chippychaps

1995 Maxima GXE

Some back story: Cylinder 5 misfired (CEL code 0604). Replaced the coil. The poor guy who got the part for me had to go back 4 bloody times because Nissan kept giving him the wrong part.

Finally, after being 99% certain that the right part had been acquired (VIN Number given to Nissan), he brought it over to put it in. When compared to the old coil, the new one was just a tiny little itty bitty bit shorter than the original. But, he ,thought the difference was small enough to put it in, not to mention he was absolutely assured that it was a #5 Coil for a 1995 Nissan Maxima GXE.

So, in goes the coil. Car seems to take a while to get used to the new part. To be expected I guess. A while passes. Still no consistency in the performance of cylinder #5, but never inconsistent enough to actually throw a code to the ECU. Fires nicely sometimes, misfires other times. Then, the misfires get drastic enough to start throwing the ECU code (0604). Then the starter fails. Replaced it. Cylinder 5 misfires for a day after starter replacement. After that, car begins running really nice, like it used to (can barely remember by now).

A couple of months pass. Misfiring Cylinder 5 returns intermittantly. Now, I'm to the point where within one drive across town (20km or so), the cylinder will flip/flop between firing and misfiring about 5 times.

Finally, I get to my question. And how very sorry I am for taking so long to get here. Is there anything else common in a 4th GEN Max that would cause such inconsistency with the proper firing of a cylinder?

Could the tiny difference in length between the old/new coil cause this? When I say tiny difference, I mean, maybe 1mm or like 1/16th of an inch or so.

Sorry for the long post. Thanks in advance for any advice anyone can offer.

JeEvE

iTrader: (10)

Did you try to switch up the coil to the other two cylinders to see if the problem moves to another cylinder, the problem can be something besides the coil packs. Did you change your spark plugs recently? You can try to check the fuel injector but its going to be hard since its under the manifold.

I30tMikeD

iTrader: (8)

maybe it's not the coil, it could be the injector. Try swaping the coils like poste above.

C3nthusiast

iTrader: (3)

I had a #2 coil misfire and it turned out to be an o2 sensor.

chippychaps

Thanks all for the replies. Much appreciated. I'm definitely gonna get the #5 Coil swapped out with another. I suspect, as you folks alluded to, that maybe it's not the coil at all.

The reason for my question was that I was wondering if it may be a sensor of some sort. Be it the O2 sensor, or the knock sensor that I've read so much about here.

Now, I have some suspicions that I can share with my mechanic when I take the car to him. I'll get him to swap out the coil, check my plugs, injectors, and sensors.

If anyone else reading this has any other suspicions, please let me know. What (other than your coil pack) went bad in your Max, causing a cylinder misfire?

Thanks again folks. Does anyone else have the kind of love/hate relationship with their Max that I do? I see some of the pictures around here. Some of your Maxima's look absolutely spectacular. This makes me ask myself "Oh, how could you hate a car that looks so good...no matter what mechanical catastrophe occurs?"

Me? Well, when my dusty (live on construction site), hub cap missing, old Maxima doesn't cooperate, I down right loathe her...;-)

fisher01

iTrader: (1)

Swap ther coil to the cylinder next to it. If the misfire changes to that cylinder then its definetly the coil pack. If the misfire still stays at #5, then I would suspect injector. One can test the resistance on the injectors under the manifold by using the master connector on side harness. If injectors test ok, I'd suggest trying a bottle of Techron to see if the injector maybe just clogged.
Good Luck, keep us posted.

BOSS

Don't be sorry for the long post, your concern is perfectly legitimate. I will be going through a third coil pack exchange on my 99 SEL. Supposedly, Nissan's new coil packs that you can buy at a Nissan dealer for the 4th gen Maxima are flawless, but I wouldn't bet on it. Anyway, coil packs to our cars are extremely sensitive in every way you can think of. Climate, driving habits, and age of the vehicle have everything to do with how often a coil pack may go bad.

Hence, I am also under the impression that the tiny bit of difference in size that you are referring to can make all the difference in the world. I would stick with an exact fit coil pack if I were you. Since we have direct ignition systems (and by that I mean to wires, etc.), everything must match very precisely I would think. Although seldom, I was told that someone has deals for Nissan OEM coil packs on E-bay, selling all 6 for $200. Trust me, you won't find a better deal.

THis whole coil pack problem on 4th gen Maximas, especially the 99's, should have been a recall. If you look in the Nissan TSB sections, there's a lot of fuss about coil packs being bad. Of course, Nissan won't admit to there really being a problem so here we are stuck with crappy coil packs that sell for $70 each. I also heard that Nissan changed the manufacturer of the coil packs for 99 Maxima models and that would explain why 99 Maxima owners have mostly defective ignition coils.

chippychaps

Thanks Fisher01 and BOSS for the replies.

Amen on the fact that these Coils should have been the subject of a recall!!!

I'll hopefully get the car to my mechanic in the next few weeks. I'll try and let you know how I make out.

Take care!!