My 99' Service Enginee Soon light is on and took the Nissan car dealer have diagnositc analysis. Was told 6 ignition coils need to be replaced in about $690. I heard from someone you can replace yourself and maybe replace just defect one. Is there anyone had done this before? Any idea will be helpful.

 

Welcome to the .org and your first post. I can help you. Don't replace all 6 unless you're made of money...you may wind up replacing all 6 eventually, but generally this is not the case. I just went through this problem myself and it is now solved, so I'm feeling particularly benevolent and very happy right now.

Ok, so first off - there are two possibilities,
1. The dealership cannot get a reading on which coil is bad (which cylinder) and so is recommending you replace all 6.
2. The dealership knows full well which coil is bad but they don't want to tell you so that they get more of your money. This sucks.

So, the only real thing you can do by yourself is either a) take it to another dealership you've heard good things about and see if its really undiagnosable right now or if the other dealership was lying through its teeth.
b) diagnose yourself.

To diagnose yourself, well, its going to be tough now since I'm assuming your Check Eng light is now off, but you can try testing the ECU, see the FAQ's at the beginning of the forum for instructions, however this may be no good as the data may be erased by the dealership by now. Your second option is to start car, go underneath the hood, and disconnect the ignition coils one by one (and reconnect each one after disconnecting) and see which coils do not make the engine idle roughly. These are the bad coils in all likelihood. Replace these. Get a Haynes Manual so you know which cylinder it is so you can tell dealership when ordering the part as they need to know cylinder #. btw, you can also switch the bad coils to another cylinder just to make sure its the coils that are bad, but you have to keep the front ones in the front, and the back in the back. Aside from this, you can guess at which one is bad. My cylinder #5 coil pack went bad, then #3. I've heard others who say #2 went bad on them first.
FACT: I drive a 99 too, and our ignition coils are CRAP and should have a recall on them, but they don't cause Nissan doesn't want to pay.

Side note: If your Check E came on, they should have been able to tell which cylinder...also, you have to accept the fact that it might not be your ignition coils, it depends on the problems you are experiencing, but it is most likely your coils.

Hey, I spent a lot of time on this post, how about that...hope it helps though!

 

I consider myself an expert when it comes to ignition coils. I have gone through 3 of them already and took them apart before etc. Inside a defective coil there's really nothing you can do or "touch up", you must buy a new one.

You can diagnose the problem yourself or go to a regular auto-mechanic that is willing to test each of the six coils using a special kind of "multimeter" for testing coils. Regular multimeter will do nothing, trust me. This would be what I would do.

Also, new coils that you buy for a 4th gen Maxima are no longer defective so it's a good idea to buy all six at once - saves the trouble of having to replace them later one at a time.

Lastly, don't bother paying anything to the dealer for coils. Search on google and nissan parts - I found both front and rear OEM NIssan ignition coils for the 4th gen Maxima selling at $55 a coil plus shipping. Since coils are relatively small, shipping all six should not exceed $15. I bet there are deals that if you buy all six (so $55 x 6 = $330), shipping is FREE because order is over $100 etc. you get the point.

As far as replacing goes, I would say it takes no more than 20 minutes for the average person to do. All coils have a very easy access except for coil # 5, which requires that you take the top part off of the throttle body (you'll know what I mean when you get to it). I could personally replace all six in say under 10 minutes if I really tried. I don't mean to brag, the point I am trying to illustrate is that changing ignition coils is extremely simple, requiring no special tools. So, why spend $600 for coils and an extra $200 labor at a Nissan dealer!?

Oh yeah, coil (cylinder) #'s are as follows:

(looking at the engine bay from the front of the car)

1 3 5 (rear coils)

2 4 6 (front coils)

Remember, rear coils are different from front coils. You must buy 3 front and 3 rear. This should give you a clear picture if/when you get a "cylinder #X misfire" code from your SERVICE ENGINE SOON light.

Hope this helps!

 

Like he said....

Except for the replacement bit, I wouldn't recommend it unless you have the money now and you don't want the possible frustration of guessing. Its possible the rest of your coils will go at some other point in time, but you can incur the cost then, and delay the expenses. Whatever you want to do.

