I have a 94 SE 5spd. I was changing my oil this afternoon. I also changed nearly all my vacuum hoses.

I also decided to run a "ground" wire to one of my VTC solenoids (I have a loud intermittent knock that is most likely a lifter, but I just wanted to see if the noise changed or went away with the VTC "grounded"). Anyway I spliced a wire into one of the VTC solenoid wires and didn't connect the other end of the wire to a ground right away. First, I started my car and still heard the knocking noise. So then with the engine running, I held the loose end of the "grounding" wire to a grounding point near the corner of the intake manifold. When I did that there was a small blue arc at first. I did not notice any change in the knocking noise or the way the car was idling. So I shut the engine off and decided I would secure the "grounding wire" (from the VTC) under the grounding point bolt (near the corner of the intake manifold). I thought I would leave the VTCs "grounded for a week or so and see if I noticed any difference in the knocking noise.

Well when I went to start my car later and leave. The engine idled lower then normal (about 450-500 rpm) and almost died. And I also noticed that my brake light on my dash stayed on and the battery light was dimly lit. So I shut my car off and checked my battery with a voltmeter, it read 12.9 volts. Then I started the engine and checked the battery posts with a voltmeter and it read a little over 14 volts. So I'm pretty sure the alternator and battery are OK. I also checked my brake fluid reservoir and it was full. Also my emergency brake is not engaged and the switch for the indicator light is not causing the brake light to come on.

So I decided to disconnect the VTC "grounding" wire from the grounding post just in case for some weird reason it caused my brake and battery light to illuminate.

Even after disconnecting the "grounding" wire and starting my car the brake and battery light were still illuminated. Well I proceeded to leave and drove my car. After about 5 minutes of driving my check engine light came on. So later I pulled the code from the ECM and it gave me code 33. Which indicates a malfunction with the "heated oxygen sensor". I cleared the code so I can see if it comes back later.

I noticed my car still idles a little low and almost wants to die just after start-up, but once I rev the engine lightly the idle returns to normal. It seems like after all that has happened this afternoon my car actually idles a little smoother then it use to (I use to notice a slight vibration in the steering wheel prior to today).

Well any help figuring out why my brake light and battery light are both on would be greatly appreciated. Also any ideas or help in explaining the weird situation that happened to my car this afternoon would also be appreciated.
Thanks,

 

somebody please have had and hope has solved this problem because i have the exact i mean EXACT same problem last thurs day i changed my oil and front crank seal and when i started my car it was fine but i was geting alittle knocking and my vtcs have been grounded for the past 4 weeks but the wire was just stuck in the harnes so i decided to stripe the wire back and solder it on to get a better conection when i did this all hell broke lose and my engine sounds terable i mean its ticks like 1000 clocks in the same room and has gotten worse every day i drive it, so i stoped driving it wedsday im now looking into rebiulding the cylinder heads the only thing i can think of is that i could have droped some little peaces of old seal into the motor which then cloged the oil passages but it seems like its ticking from both heads and i find it hard to bieleve that all the oil passages could have gottn cloged i also thought about the oil pump but i have driven for about 200 miles and if it went out i think my engine wiould have been toasted by now so. but i to have this brake light and dim somtimes almost off battery light that i cant explane but no check engine light or codes i have retarted my timing and unbypassed my knock sensor i also got a diferent altenator from the junk yard which i plan on putting in on monday but if anyone has had this problem post the solution im getting really scared thanks

 

and sorry to **** up your post

 

I have a 91SE and so don't know much about the VTC issue. But I have heard about the temporary grounding fix for it.

But I'm talking about your dash lights that are coming on, not your VTCs. My ex-girl's G20 had that same problem. The problem ended up being a bad alternator. Take that puppy out to a Kragens/Schucks/Checker or a Autozone or something and have it checked, before you get stuck in the middle of nowwhere with a dead battery and a bad alternator like I was.

good luck

one more thing... there's another post I just read about grounding VTCs. Which brings up the question: are you using the correct gauge wire?
go to
http://www.prism.gatech.edu/~gte671n/mymax.html
to check it out.

 

the first thing I thought of was the eng control fuse but I dont think you can start the car if that blows. I had it happen to me and all those lights were on and the car was in limp home mode but it wouldnt start after I turned it off. I replaced that fuse and it fixed it.

Check the VTC page again and then check your wiring to make sure you grounded the right wire. If you chose the wrong wire on the VTC assm. then you may have messed up the ECU or something. Also check all your fuses too.

I have read a few posts on here that said the same thing that super32 said about the alternator so that is the most likely cause but still make sure you have the correct wire grounded though.

 

My brother bought an Eagle Talon and the same lights popped up on his dash when it went bad. It resulted in being the Alternator.

 

Well I checked my engine control fuse and it was blown. So I replaced it and the dim battery light went away and the brake light also went away. I cleared the "33 Heated O2 sensor" code out of the ECM and it hasn't come back since. Also my car seems to idle normally again right after startup.
I think the fuse most likely got blown when I placed the "grounding wire" from the VTC wiring harness to the grounding post with the engine running and saw the intial blue arc. I should have known better then to monkey around with the wring with the car running but I wanted to see if I could notice a significant difference in the knocking noise with the engine running.

Well thanks AWSM66 for the advice on the engine control fuse. It does seem a little weird that the car would still start everytime even with the engine control fuse blown.

 

the .org is the gratest it once again has come through for me and solved most of my problem surly enogh my ec fuse was blown and i replaced it and the vtcs grounded again although i do still have pretty bad valve chatter so i still am going to have to rebiuld the heads but hey its alright because i only have one problem right now and it gives me an oportunity to replace my 3 bad fuel injectors bad knock sensor broken exhaust studds and rebiuld my vtcs so once i have it all back together the car should litteraly run like its brand new so im happy and thanks for your help now i just have to take out about 1000$ loan and call cortisey nissan that fsm is going to pay for itself about 50 times on this repair

 

alternator