I have a 1995 Nissan Maxima. The cel has been on for a long time, but as a solid light. I found out that I needed a coil replaced but haven't done it yet. Now, when I drive over 55, the cel begins flashing. It goes back to solid when I slow down. My mechanic said he could replace the coil for about $100. Am I in serious trouble? The car has been running very good...just a little lumpy when accelerating. Starts right up for me every time. Should I make a B-line to my mechanic?

 

Yes you should, or you can change them your self. Not very hard to do, Do a search, are tons on how to's on this and can be done with basic hand tools. You need to locate the bad coil first and go from there. Don't drive your car around limping. Get it fixed before you destroy your engine.

Here's a step by step link: http://vqpower.com/v3/content/changing-spark-plugs

 

do it yourself its a 10 minute job your first try now it takes me like 2 minutes lol the long part is just taking off the engine cover

 

You could purchase the coil yourself and install it. You can find them online for about $40 .

The coils are the bottom ends of the following picture:



The top part is what connects to your spark plugs.

I would change the coil that is bad as well as change all your spark plugs. You can use this guide to change the spark plugs.

 

Thank you!

 

def a DIY job.

 

lumpy while accelerating??

 

$40 coils? yea good luck with that advice. OEM coils or bust. They are expensive but they last over 10 years. That $100 quote is for a 15min job and likely those same cheap azz coils which will either fail a few days later or right away so take the advice here and do it yourself. Spark plugs and coils are just not things to cheap out on. You can likely find used OEM coils in a junk yard or here in the classifieds and those will be better than the brand new aftermarket coils

 

Good point. Used OEM over new aftermarket anyday..

 

Agreed. OEM Coils it BUST

 

this. One hundred percent

 

+1
I've made the mistake of aftermarket before I knew.

 

To explain what the OP is seeing while driving, when the cel is flashing, the coil is failing almost constantly at that moment. When you slow down, the coil works a little more consistently and the cel light stops flashing. If you take the car to an auto parts store and ask them to check the cel light for you, they will probably tell you that you have a code of P030x, where x is the cylinder number with the bad coil.

 

You can get some at the yunk hard too. I just bought three for $18 each.

Edit: you have can test the actual coils with a multimeter. Perhaps it's just the actual boot on the coil that is bad. If so you can change just the boot if that's the problem.