Nissan Hatchback Range

Unless your B17 Pulsar has the optional manual transmission fitted, then it definitely has a CVT. The reason Nissan (and many other carmakers) still use the old PRND symbols for the gearshift are because that’s what people understand, so there’s no confusion.

In any case, even though it’s a CVT and not a conventional automatic, the CVT still has a Park position, a Neutral and both a Drive and Reverse position, so the symbols are entirely consistent with that anyway.

The check-engine light on any modern, fuel-injected car is there to let you know there’s something amiss with how something within the driveline is working. However, precisely what that thing is could be one (or more) of about a thousand things. The absolute best advice is to take the car to a workshop and have it electronically scanned. The onboard computer (which is what triggers the check-engine light) should have recorded what was at fault and should then be able to tell the workshop’s computer where to start looking.

Until you have this scan performed, you won’t have a clue what the problem is, and the causes could be anything from a dud oxygen sensor, to a stretched timing chain, and a dead spark plug wire to a blocked fuel-injector.

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.