P1021 Fault with Intermittent loss of power

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51oul

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Hi Guys,
been having some very intermittent issues as of late. When the issue is apparent, the vehicle struggles to get beyond 80kms/hr and and seems to rev high into 4th gear before i have to manually shift to 5th (its an auto with the manual selection)

Basically it feels like there is no high end power, cruising around town I cant seem to tell much difference

There is a fault code which keeps popping up p1021 (which is hard to determine but everything is pointing at the turbo actuator). Mine is not a vacuum operated actuator and appears to be the electrical controlled one - correct me if Im wrong. An engine warning light has only appeared once and has been cleared and not reappeared.

As mentioned, the issue appears to be very random, and cannot pinpoint a cause. the few times it has happened, a simple restart of the vehicle has fixed it.

At this stage my regular mechanics have done the best they can and until the issue becomes a bit more apparent or regular, we are just going to keep on going as normal. They said that if the actuator needs replacement, its generally the need for a full new turbo unit which is along the lines of what i have been reading. But im not ready to go down that path yet until the issue is more pronounced. Just after some advice if anyone else has had similar issues or can shed any more light on this?
cheers!

Below is a photo of my actuator unit.
 

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Well, the manual does confirm P1021 is an abnormal operating signal from the turbocharger boost contrller to the ECM. There could be a couple of reasons for this.


1) Poor electrical connection for the actuator. Undo its connection(s), clean, reinstall.


2) Poor battery connections. Unlikely because you'd normally see "random" error codes, but it doesn't hurt to clean the terminals anyway.


3) Poor ECU connection. Very unlikely, but it's free to check/fix - undo, redo, the movement of the plug should give the little tabs a quick clean anyway.


4) Poor signal from other inputs eg MAFS. Also unlikely but also free. Don't stick anything in the hole in the MAFS, just use spray electrical contact cleaner.


5) Failing actuator. When the symptoms appear, pull over and see if the actuator is moving anything while the engine remains idling (don't turn it off when you stop). There were a bunch of these replaced by Nissan as they were faulty from the factory, perhaps you could check and see if yours is one of them that missed out?


The actuator is individually replaceable.
 
thanks for the reply Tony! i'll give these a go and see how we go.
If the actuator does need replacement, where would be the best place to start to source one?

The times i have looked under the hood when the issue was occuring the actuator arm seemed to remain stationary. It only seems to move when the engine is started (it will click over to the engaged position) and then a few seconds after shutdown I'll hear it flick back. I think the vacuum controlled ones had a bit of a wobble or something on them during operating, but never knew mine to do that, unless i've never noticed (completely possible) i'll keep an eye on it tho!

thanks again
 
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Try this on eBay (check your turbocharger model number on the turbo). They're around, even if they're named wrong. The correct name on that link is in the middle of the page.


Get someone to sit in the car and rev the engine while you watch. The turbocharger should move the vane a little when that is done. It shouldn't do it a lot, because the ECU will know you're not in gear and moving, so it won't command the turbo to full power.
 
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