Ignition Coils that fail under 50'000 miles
 

From my investigation with my buddy Peter at DOT, under transport regulations in the US and Canada, any ignition coil that fails under 80000km or 50000 miles or 7 years (what ever comes first) should to be replaced free by Nissan.

It's part of the emissions regulations that the DoT places on most vehicles. All emmission components need to last at a minimum 50'000 miles.

Interesting.

So they are going to reimburse me for two sets than? I'm about to go out and purchase my third set. It would be awesome if that was actually the case. If anything actually comes of this let me know. I'll be waiting at the dealership first thing monday morning.

Can someone check into this deeper?

This thread is slowly going to the bottom and I feel like it could help a lot of people... bump...

Contact the DoT automotive group that deals with emmissions. There should be a 'goodwill' warranty that Nissan should be following. It's a gov't reg.

Do you know where I can contact them? Number?

I am very interested in this subject as well... please provide some type of proof that this can be done... thanks!

Thank God someone else saw this thread.. This thread should be viewed more times than Anna Kournnakova's panty shots. Hot damn! I am excited now..

I spoke with my fed counterpart in the Department of Transport (I'm in Energy) about the coils failing. Peter stated that all emmission components are required to last 80'000km/ 50'000 miles. If your coils are failing, it violates the emmissions agreements Nissan has with the DoT to ensure the parts last 50'000 miles. Now, where that agreement is, I need to look it up.

For my older 99.5 Max which has the same engine and components as most earlier 5th gens, I'm in the same boat. Low km but crappy local dealers.

If you take Nissan USA/Canada to court, under violation of emmissions / implied durablilty, you'll get all your money back for everything you've replaced. I'm in the middle of filing.

Coils
 

This could be a hell of a find for many Maxima owners. If it turns out that Nissan will replace them at no charge or even give a refund to those that have had to pay for new ones........they will have alot of people at their door step!

I think the 80,000 mile warranty is only for a few parts. According to the EPA (Enviromental Protection Agency) all cars & trucks 95 and newer have these emissions warranties. The only parts it states under the 8 year/80,000 mile warranty is the cat converter(s) (including precats, just had mine replaced under warranty), ECU and OBD. See link below. Ignition coils are listed under a 2 year/24,000 mile warranty. So unfortunately it looks like we maybe out of luck.

http://www.epa.gov/otaq/consumer/warr95fs.txt

Also, what does your warranty book state about the emmissions warranty? My O2 sensor was replaced on my last maxima under the emissions.

It looks like the coils on a Cali car would be 3 year/50,000. But that leaves most of the problem cars SOL because the coils are common problem on the 00-01 cars which would be past the 3 year mark. Cali cars do have more coverage than the Fed cars. The Cali cars have a 7 year/70,0000 that covers most of the exhaust system (manifold, front pipe) and the cats are still covered to 8/80,000.

I'll let you guys know how I make out in my claim. Worst case? I loose, but so would Nissan.

explain to me how a coil has anything to do with emissions

my girl is an investigator at the DOT office of the inspector general. they handle ALL transportation related complaints (usually FAA, moving companies, etc) ill double check with her on this but i'm pretty sure DOT has nothing to do with this.

and when nissan looses you loose again and again. and so do all of us.

I would guess that the coils are under the limited emmisions warranty because a bad coil can cause other parts to go bad. I had two bad coils and it seemed to have fried my precat. Also the EPA would be the ones that you would want to look at for information on emmisions. I think this would be a lost cause because it states in the emmisons warranty coils are 2yr/24000 Fed or 3yr/50000 Cali. The only thing that could be done with the coils problems would be to prove it is a defective design and Nissan issue a recall. Fat chance of that happening!!