I have a 2000 Maxima GLE with 77K miles. It has run fine for the 4 months since I bought it but 4 weeks ago developed a misfire. It quit after about
3 miles and then ran fine for a week and then did it again. I drove for another 3-5 miles and it quit again. I then bought a code reader and (the code #?s are at home) the first code was a misfire in cylinder 4 with the second being distributor interrupt. I called ther service shop and they said it was a bad coil. It has run fine for the last 2 weeks with no misfires.
Does a ignition coil quit all at once or does it begin to malfunction and then over time finally die?
Does the quit mean the engine stop running or just running rough? The engine does run rough if you has a bad coil but it's very unlikely and almost impossible that all coils would fail all at once. I also have a 2000gle with over 80k miles still on original coils. Have you ECM checked, the problem might be more serious.
I think they typically become intermittent before completely failing. But remember you have 6 coils, one on each plug. On older cars with one coil, if it went bad you were stuck. On these cars a bad coil will make your engine run rough.
There was a TSB for bad coils on the 2000 maxima.. if you are within warranty 3/36 or the longer powertrain warranty, (not sure which applies) then you can show the dealer the TSB and get it done for free.
You're correct, you won't automatically get it fixed for free. But a dealer will be hard-pressed to deny service when you have a TSB in hand that describes the problem you're having.
I've shown them a couple of TSBs that they said they knew nothing about (most notably the fuel-cut issue) and had to hammer them until I got action. As far as I was concerned, my car was under warranty, it was exhibiting a serious problem, and it was described in their TSB. There'd be trouble if they didn't do something about it. If they still refuse, you can call the territory manager next. After that, there are still options.
I have no desire to go through this process again, but in the 80's I went through the lemon-law process with a car the dealer couldn't fix. If you decide to back down and take no action you won't get anywhere and will have to live with the problem.
I agree if you're out of warranty you'll have a tough time getting action, but in some cases there is still a possibility. I have heard of people getting all their coils replaced free after the warranty expired (a 2000 in particular). It's now 2004.. depending on the mileage the original poster has today, he's probably out of luck. But if his mileage was low, he could argue that the coils had an inherent (and known) problem and should not have failed so quickly.
My Maxima is a Nissan Certified vehicle but they said that doesn't cover the coils. It did cover them replacing my Cruise Control module which was surging/hunting.
I'm pretty mechanically inclined and it wouldn't hurt to put in new spark plugs so I don't mind changing the coil.
Do I really need to change all of the coils? I haven't had another episode since I posted and then it was only cylinder #4.
Also does anyone know a good place (less expensive) to buy a coils??
The knock-sensor will need to trip 2 times in a row. The "Service Engine" light will then stay on.
Luckly this happened to my 2000 Nissan while it was still under the 36/3 warranty and I got all six replaced for free. However I don't expect these to last...
MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.