SES came on on the way to work when I was just cruising. I went out and somehow managed to bend my huge azz arm and cram my head under the dash and got the ECU into diagnostic mode.

0304: Knock Sensor
0201: Ignition Signal Circuit <==

I searched and the KS seems to be common and apparently doesn't even trip the SES, so it must have been lurking there for awhile. The 0201 is supposedly bad coil(s). It's odd because my car has been running fine, has lots of power, good throttle response, and my mileage has been decent also (24-25 mpg with a heavy foot), so

I'll reset it when I get home tonight (multi-tool screwdriver is way too big and clumsy to fit down there) and hopefully it won't come back on again. If it does, looks like I'll be buying some repair manuals and some tools, because there is no way in hell I'm taking the car to Nissan and have them charge $800 to replace all the coils when they might not even be the problem.


BTW, I have a 1999 SE 5spd (Cali-spec) completely stock with 72k on it.

 

Congrats Steve....coil packs ownz joO!





Even better is no corresponding cylinder misfire code, which means you get to buy a front or rear bank coil pack and keep moving it around until your light doesn't come on again.


You're welcome to search for 0201 and bill99gxe and you'll see my fun times with it.


I've replaced 2 thus far, and no more 0201 codes in months.


Also, it's time to get some copper NGK plugs once you figure out which pack(s) is/are bad, as bad packs foul plugs fairly quickly.

 

I didn't know that 1999's had the 2000-2001 coil pack issues.


Thanks for the advice.

Just got back from Borders looking for a Haynes manual and of course they didn't have it, so I ordered one from Amazon.com. Flogged it and throttle response is still very good and power is excellent so the knock sensor code must have been a ghost. If a coil pack was going bad, wouldn't I have some signs like a rough idle, "popping noise" or some other anamoly? I *may* have noticed some surging, but I was thinking that was just normal peaks and valleys of the 4th Gen's bumpy torque curve which you feel very easily with the manual tranny. Car seems to be running great, though. I guess these coil packs can go out slowly then, huh.

Will reset ECU tonight and see if it comes back. Looks like I'll be ordering some stuff from DAVEB soon.

 

Finally reset ECU and then did a quick 5 minute test drive (got on it pretty hard). No SES came back (yet) and I checked for codes when I parked it and got an 0505 Great...another damned code!

0505 = No Failure Recorded/Detected

Phweew!!!


I guess that's just a dummy light that lets you know that you got it into diagnostic mode okay but there isn't anything wrong. I was hella mad and thought I had ANOTHER problem!

BTW, it is 100x easier to get to that little screw when you have good light (flashlight) and a slim low-profile screwdriver. Just ambient light and my big bulky Leatherman multi-tool screw driver wasn't cutting it.

 

Steve,

I thought you knew about all this coil pack crap and ECU checking.


Don't worry, the light will come back on in a few days.

 

I thought it was only a problem on the 5th Gen models. I wasn't aware the 4th Gen's (particularly 99's) had these issues also. That's what I get for not browsing the 4th Gen forum very much.


Err...anyhow - just filling in for people that have this issue in the future and search and find this thread.


The only irregularity I've been noticing now that I think about it lately is this "quick surging". I thought it was just the bumpy torque curve of the 4th Gen but that's more of a "slow surge" where you steadily get more torque as you go from a valley to a peak in the torque curve. This new surge I've noticed in the past week or so is a "quick surge". As in, you are accelerating and all is running smoothly but then randomly you just get a quick little surge and some additional thrust that doesn't necessarily line up with the torque curve of the engine. I think this is my flakey coil. I noticed it today in 5th at around 60-70 mph at part-throttle.

The car runs great otherwise. Good throttle response, mileage, power, smooth idle etc. Just this weird little "quick surging" occasionally. I guess that could explain why I haven't gotten a misfire cylinder # code.

 

For the most part, you won't notice a performance decrease with a bad coil pack.


However, I would expect you to have some idling or shaking when going in reverse issues.


The fun part will be when it's more than one.




Call DAVEB, order a coil pack (front or rear), and start replacing one at a time.

 

No idling or shaking when going in reverse issues. But I have a manual, not an auto. Does that make a difference?

 

I wouldn't think so, as the defect causing the shakes is in the coil pack(s).

 

it's baaaaaaaaaaaaaack

This morning I noticed some very distinct hesitations followed by a surge. One of them was big enough that it startled me a bit. I would have checked for codes, but it's raining cats and dogs here and we don't have a covered parking area. Speaking of rain, is it possible that some of the insulation on my ignition wires is cracked and moisture is leaking in them causing momentary shorts? The hesitation/surge has never been more noticeable than today, and its just started raining here a lot recently. Coincidence?

Hmmmmmmmmm....

Had a similar problem like that on my old 90 Camry 5spd, but that car had 203,000 miles on it when it had that problem, not 72k

Bill - I was thinking it might make a difference on an auto going into reverse since the revs are still low. With a manual I give it some revs (higher than auto) and just slip the clutch a little. That's the difference I was thinking of.

 

My car was hesitating and surging a lot (more frequently than ever before) on the way to work on this looooooooooong uphill grade on the highway. The SES started blinking like mad trying to get my attention.

Long flash 4 times, then 30 seconds later...
Long flash 4 times, then 30 seconds later...
Long flash 20 times or so.

Strangely, the SES light didn't stay lit.

Pulled into work and checked codes again.

0201: Ignition Signal Circuit
0304: Knock Sensor
0603: Cylinder 6 Misfire (NEW!)



Now at least I know exactly where the problem lies and don't have to keep changing out a single coil pack and see if the light comes back or not. Will order coil pack today.

 

I had a misfire on #4. It was the plug not the coil so check that too if you have not.

 

New NGK V-Power plugs installed at 63k, and I'm at 72k now. I'd find it hard to believe it's the plug but I'll check anyways. As bill stated it could be fouling out from the misfiring so I have to check it anyways.

 

FIXED!

About a week ago coil #6 completely crapped out and I was running on 5 cylinders. Fortunately I was just running a local errand and was only a few miles away from home when it happened and babied it home.

There was finally a break in the stupid rain (it's been raining almost everyday for the past month here in the DC area ) and I pulled the coil and swapped in the new one that had just come in the other day (thanks DAVEB! ) and it fired right up and ran like a champ. I reset the ECU and the only code I'm still getting is the 0304 for my knock sensor. So it looks like the 0201/0603 codes were licked by the coil.

I took my digital multimeter and did the coil test described in the Haynes manual. In one direction you're supposed to get infinite resistance which I got. In the other direction you're supposed to get continuity but not zero ohms. It read 2.8 Mega-ohms so that pretty much confirmed a bad coil.

So judging from this experience here, if you get an 0201 code on this car but no corresponding misfire code, just wait around a bit and drive it until you DO get a misfire code in one of the cylinders. Once that happens, IMMEDIATELY order the appropriate coil since mine only took a week to die completely after I got the misfire code. Or just order one of each (1 front and 1 rear bank) in advance and then you'll have whichever coil you need already.

As for the laggy/surgey (and now jittery) acceleration I was and still am having, it turns out that that's directly due to ignition timing getting pulled via the knock sensor (0304) which I verified on my OBD-II scanner. Either the knock sensor itself is going bad, or there is some other issue (degraded/corroded grounding, wiring issue, vibration under the hood). I'll start looking into this next month when I actually have some time, and hopefully the weather will be better by then too.