Nissan Pulsar 1997 FAQs

Check out real-world situations relating to the Nissan Pulsar here, particularly what our experts have to say about them.

• Does the 2016 Nissan Pulsar ST-L manual have an automatic choke?

  A modern engine like the one in your Nissan uses electronics to control the ratio of fuel and air, rather than a physical choke like older engines use. However, in order to control this ratio, the modern engine relies on a range of sensors dotted around the car to tell it what’s going on. Examples include a throttle-position sensor, ambient temperature sensor, coolant temperature sensor and many more. If just one of these sensors fails or starts relaying false information, all aspects of the car’s running (including its throttle action) can be compromised.

  But before you start scanning the car and spending money to fix the engine flaring during gear changes, take a hard, critical look at what you’re doing with the pedals when shifting gears. If you don’t completely release the accelerator pedal during a gear change, or get your hand-foot co-ordination wrong, the engine will naturally flare during the shift. And because modern cars have a throttle-by-wire system, there’s not the same degree of feel and feedback through the accelerator pedal as some of us are used to. It sounds a bit obvious, but checking your driving style is the first step.

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• Trouble starting my 2013 Nissan Pulsar STS

  This sounds a lot like a faulty ignition barrel or an electronic key that has a semi-flat battery. A worn barrel can often prevent the necessary contacts meeting to complete the ignition circuit and, likewise, an electronic key without sufficient power can also give these symptoms as it struggles to enable the ignition. This can be a very hit and miss thing, which is just how you've described it.

  So check the condition of the battery inside the key and perhaps the condition of the car's battery as well. If the situation gets worse, a trip to the auto electrician is probably in order. At least your STS model has a relatively conventional ignition key set-up, rather than the push-button, proximity key of the SSS model which brings another layer of complexity to this function.

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• I have a 2003 Nissan pulsar ST. How much is it worth?

  Mileage is a very important factor in the retained value of a car like this. The more kilometres it has covered, the less it will be worth. There’s also a sort of kilometre-cliff over which a car will plummet in residual-value terms once it breaches that distance-covered.

  Even though you’ve cared for the car and serviced it properly, most buyers will be a bit leery of a car like a Pulsar with so many kilometres on board. Even in otherwise good condition, it would probably struggle to fetch more than about $3000 in the current market.

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