mAdD MAX

So I had an earlier thread this evening where I asked about replacing coil packs.

The reason was that the car was seriously misfiring and the ECU flashed 0606 which denotes cylinder 3 misfiring. So I replaced the coil pack on that cylinder and went for a short test drive. The car ran great and pulled strongly and wasn't misfiring at all (as far as I could tell). So I was happy.

A few hours later I had to go run an errand and as soon as the I started the car, it was misfiring pretty badly and the SLIP & TCS light came on! (note these lights were on when the car was misfiring prior to replacing the coil).

So did the coil suddenly die or did another cylinder misfire all of a sudden?

Note it might be possible that I installed ignition coils for a 2000 Maxima. The coils I got for the front bank were '00 Maxima coils. I don't know if the rear coils (remember I only changed cylinder 3 coil which is at the back) for the '00 & '99 are the same but it seemed to fit perfectly. And the rear coil I got looked just like the one that came out of the car.

Summary:
1. horrible misfiring. ECU said cyl 3 misfire
2. replaced cyl 3 ignition coil, went for a test drive, all was well
3. a few hours later, all was NOT well and misfire returned.

I haven't had a chance to check the ECU again after the misfire resumed. What could cause this? It was only a few hours between the replacing the coil pack & car running great till it started misfiring again! If the fuel injector was bad, then the car wouldn't have driven fine after I replaced the coil right?

pmohr

iTrader: (26)

Until you check codes to see which cylinder was misfiring again, there's no reason to come up with a bunch of different theories. Could have just been a random coil that decided to go, or the coil you got could have been faulty.

tbergma1

I agree with pmohr, might be a bad one. Test the coilpack again. If it is good, could be a fuel injector.

mAdD MAX

I tested the new coil pack with a multimeter and it registered infinite resistance. The coil pack I took out of the car did not.

What are the odds of another coil pack suddenly crapping out one me hours after one just got replaced? The car is possessed, I say, POSSESSED! :P

Oh and you can smell fuel when the car is running.

urmab

iTrader: (7)

check the resistance of the injector it might of stuck open

mtrai760

iTrader: (19)

You might also want to check your spark plug before you replace anything else expensive.

komik

/\ I agree with mtrai. I had a misfire in cylinder 2. After I replaced the coilpack, the light went off and the car seemed to run better for a little while. Then the light came back on again. The spark plug was fouled. Replaced it, problem solved. How long did you run it with the misfire before changing the coil pack?

zerepener

I tried to post this as a new post but was denied. I have had misfiring due to coils for a while now and didn't want to cough up for a full set. All of the coil issues that I have experienced are due to faulty connectors. My car is a '95 and I have 403k miles on it and there is no way that I was paying for all new coils. Well today I picked up a set of coil connectors at Carquest. Apparently, they just started carrying them about a month ago. All problems solved including new plugs for about $90. I hope that this is usefull to all of you and hopefully someone can get it posted as a sticky so that people can stop paying for coils that they don't really need.

Rene

Snypa

iTrader: (35)

check the codes again man. are they exactly the same again?

shudson

On my '96 Max, I have cylinder 6 misfiring (0603). Coil and sparkplug are strong; injector tests within range. Manual test proves cylinder 6 is indeed misfiring. WTF?

MOHFpro90

iTrader: (11)

Plug gap ok?

NmexMAX

iTrader: (22)

How do you know they're 'strong'?

shudson

Easy. I fired 'er up and stuck the coil in my mouth - kinda like the old 9 volt test. When my fillings fell out, I knew it was good.

Actually, I tested everything with my multimeter, and they were all within range. Then, just to crush any doubts, I pulled the coil, attached the plug, and cranked it. When I grounded the plug, I got a good strong, bright spark on every cycle. Sparkplug didn't look damaged, but definitely blackened by the misfiring.

Also, my injector tested within range. When I pulled the plug, it was wet w/ gas, which leads me to believe that my injector's working. Also, I can definitely smell gas in my exhaust (I think someone already did a thread on how to test that one) and after driving a while I get the stinky cat syndrome.

This morning, when I drove to work, I left the injector unplugged (from the harness), and the car ran even worse. Coming home, I plugged the harness back on and the car ran better, but still not great, and of course I got that smell from the cat burning extra gas. This leads me to believe that it's missing alot, but not on EVERY cycle. When I do the two-trip diagnostic test, on the second trip the MIL flashes erratically, and consistently sends the same two codes, cylinder #6 misfire, and o2 sensor (which I gather is a symptom of the misfire).

This morning I got to thinking - fuel ok, fire ok, air??? Could this be a valve issue? I haven't notice any real bad sounds lately. I've had a very mild clicking sound for well over a year, but it hasn't gotten any worse.

shudson

Finally listened to my gut, and everyone else on this site, and checked my injector. I just changed it within the last year for maintenance when I had my intake all torn apart, so I never imagined it would be the injector. The small O-ring on the tip was broken. This would cause the cylinder to flood, causing all my symptoms - hard start, rich mixture, stinky & loud exhaust, and of course, the misfire. Changed the o-ring. Less than a buck, and problem solved.

In the process, I found the intake leak I've been hearing - forgot to tighten the clamp on the throttle body from the MAF. Problem w/ weekend mechanics - it takes another weekend to fix the mistakes.

rsc1022

I spent all Summer with my 95 maxima running rough
turns out i needed a new injector cylinder #3
I tried all sorts of fuel additives and cleaning procedures, seemed a little better but not perfect, new plugs didnt help.

She is running strong now that I repalced injector #3.......hope this helps

dabasham

I have a 2000 Maxima SE. The "TCS Off", "SLIP", and "Service Engine Soon" lights are all on. All of a sudden today my car started misfiring. I took it to the mechanic and was told that the 4th coil pack is bad. He said that most Nissan dealerships recommend replacing all of them, and that I should definitely not purchase after-market coil packs. So my question is should I replace all of them, will this make the lights go off, and do I really need to buy Nissan OEM part instead of an afer-market part?

KRRZ350

iTrader: (29)

You have a 5th gen, you're sorta in the entirely wrong section, be careful as many here aren't as freindly as me.

The issue with 5th gen coils has been beat to death in the 5th gen forum, your mechanic knows his ****. The updated nissan 5th gen coils have a grey dot on them, you can contact DaveB about getting some for a killer max org price.