anyone know how to do this? i just got a basic idea of how to remove them and everything, is there any precautions i should know about? battery disconnected?

 

Don't drop anything in the hole.

 

There's a link in the How To FAQ's regarding changing spark plugs. The procedure should be quite similar for changing the coil packs. If you follow most of what's said here, you should be fine. http://www.vqpower.com/v2/modules.ph...howpage&pid=33

 

Just be careful with the coil packs. I broke one of mine removing it. Try not to bend them.

 

http://web.archive.org/web/200111091...k_service.html

 

Just use a 10mm socket
I cant imagine breaking a coil pack... You bent the spring or something?

 

I've broken one in 2 peices as well, so use your imagination since you can't imagine it.

 

Thats why I am asking, so WHERE did you break it. I wasnt asking to sarcastic, much like you responded. I was asking because I wanted to know.

 

Broke the boot from the main portion. ..

 

they dont break they come apart into 2 pieces, you dont have to buy the whole thing just which ever end is broke. either its the spring in the bottom part or the unit itself up top.

 

Hey it broke ok ..

 

spoonfeeding, search, please...

 

The one at the bottom that goes around the spark plug? Broke mine off today, too. Didn't make a difference to me. We just stuck the plug wire down in and snapped it back into place on the boot. This was on the back right cylinder, the one that's a b!tch to get the coil pack on/off of

Car runs perfect, so I can't imagine we didn't do a good job of getting everything back in place even though it came off

 

well, thank you for the response

 

when should coil packs be changed? i just bought my car at 132k miles on it, that dude didn't change spark plugs or coil packs, i just replaced all the spark plugs, which i might say are not some cheap shiet spark plugs for this specific engine, actually quality stuff if you buy what's required and not some various shiet, should i replace all the coil packs also?

 

Coil packs only need replaced when they die/are dying.

 

Nice thread. I think I need to replace one (or more) of my coil packs. The car seems to give a slight sputter at random when idling. I replaced one coil pack 2 yrs ago when I bought my 99 Maxima. It was one of the 3 front ones and was easy. I'm afraid the rear ones will be a lot more difficult. Where do you suggest I get the coil packs? Should I get one and swap it out with existing ones till I find the problem or just replace them all? How much are they? Any pointers on the rear ones?

Thanks,
Kierslee

 

The rear ones come out the same as the front ones. Just 2 bolts. The back right one is a TINY pain though, but not too much trouble. I would say replace the ones you think are bad with ones you know are good to narrow down which ones are bad.

Have you considered the possibility that it may not be coil packs at all?

 

I haven't considered alternatives just because I don't know what else the problem might be. I'm not getting a warning light to check the code or anything. Do you have any suggestions for other things I might look for?

Kierlsee

 

It has to be something fuel or spark related, so obviously you can't rule out coil packs entirely...in fact, check them, by all means.

 

This started happening in September. I had a tune up done, which I understand to have included plugs, wires, etc. The tune up didn't seem to make it any better or worse.

 

Well our cars don't have wires

 

Oh, yeah.

 

what wires? i thought the talk is about coil packs... on this engine, the coil pack replaces the regular wires other cars have, and along with the other dude that had a slight stutter, i got that too, it was real bad until i changed the knock sensor, it got better, then i found out that the last dude didnt change the original spark plugs so i did that too, then it comes out that one coil pack is bad and needs to be replaced, by having bad coil packs or old spark plugs and being late on tune ups, it makes the engine misfire, so i narrowed down to this problem from an assortment of problems, this sucks but this is a damn good car tho

 

Kierslee

I have exactly the same symptoms on my 99 Maxima. I also suspect the coils since I have recently changed the spark plugs. I am going to change all 6 coils. You can choose Hanshin or Mitsubishi coils at http://www.nissanpartsonline.net/.

vk

 

changed the coil pack today... it was the rear bank, damn thing was covered in like this yellow smelly powder type substances, disgusting, but cars runs real smooth now, idles real quiet, accelerates smoother, overall big improvement in my opinion.

 

dude, i just bought my car at an auction with 132k miles on it, dude had everything original on it, i changed the spark plugs or did a tuneup, which ever u prefer to name it, and then it turns out that the cylinder misfires came from the coil PACK being bad, not PACKS, dont go all out dude and buy 6 new coil packs, that'll cost you $400 to change them if you do it yourself and without a mechanic, so dont do it, just find out WHICH ONE it is first before you change it, thats all i did and it cost me $68 to get a new coil pack from auto zone, free to put it in since its so easy and simple, i thought i was gonna change them all just to be sure the problem was fixed but theres no point, only fix whats needed to be fixed, dont go all out

 

depone

How did you figure out which one was bad?

vk

 

to tell you the truth, i went thru each coil pack in the front bank and look and observed each one closely, by the time i got to the first coil pack on the left on the back bank, it was covered in this yellow powdery type substance, sorta looked obvious that this coil pack didn't look right from it's color near the pllace where it met the spark plug and it smelled awful, so i just replaced that one and everything is perfect right now, i never thought my car would run this good when i bought it, but thats how i figured out which one it was for me, just go thru each one slowly and careful yourself, it'll take you like 30 mins. at most, just dont drop any screws anywhere, be careful with em, and get Hanshin, thats what Nissan uses as OEM

 

thanks for the info, I'll give it a try

 

Thanks for the info. I'll get a Hanshin and try to figure out which is bad. I'll let you know what I find. It may be a week or so.

 

to test them unplug each one one at a time....if the one u unplgugged affects the idle its the bad one if u have one unplugged and u start the car and it ran like it did originally thats ur bad one....or u can have them all pluged in start the car and unplug one at at a time while the car is running to determine which effects idle...jsut wear rubber gloves cause its a pretty intese charge going throug them....i but i would keep starting and shutting off the car in between unplugging and plugging in

 

Are there any tips/tricks to get to the rear coilpacks?

 

use a socket wrench, not screw driver and use a magnet to get the screws so they dont fall down when u screw em out

 

As I look for the parts it seems there is a "right hand" and "left hand" coil pack. How do I know which I need?

 

Good idea. Thanks.

 

OR.....you can loosen the screws, and leave them in their, and just tug the coilpacks out, and the screws will remain in the holes of the coilpacks and will just come right out. Do it slowly so u dont loose them.

 

The fronts or Left side ones are shaped differently than the back ones. My coil pak prob didn't show up until the car was warmed up nice and hot - after about 30 minutes of running.

 

didnt show up? where did they go? magically disappear and then appear after the car is warmed up? are you serious? the fronts are different than the back, when you buy the parts the front ones are # C0001 i think and the rear is # C0002, slight difference but its there so dont forget, get the parts from auto zone, not pep boys, pep boys designates them as left or right, fu*king morons, its front or back, and they offer mitsubishi coil packs or hanshin(nissan oem) coil packs, why the fu*k would anyone buy ****ty mitsubishi anything and put it on this beautiful car, it has to be the dumbest thing you can do to this car besides put regular gas in it

 

Yesterday on the way to work, the car really felt rough on idle and started misfiring on acceleration. The SEL light started blinking and then came fully on. I took the car to my mechanic. He said the code specified that there was a misfire on cylinder #3. I told him to change the #3 coil. He did but he said the car was still misfiring. I said lets change the remaining 5 ignition coils. Now the car runs like new. It has not felt like this in at least a year. No misfires and really smooth acceleration.

vk