Oh, and #5 isn't all that hard, by itself it maybe took me 5 min, I just had to unscrew a little thingy and push it up to get enough clearance to wiggle the coil pack out.

Yeah, I just didn't have time to go into that as well, good luck on fixing everything, are you getting any engine hesitation when you give it?

 

Really appreciate all replys. Those advice definetely help me. I am a person who likes to put the hands on.

One more quick question. Are there any quality differences between Genuien Nissan parts and other brands? Genuine Nissan ignition coil costs about $86 but others vary from $55 to $76.

 

I've posted on this subject many times. I suggest replacing them all if you want to clear up your problem completely and not worry about for months with intermittent misfires.

Mitsibushi coils at Courtsey Nissan will run about $56/ a piece. Just let them know your a maxima.org member.

 

lol ill sell you mine coil that i bought from another memeber from the org.

 

Origanly posted by BOSS: You can diagnose the problem yourself or go to a regular auto-mechanic that is willing to test each of the six coils using a special kind of "multimeter" for testing coils. Regular multimeter will do nothing, trust me. This would be what I would do.

What kind of special multimeter do you need for testing coils??

 

I just got the same problem today. It got to the point that the car had to be towed to the dealers cuz it completely died. They told me it would run about $800 for the parts and such.

Any good places online that I could buy Nissan Oem Coils from?

 

same **** happend to me I just bought the one coil and now everything is fine

 

i went through this several months ago. the only thing i'd add is that you should replace the coil condenser while you're at it. its a $5 part from the dealer, and it can be the reason the coils start going bad in the first place. basically its a capacitor that stores voltage, and protects the coils, plugs in near cylinder six.

 

^bump it up a notch

 

wat effect does this do to ur car...coz i have this problem..but with all the snow..i wanna wait till spring...or should i just bring it in to a garage?

 

What is the deal with Nissan Dealer pricing?
One dealer quoted me $91 a piece for back coils and $81 a piece for front coils.

Another dealer, 15 minutes away, quoted me $75 for each coil (front or back).

I bought the $75 coils, needless to say.

 

go to auto zone they'll tell you which coil it is

 

Replacing the Ignition Coils on a 1999 Maxima SE

Story - I bought my Max in late 2007 with 104K miles and had my service guy go thru it and bring everything up to spec. He said the spark plugs had fairly recently been changed. Soon after buying I noticed a slight, intermittent miss at idle while in “Drive” after the Max had warmed up. The miss had become much worse in recent weeks (April 2008). My reading on this and other forums suggested strongly to me that the ignition coils needed to be replaced. The cost of all 6 coils was about $540 at retail and I estimated labor to be at least another $150 so I decided to do the repair myself. If a dealer does the work, total cost could be $800 - $1,000.

I ordered 6 Hanshin coils from Parts.com at a discounted $420, delivered.

Doing the Work – The configuration of the front 3 and back 3 ignition coils is different and must be ordered separately, though the “guts” are identical. The front 3 coils are covered by a silver-colored plastic T-shaped plate held on by 4 Allen screws (has the engine info printed on it). Remove the screws and plate and set aside. Each ignition coil is “wired up” by an approximate 1” squarish gray plastic connector with a green plastic spring-loaded insert. To remove it, depress the green insert at its top in the direction of the coil. Press strongly (you may need to use a screw driver but be careful!) until it clicks into place. It can then be removed. Each coil is held in by 2 Phillips machine screws. Remove them, then gently remove the coil. Replace the coil and machine screws and click the wiring connector into place. Times 3. Replace the plastic cover.

The rear 3 coils are only a bit more difficult to access but the procedure is the same (no plastic cover). To access the rear far-right coil (as viewed from the front), you must remove two 12mm nuts holding a triangular gold-colored steel bracket that has vacuum tubing attached to it. Just move it aside. Then proceed as before.

Tips – Have a magnet-on-a-pointer handy to reach and pull the rear screws after they have been completely unscrewed. They’re more recessed than the front screws. Also, when replacing the machine screws, you may want to wrap the head of the screw with a small piece of electrical tape onto the tip of the screw driver such that most of the adhesive is on the screw driver. This holds the screw in place until the threads catch. Then just pull and the tape will come off the screw but remain on the screw driver.

