sweetiedarling

So I'm on my 7th steady check engine light experience.

The first time I got a tune up. No good.

The second time a coil pack was fried and replaced. No good.

The third time the same coil pack was fried and replaced. No good.

The 4th time I was told they (non-dealership) put in low-qual spark plugs for the tune up so they replaced them. No good.

The 5th time it came on, it went off by itself 4 days later. Same with the 6th time. Nissan dealership now tells me to replace all ignition coils (P1320), but will cost my first born. It's on again and I have an inspection to pass this weekend..
I've since learned via links on this site how to reset the light, and I think (?) that may get me by my inspection.
Prior codes indicated an "engine misfire", from what I was told -- hence me actually getting the code in writing this time.

a) Can I avoid doing any expensive work? Nissan says it'll just run rough and probably stall throughout the winter... I'm OK with that.
b) If not, what's the cheapest way out of this mess @ $100/part??

Ant96GLE

iTrader: (4)

You can check the codes yourself which you've already done so thats half the battle. Engine Misfire is a bad coil the problem is finding out which bank of coils. The reason being the front and rear coils are different. What I would do is find out which bank and buy 1 new coil and swap it around until you find out which one was bad. Put coil in, reset ECU drive around and see it comes back.

sweetiedarling

Thanks for the tip!... now answer this: can a monkey do it? I only ask because the only thing I've ever touched in my engine is the dipstick.

Ant96GLE

iTrader: (4)

The front coils are very easy to swap out. YOu need a hex key to take off the cover that says Nissan 3000... and the coils are right there. You'll need an 8mm ( I think) socket... each coil has 2 bolts and they come right out. The rear ones you'll need an extension but theres no cover to take off.

sweetiedarling

Should be a relaxing weekend project. I just might try it. Under close supervision.

I may find you later and ask how to put out a car fire.

thx again...

these smileys rock

Ant96GLE

iTrader: (4)

Sure, if theres a fire and you need to contact me just call 911
And your welcome, if anything you can send a private message if you need further instructions... I'd suggest getting a Haynes or CHiltons Manual, they are worth their weight in gold.

Terran

iTrader: (6)

Only a trained monkey .

If you have a '95 resetting the ECU might get you past inspection (except that with the car running poorly like this it probably wouldn't get by emmissions). If it is a 96-99 then they will see that you cleared the code and you won't pass.

You should be able to get them cheaper at JRnissan (in W. springfield) if you get them on their site and use "maxima" for the promo code. He told me that if I copy and pasted the order page and sent them a paypal minus shipping I could pick stuff up to save a few bucks, so email him if you feel like doing that. I think they may have been doing a GD on coilpacks so check the GD forum to see if it's still going on. http://www.nissandealer.com/jerry-rome/part_catalog.cgi.

Here's instructions on changing the sparks. Changing coils is the same minus the changing the spark plugs part (if that make any sense ). http://www.vqpower.com/v2/modules.ph...howpage&pid=33