I have a 2k SE. The check engine soon light came on about a month ago. It came on a Friday and I took it in the next Monday. They charged me $60.00 to have it looked at. They told me how many times the car had been turned on and off since the light came on however they could not tell me what the problem was. They did say that is was probably a misfire and that the coils were probably needed to be replaced. They reset the SES light, and as far as I was concerned paid $60.00 for nothing.

I have searched the forum and believe I have a coil problem and will attempt to fix this problem myself. Here is my question: Is there a way to reset the light myself? or If I replace the coils will the light go off by itself.

Any help would be most appreciated.

Thanks, Marc

 

Well, if they charged you they should be able to tell you the code and what the code means.

 

http://www.technosquareinc.com/350reset.htm

this resets the ecu, but also clears the ses light.

it's been done before and it does work.

also, what bert said is correct, if they charged you, then you are at LEAST allowed to know what codes popped up. obviously, what's done is done. go to pepboys or autozone (not sure)...they do an ecu scan for free and tell you what codes are coming up. then either find out what they mean or post up here again and i'm sure someone would know if they had the same code pop up.

good luck...keep us updated

 

If your car runs and idles smooth, don't change the coils. Buy a scanner and find the codes for yourself the next time the light flashes.

 

Well there exact words were "We can tell the ignition was turned off seven times since you had the issue, but we cannot re-create the problem to tell you what is wrong." He then began to tell me that I needed new brakes and a few other things. I left there with my $60.00 diagnosis and $400.00 in brakes and other adjustments.

I truly believe my brakes were worn and I might have paid a slight premium on the brakes, but when it comes to stopping the car I wasn't prepared to do it myself. On the other hand I am a do it yourself type person, so if the coils are bad, I'd rather replace the coils myself and save some cash in the process. I just don't want to replace the coils and not be able to turn that SES light off.

 

Thanks for the info... I'm heading over to Autozone this weekend.

 

If the SES light is on there is at least one code number stored there somewhere. If they can't read it they are morons. Oh, wait we are talking about Nissan service.

 

So I went to Auto Zone today. I had them check the codes for me. Turns out I had a misfire on the 5th cylinder. I started talking to the guy there about the problem. He asked when the last time I had it my max tuned. I have 47K on the car and it probably needs a tune, so I bought the manual. I looked up the ignition coils and there was a section in there on how to check to see if one was bad . I bought 6 new plugs at $13.00 a pop and headed back home. I got out my voltage meter and began to check each coil and change the plugs, starting with the 5th cylinder. Turns out that the coil was fine but the spark plug looked like hell. I changed the rest of the plugs, then headed back to Auto Zone to have them reset the light. So far so good… the light has not come on and my max actually feels a bit stronger. I’ll keep you updated if it comes back on, but as of right now it looks like I had a bad plug.

 

Keep in mind that coils tend to perform differently under load! Check that plug periodically to make sure the coil is functioning properly.