Time – Took me a couple of hours but I am very slow and careful, and had to figure out how the wiring connector was attached.

 

Way to bump a nearly 4.5 year old thread. This information is in the stickys, so don't pat yourself on the back just yet.

 

A simple "thank you" would have been sufficient ...

 

I had 1 coil go bad. the way to test them at your house is to take off your cover, and unplug them one at a time, you should notice your motor sounding weaker and when it doesnt get weaker, thats the bad coil. I hope somebody can explain what im sayin cause im not sure how clear i was...lol.

 

Actually, no thank you, the one in the stickys > yours.

 

I'll say thanks to pnels7n. He's the only one that really said "how" to do it. He'll save me some money. My #3 just went bad. I'm sure more will follow.

 

you said it clear enough.

 

IMHO it is best to just replace all six coils yourself rather than involving the dealer. I did this a couple years ago to the tune of a bit over $300 and haven't had a problem since. Other posters to this thread have cited sources for affordable coils.

 

for answering a question to a 6 year old thread. because im sure you weren't responding to when it was brought back from the dead a year ago.
at me for almost responding to it.

 

i just replaced the coil pack for cylinder one after the diagnosis said cylinder one misfire.

now, the car runs 70 percent better but not all that great.
do i need to wait for the ecu to adjust to the new pack? or is the slight hesitation from cylinder one burning off the gunk that was built up from not firing correct for the past month or two? i don't have a cel on so i can't run a diagnosis in order to see if i need another coil pack.

 

THrow some chevron techron in the fuel tank. see if that helps. prolly do need to clean the cylinder and Chevron is the best stuff.

 

cashoit loves the chevron lol

 

I got a whole tread on the wonders of the stuff

 

i'm going to give it a whirl! just like robitussin it cures everything! haha

 

thank you guys for this post gonna find a coil to replace mine hopefully no more Check engine light

 

if you need to buy coils they go for 95-99 maxima i would check ebay ... all 6 go for either less then 200 or a little more depending who you buy it from. They come straight out of Japan .... also i thought i had a bad coil after doing a major tune-up, i checked my service engine light and it told me which cylinder was having the misfire so i figured which cylinder it was, luckily i just didn't connect tht coil all the way so i connected it and no more misfire

 

Hi thanks a lot for all your helping notes.. Can you please explain what do you mean by engine go ideal roughly when you dis connect and reconnect the ignition coil one be one.. Did you wanted to mean the engine sound go lower or weaker indicating that particular coil is not making any difference means it is working properly.

 

Hi, thanks a lot for all your helping notes.. Can you please explain what do you mean by engine go ideal roughly when you dis connect and reconnect the ignition coil one be one.. Did you wanted to mean the engine sound go lower or weaker indicating that particular coil is not making any difference means it is working properly.

 

Hi all I really appreciate all forum members effort. Thanks a lot for all your helping notes.. Can you please explain a little bit more how to identify this part. I think mine is bad and causing misfire.

 

Way to bump a two year old thread, but I see it is a proper question, (at least people are searching) so:
No, he does not mean the sound of the engine go lower or weaker. The engine will sound uneven.
Also, it is not "go ideal roughly" it is "idles roughly", or in other words, the engine will shake a lot more than usual because one cylinder or more is not firing, thus power is not smooth.

Why double post...?

No. That part does not exist.

 

Might as well post here, lol..

My CEL is on and throwing a p1320, the guy I bought the car from said he switched out all 6 coils with something cheap and everywhere I look I'm told the CEL is caused by the coils and that I should use OEM coils to creal the CEL. Is that really a possibility?

What I'm doing is picking up some used working Nissan coils (all 6) and see if it fixes the problem, if not, at least I won't have to drown so much money into it.

 

Yeah, youre wrong there...

http://www.courtesyparts.com/28351m-...ml?cPath=1783&


very possible, non-OEM coils will throw a P1320 code....why? Well Im not sure, but it is very true. Myself, as well as many other members have dealt with this. Hence why 99% of recommend OEM coils or BUST

 

Well now. I learned something new. After almost 10 years of owning the car and reading hundreds of forum posts, I thought I knew everything about the car. Guess not lol.