sascuderi

My 6 new coils came today and I replaced them tonight. Easy to do, but the back 3 are tight and took longer.

Anyway, I noticed that one of the old coils had the middle prong bent down! It was installed incorrectly at the factory! I think the middle prong is the ground. I wonder what effect this has had for the last 4 years and 30K miles. I guess I'll find out with the new coils in and all 6 connected correctly.




(Can't beleive I have read Nissan charges sometimes as much as $1,000 for installing new coils. If you can change the oil, you can do this)

Cubanato

damn bro ...kinda makes you think what else isnt connected correctly

when shoudl you change your coils? how much for 6?

and what are the syptoms of failed coils??

-J

sascuderi

Cost $295 shipped for all six from here:

http://www.nissan-auto-parts-dealer.com/



I knew they were going when on two occasions the car started but ran for a few minutes very poorly, like it wasn't running on all 6 cylinders. Both times the SES light came on with code P1320 (pulled at Autozone)

I have also had more pinging than expected from day one. Other have noticed, and there is a TSB about it, that pinging can to be a sign of bad coils.

Drove car tonight after replacing the coils and smooth as silk. Even the tranny seems to shift smoother. I'll have a better feel after a few days of "testing".

sascuderi

Wow! Just an update. Having the new coils makes a big difference. The car pulls with more power and the tranny seems more "solid". No more odd feeling shifts between 1st and 2nd, as there had been from day one. Does this make sense? I assume that under load the defective coils were not firing at times causing a loss of power. It will also be interesting if the MPG impove.

pocketrocket

iTrader: (1)

If it were truly bent out, it would not have mated with the harness connector. That coil effectively was not functional, i.e., happy 5 cylinders.

sascuderi

The funny thing was the connector was snaped into place, so I know it was making contact from the outer two prongs. Are you saying I have been driving with only 5 working cylinders for 30K miles/4years??!!??!!??

I think if that were the case the SES light would have come on years ago, but who really knows!?!?

itdood

OBDII would have thrown a code and the MPG would have been very poor. You would have known, you would have had a check engine light. OBDII does detect cylinder mis-fire. Nit sure if you do emissions testing for inspection, but that also would have had problems if you had a dead cylinder. I truly doubt the cylinder was dead.

pocketrocket

iTrader: (1)

His coil ground terminal was bent. His coil was getting power and the trigger to fire from the engone control module, but without ground to complete the circuit, that coil will not fire.

Well, it could have gotten bent when the connector was removed just recently.

sascuderi

I know for sure I didn't bend it when I took the connector off, and the coils have never been touch since I bought the car until now.

Maybe the third prong allowed for completion of the circuit despite the bent middle one so the coil could fire. I have never failed NJ emmsions, MPG has been 19 city and 28 highway, the SES only just recently went on after two rough starts (code P1320).

Any Max.org members who are Nissan Techs? I would really like to know what the center prong is for and how the cylinder was working without it.

JayMax2000

Thats sounds great to me, after my car on three occasions ran like crap I desided to get new plugs and coils. And if you feel new power I hope I will too.

2002 Maxima SE

iTrader: (3)

What year do you have?

sascuderi

I have a 2000 I30.