take a used one and re-programme it to used to be in another vehicle. I can't remember if you had to physically visit him or whether he could do it remotely. It might be worth digging in some of the UK forums to find him.
He was over on the micra org uk and goes by the user name of huttojb but his name is Jason. However he hasn't been very active over the past year.
Oh yeah I remember reading his posts. From what I recall, he had to visit you or you had to send him the thing which makes it a non runner for us on this side of the pond. I do remember one garage/tuning place up the country who can get these second hand ones and initialize to be used by other cars. Once I put this in, will see how i get on before sending it off.
@noorshah96 Yeah although I got the impression that you might have been able to send them to him and he could do it on the bench. Although as he was quite concerned for people's safety then I think he wanted to do it in person to make sure it wasn't going to self steer and cause accidents. Had a read on those threads last night, it appears that a virgin eps module will download the appropriate profile settings from another module on first boot depending on the car and pair it with the NATS immobiliser data.. Each type of Micra had a different profile depending on the engine\type as I guess they differ slightly and not sure if there were any settings unique to that column either. I believe he was removing that NATS pairing from a used good unit so it could be installed in another vehicle. He had concerns about other remanufacturers just taking your old eeprom data and copying it into another column due to safety issues. Other parts of the world didn't have the NATs requirement I believe so they can swap more easily. Such a shame that good Micra's are going to be scrapped over these issues. I still have my mum's ipdm on the bench still waiting for me to drum up the courage to clone it's eeprom!
Oh yeah, you've explained it well here his concerns and the process. The Micra I have is my parents too and getting the time to get at it is slowing it down. Too good to break but not good enough to drive unfortunately...
I'll revisit his threads again and probably try to get in touch once I get back to it.
Thanks for sharing the info 👊🏽
Hi from Dublin,
I seem to be having the same problem with my 2004 Micra.
It looks like the power steering has gone. There's a red PS symbol on my dashboard and steering is very stiff.
I've been given different advice from different garages - one telling me the car is now scrap, one telling me to send the steering column to a place called ECU testing, another telling me they can fix it for about 800euro... I honestly don't know who to believe or what to do at this point!
Have you had any luck with repairing this issue? Everything else on the car is in good condition, and I'd really rather not get rid of it because of this one fault. But if it can't be fixed, I'm not sure if there is an alternative?
I'm a bit at my wit's end at this point! Any help is appreciated.
Hi From Tralee 👋🏽
I fully understand your situation (and pain). I had done a lot research on this topic and also spoken to garages and got mixed opinions as you've said (wish I had done it before tackling it myself but someone has to step forward for the DIY community 😉).
Their suggestions are valid I must admit to some extent and the decision is going to be yours depending on how far you're willing to go money and timewise. As a first protocol, I'd suggest you get the car battery changed to a good one, even swap it with another car in the house which has a similar size but good battery. This is often due to bad battery as the PS is too sensitive for the voltage/amperage. If the battery is a few years old, it's worth getting a new one. This is the cheapest fighting chance God willing.
All other options are gonna be hit and miss.
In my case, if you check the 2nd video update that I gave, the first steering column I got from the blue Micra didn't have matching numbers. 2 mechanics I spoke to said that it has to be matching so I ended up getting another one. Which I was told by the scrapyard that it is matching but still is one digit off but I haven't tested it yet...
I can see why the garage is asking for that much money to fix as theirs a lot of work involved and they need to make a profit as well.
So, if I find a fix, I'll obviously share and update here, might be a few weeks. Cars' perfect otherwise like yours but is unfortunately parked up since (we have a spare thankfully).
But as I said in the start, you need to weigh out your options and make a call. Ring a few more garages and you might get lucky with someone who has done it successfully. There's one I know of in Tralee who has so I'm sure you'll find someone there...
Will i have the same issue if the car doesnt have a smart key?
Yes, you might if one of the car does and the other doesn't...
@@noorshah96 both cars have a classic key.Do you think i can do a straight swap,or there are any things that have to be reprogrammed?Many thanks!
I think you should be able to do a straight swap. As some mentioned in other comments that if you do the change while the battery is still plugged in etc.
Did you ever sort this? Having same issue
I haven't gotten to the bottom of it yet to be honest. It's still standing there. My main fault was to try starting it with the "donor" cars key. And I've also heard that I should've left the battery connected in while doing this replacement of eps. Tried a lot of things with my scanner but seems like the ECU has blocked it any reprogramming etc.
The car still won't start and I'm asking around to see if someone can sort it fore but just been busy. Will make a video once I've a good update....
I got now this problem i replace ps with second hand it works till i take battery out car wont start after some nats error and wont crank i put the old ps and start straight now my luck was i keep old part
Now i will replace it without to take battery out and will work till i take battery out again
Thanks for the tip. I actually have opened up the old PS Module but will try this to get started and follow your tip ... Also to add guys, the part I used had a slight variation in the part number so I'm gonna find the exact one for replacement
@ it works i drive the car around i go for inspection later on if you have strip them its easy to conect them from the top cover i had to remove the whole column
Hi, I'm in Cork and I'm hoping you can help me with a few questions! I have a 2002 K12 Micra with the intermittent PS issue... after 15mins of driving, the PS stopps working and the PS light comes on. When I turn the car off & on, problem goes away for another 15mins.
If I replace the steering column with one fm another car:
Do I need to use the donor cars key chip?
Can I just disable / delete NATS!?
Do I need to leave the battery connected when changing the Column?
Can I install a small inline 12v battery somewhere to stop the NATS issue should the main battery every get disconnected.
Is it possible to swap the old NATS receiver from the origional column into the donar column to avoid any future problems?
I'm really confused by all the comments. It seems like it should be an easy fix, but I can't believe how over complicated the system sounds and how it's nearly impossible to fix. Sounds like there were two guys in the UK repairing the columns but they've stopped now.
Hi Jonathan,
All very good questions and I hope that I could answer them. But unfortunately, I'm trying to find a solution to all these myself.
I had done a lot of research, especially after the video and in the older nissans, you could just remove the nats chip from the ECU but don't think you can on this or at least I haven't come across any video or thread yet so I haven't tried myself.
This car is still standing as-is since I did this unfortunately, I haven't been able to go at it but don't know what I'll do.
My plan now is to buy another steering column which has the same part number as mine (this was slightly different) and also the one that came from an auto + fully smart key, not the one with a little button.
Before I do it, I've been told to install the old one back in and try to at least start the car before trying a different column.
We'll try and update here whoever gets to the bottom of it first 😅