Every once in awhile, completely intermittant, my car will jerk at 3500 RPMs and up, like the fuel is cutting out. It also has a rought idle. But then another day the car will drive completely normally. Also when the car jerks, the check engine light blinks around 30 times and then stops and doesnt stay on.

I have a 99 so i have a hunch.

 

yup replace them. the flashing means it is having heavy misfire. when that happens watch out for your cat. all 99's have this problem.

 

wathc out for my cat?

 

your catalitic converter. misfires can cause your cat to malfuntion and melt.

 

Which coils would i get? The nissan website lists IGNITION COIL, Maxima, Left, Mitsubishi and IGNITION COIL, Maxima, Right, Mitsubishi

 

both of em.

 

Loren, buy them used. Thats what I did, $35 overnight for one i got off the org, and now my car runs like a champ, but now a diff coilpack is going bad. Save yourself the money and buy a used one off a 95-98 max.

 

is there any way to find out which coil is bad?

 

Nope. Short of a good oscilliscope, no not really. Resistance tests are POS.

Sometimes, putting the car in reverse while at idle, and the brake on, can reveal a consistenly misfiring coil. Then at that point, you can start unplugging coils and seeing which cylinder is consistently misfiring.

Other than that, wait for the coil pack or fuel injector to completely take a poop on ya.

 

I am buying all 6 though, does that mean I need 3 of each?



Chase-
they are only $58 new. Id rather have peace of mind knowing all are replaced and brand new then only one used one is in there.

 

which brand are the good ones ??
I have hanishin in my 96

-matt

 

Hanshin fits better over the spark plug but majority of the orgers say Mitsubishi for reliability.
Your choice.

 

I still need to know which coils to get. there are left and right ignition coils. 3 of each? Or does it not matter?

And does installation require resetting the ECU? Or do i just unplug battery, install coils, plug battery in, and im done?

 

yeah 3 of each, jerryromenissan.com and coupon code "maxima" is the cheapest i just got mine last week, its like 360$. just plug and play

 

isn't this a free recall for the 99
...

 

Who told you no? I had the same problem. I also have a '99. Did you pull the codes from your ecu? Mine told me what cylinder was misfiring. It was the number 6 cylinder and only the number 6. No use buying a whole set when only the number 6 (for me) was not combusting properly. My max has burnt thru a few coil replacements but I found a place that sells them fopr around $25/ a pop so I consider it "routine maintenance". Go ahead and buy a whole set if you want to but make sure that more than one coil pack is bad. As far as brands for the coils, I've had both and don't notice a difference. good luck,

Gramdacious

 

Where can you get them for "around $25 a pop"???

 

I haven't contacted him in a while but try Matt at http://by9fd.bay9.hotmail.msn.com/cg...f420dd0e9602f#
He supplied me with my coils.

 

Sorry man that link doesn't look valid. Try this: mtrai760@maxima.org

 

I have a slight shaking problem too. Not to the extent which I get a CEL. But I took it to Midas and the guys looked at it for an hour with me and were absolutely positive the coil packs were fine. They did NOT recommend to change them. They used their diag. computer, it said the KS had a problem. They looked at it, and it looked fine. I called up Car-X, they said coil pack problems are rare on 99's. I called the DEALER from where I bought the car, gave them my VIN, and they said there are no recalls on my car. Sorry, sort of rambling here, but I don't think it's coil packs anymore. It's gotta be something else.

 

trust me it is the coil packs. they dont know what they are talking about. Coil Pack Problems are the most frequent on 99's. but they go bad no matter what year you have i had a 95 and after about 103,000 miles, i had to replace them. they were orignally Mitsubitshi ones, so i bought them according to my ohm-age. i only replaced which ever ones are bad. the knock sensor is a common problem amung maxima owners. its usually cracked. never listen to what Midas and Car-X say. they dont know. they arent maxima owners. or enthusiasts. its usually just one side of a 1999 maxima that is bad.. so you might only need to buy 3.

if your car moves back and forth while at idle. your coil packs are toast. trust me.

 

The only code I got was 0201 (Ignition Signal Circuit). I thought I would get an "accompanying" code to tell me which cylinder was misfiring, but I didn't. At 120K, I was getting a bit of hesitation when I mash hard on the gas. I changed spark plugs, air and fuel filter (all OEM). This didn't do anything for the hesitation. CEL came on at 125K, kicked codes 0304 (KS), and 0201 (Ign. Sig. Circuit). I changed the KS, so only code 0201 remains. The hesitation is still there. Sometimes while sitting at a stoplight, the car idles very rough, and seems like it will cut off (it never cuts off, though). Sometimes at 70-80 mph, the CEL light will flash for a few seconds, then it just stays on. Sometimes, when I mash hard, the car "putters" along as if the fuel line is clogged. From what others have said, it's the coil packs.

Killcrap - did you replace them with mitsubishi, or with the other brand? And also, if I bought 3 for the left side, and the problem ended up being on the right side, would I have to get 3 more for the right side, or could I just use the 3 I bought for the left side? I guess I'm asking if they're interchangable. Sorry about the long post, but I'm just trying to find out what's really goin' on. Thanks much in advance.

 

i replaced them with Mitsubitshi ones. the coil packs are not interchangable. cylidner 1,3,5 need one type of coil, and cylinder 2,4,6 need the other type. the 1,3,5 coils are longer than the 2,4,6 ones.

 

Thx much for the info - I think I'll get 6 from JR nissan to cover all the bases.