Nissan micra problem

isabella5

I have a nissan micra 2003. I was stopped at a traffic lights the other day and when it was my turn to go the oil light came on and the steering wheel went stiff. i turned it of and then on and it struggled to get into the side of the road, steering wheel still stiff and oil light on. i turned it of and waited 5 mins for my partner to pick me up. when he got there i turned it on and no lights where on and the car seemed fine. he drove it home later that day.
For about 2 months before this leading up, when i started the car and for first 10 mins of driving, I would here a lot of whoosing noises of fluid moving around under the bonnet. this has stopped since the incident at traffic lights. i have not drove the car properly since, just around my area. I checked oil and water and it all seems fine. i thought maybe it would be power stirring fluid but i can only find container for brake fluid (I dont know if its the same).
Does anyone have any ideas as Im a student and I like to find out the problem myself before I take it to a mechanic. I cant find an online user manual either for it. Thanks

scrap_man

these cars have electric power steering so theress no power steering fluid. The motors in the steering unit can give trouble in the micras so maybe get your car plugged into a diagnostics machine to see if there is a fault stored.

Nissan doctor

So the engine cut out at the traffic lights?

If its an intermittent problem then you will have to get it diagnosed properly in a garage as, if you've checked the fluids already, other then any of the wiring plugs you can see in the engine bay, there will be very little else you can check yourself.

Have you any warning lights on the dash?

isabella5

yea the engine light has been on the past few months. i took it to a garage and got it diagnosed and the code was related to the camshaft sensor. he said it would cost 180 to fix it and it has something to do with having an easy start with the car. but at the same time he didnt know exactly what needed to be fixed, so i didnt want to pay him to fix something that might not need to be. i wanted to check and see if maybe there was some dirt on the sensor or something and not just jump to replacing parts if he wasnt 100%. could that be related to why it cut out and the oil light came on? it comes on now and the oil light is not on and the power stirring is fine. im still not driving it, just keeping an eye on it. could it have been just an electrical fault? and should i tighten the belt if the power stirring is electric? I was checking the belt with the engine running yesterday and it seemed a little loose and made a noise that might suggest so. just need to get the tool to tighten it

Nissan doctor

isabella5 wrote: »

yea the engine light has been on the past few months. i took it to a garage and got it diagnosed and the code was related to the camshaft sensor. he said it would cost 180 to fix it and it has something to do with having an easy start with the car. but at the same time he didnt know exactly what needed to be fixed, so i didnt want to pay him to fix something that might not need to be. i wanted to check and see if maybe there was some dirt on the sensor or something and not just jump to replacing parts if he wasnt 100%. could that be related to why it cut out and the oil light came on? it comes on now and the oil light is not on and the power stirring is fine. im still not driving it, just keeping an eye on it. could it have been just an electrical fault? and should i tighten the belt if the power stirring is electric? I was checking the belt with the engine running yesterday and it seemed a little loose and made a noise that might suggest so. just need to get the tool to tighten it

Its almost certain that your timing chain is stretched as this throws the camshaft sensor fault and can cause the running and power issues you suffered.

Its a very common issue with your engine unfortunatly.

isabella5

Ok. So what would be the solution with the timing chain?replace it?