OK...I have pulled my plugs and all looks well. No smell of gas, just the typical carbon build up.

My question is this. Should I replace them since I have them out...they only have 28K miles on them. Another thing I have noticed is a "slight" hesitation when she first starts up...she idles a tad rough. Not car shaking rough...just I can observe its not smooth.

I know if I put them back in to use anti sieze compound on them.

In my quest I have replaced my air filter...fuel filter is on the way. Plugs look ok. Cleaned TB. Anything else I could have missed?

 

If the plugs look good, I would check the gap of .044" while your at it. I would probably replace them since we talking about $20 there.

Fuel filter might be the culprit. Im gonna lean on that one.

Dixit

 

Rough idle when cold could be a warning sign of an ignition coil going bad.

 

Thank for the gap thought...would been mad at myself for not checkin the gap before re-installation.

Yeah..I am kinda hoping the FF is the culprit myself...but the cold start rough idle did have me thinking about coils. I was just hoping some of these others would "fix" it.

Another question...if I put new plugs in...would I be potetially masking the coil issue if the coils are suspect?

 

i dont get the problem though? you dont get good gas mileage and you think its the air filter or spark plugs?? might be the front o2 sensor too.. im hoping on getting mine changed within the next couple of days

 

No stored codes (Autozone found none at least)...no CEL. May be a thought, but I had dismissed it w/o codes. But at 28K...better not be.

 

I didn't get SES light until my coil went out completely. Had symptoms for a few months before it happened.

 

What were they if you dont mind me asking....?

 

It started out as a rough idle when the car was cold. Later when I'd back out of my parking space, put the car in drive it would hesitate then jerk forward when I pressed the throttle. The fun part was making that left turn out of my neighborhood on the the 5 lane. Sometimes while I was sitting still the car would jerk forward and I'd have to really get on the brakes to keep from jutting out into traffic. Other times when I hit the throttle to make that turn it would hesitate then go. I was so scared it would stall when I was crossing oncoming traffic. Finally one day I cranked it and it started shaking real bad... sounded kinda like a Honduh w/ fart cans on it. After reving it I could smell unspent fuel and I knew for sure she was on 5 cylinders at that point.

 

Thanks for the feedback. So far...my exhaust smells like gas...but the plugs look fine. If its not firing, the plug should be fuel fouled right? I just have the rough cold idle right now...

 

Replacing the plugs mask a possible coil issue?

 

I doubt it would mask the coil issue. When I replaced my spark plugs with coppers, throttle response went up and acceleration got smooth. You might as well replace them while they are out. My plugs costed $7 and change.

 

If its still under warranty I'd take it to the dealer and have them check it out.

If you're replacing your plugs I would do it with plats... Not sure why people recommend copper plugs... far as I can tell there are no benefits, just drawbacks... Any conducting benefits would be lost in a very short (a few hundred miles)time as the copper wears away and oxidizes. I spoke to an electrical engineer about plugs and he thought I had rocks in my head for even considering putting copper plugs in.

 

Because dealers are INFAMOUS for the phrase "could not replicate/duplicate/find reported problem." I dont have time to babysit and hand walk a dealer through solving a problem that should be solvable by a professional mechanic. And since these are internal parts, I am POSITIVE they have been replaced. Not just told they have been replaced.

I am replacing with OEM NKG plugs from a Nissan Shop (DaveB). Until this car is out of warranty, all parts replaced by me will be factory OEM parts.