NCSUpilot

Ok, I have 211,000 miles my 95 SE. I am looking to replace the spark plugs (about 100k old, good time to change??) But I would also like to see if I need to change the coil packs. They are original, do these normally just need to be changed? Also, I followed the advice on the stickies and don't understand the test results. When I do the first part I get a value of 1 (this actually represents infinite - 0 would indicate a short or continual loop), is this correct? Also, when I do the second test, I get about 500 ohms, not the 1.3-1.7 Mohms... Any thoughts out there? Thanks!

"To test:

Turn on your ohmmeter and place the positive wire on the 1st prong in the electrical plug of the coil pack. The negative wire should be touching the middle prong. Verification of the ohmmeter at this time should say "0" aka infinite... if it's anything else, the pack should be changed. Next test: reverse the wires... positive on the middle prong and negative on the 1st prong.... on a new coil pack, it should give a value of approximately 1.3-1.7 mega ohms. If any of the readings are off, replace the coil pack."

Dubbya

iTrader: (16)

Coil packs dont need to be replaced unless they are bad. You would get a CEL if one was faulty. Just be careful removing them from the valve cover since they are so old.

NCSUpilot

Ok, thanks... The only CEL I have if for the knock sensor...maybe one of these days I get to that.

longhorn89

I have a '99 Maxima and the local repair shop said that cylinder #3 is missing because of bad coil packs.

1) Where can I get instructions on how to replace them?

2) How can I get in touch w/ Mike S (I think) from Austin who sells coil packs at a discount?

Thanks.
-Don

PLUMMAXSE

iTrader: (2)

Don,
If you want to save some money on coil packs, take a chance on some used ones. I bought some used packs from a 97 model and stuck then in for $80. Car runs like new. 99 Coil packs suck!! Thats all there is

MaximaSE96

iTrader: (8)

they are simple to replace they are jsut held in my 2 bolts and a plug that u undo and they come right out

Scottlucasi19

I have a 99 5 speed, when I floor my car and my rpm's get to 4500 my car start cutting out making a popping noise in the engine, It doesnt do it all the time, just most of the time. Would that be associated with plugs or coils? I have cleaned the MAF and TB, and put 93 octane gas in there but it still does it. Any advice would be much appreciated.

99se5speed

iTrader: (8)

Bought my coils for 30 bucks (all 6 w/ 50k on them). The reason for the 99 coils going bad is because stupid nissan switched manufactures during the last year of production on the model.....IDIOTS!!

PLUMMAXSE

iTrader: (2)

Your problem very well could be coil packs. The greatest load is put on the engine when you floor it. The only way to know is to swap or just replace your coilpacks. That is if you haven't already done that.

PAMudslinger

The difference is the earlier production models had the Mitsubishi Coils(part#22448-31U11) which were 12/94 to 5/95. 5/95 and up are the Hanshin Coils(part#22448-31U01). The mitsubishi coils aren't availible from Nissan anymore they have all superceded to the Hanshin coils. But I have found out that the NAPA ECHLIN line part# IC209 is the Mitsubishi coil and it even has the nissan stamp and part# right on it. The numbers are all in reference to the right bank (cyl.1,3,5).

dshadow35

Does anyone know where to get coil packs at a discount? I have read on this forum that Dave B sells thems. I am not sure who he is but can anyone help. Thanks.

t6378tp

iTrader: (69)

is it ok to unplug the coil pack when the car is running to see if it stumbles, I do not want to get shocked

sky jumper

now that is good to know. I do not like the hanshin design.

txskbec

I have one bad hanshin, can I replace it with one Mitsu or is it not recommended to mix both brands?

Cdg2125

iTrader: (7)

Hey I have three rear coils if anyone wants them. I see a couple of you want to buy some new ones. I got them from someone for the 00vi swap but I believe they gave me regular 4th gen coils.

#'s are:
22448-31uo
22448-31u11
22448-31uo1

Let me know if anyone wants them. They are double bolts so I figured them all to be 4th gen coils. I'll give pics if you want them too.

dshadow35

Does anyone have a map of the coils on the 99 engine. I am getting a misfire on cylinder 4. I am not sure exactly where it is. Can anyone help. Thanks.

sky jumper

it is the middle front bank (radiator side) coil, under the plastic trim cover. it will take you all of 3 minutes and $80 to replace it. dealers charge >$200. go make us proud.

dshadow35

Thanks Sky Jumper your the man, I just wanted to confirm that with you. Now I can finally fix this car and getting it running the way it needs to be.

sky jumper

no problemo. one note on the coil job -- it can be a bit tricky the first time you try to disconnect them from the wiring harness. the trick is to take a small slotted screwdriver and push slightly down and back at the same time on the release tab. the tab should go all the way back and "click" into the "open" position, thereby releasing the connector. make sense??

ComradeJew

iTrader: (3)

Hi all - while on the subject let me hop on the bandwagon.

Lately my car shakes/vibrates under heavy acceleration - it feels like i have unbalanced tires, so not very hard but noticeable.

it also shakes quite noticeably at 700-950 RPM. A few days ago the SES was solid on, then started randomly blinking. I got no fault code - today at neutral it did it again while i was revving and holding the gas... then I reset the ECU and the SES doesn't come on again but the car still shakes and vibrates as before.

Are my coils dead? And if only one is dead - can i just replace one, or should I replace all of them?

Thanks!

PLUMMAXSE

iTrader: (2)

You can replace them one at a time, but if one went out then the others are weak also. I would just replace them all. You have a 99 model which have the bad coils. Do them all and be done with them!!

ComradeJew

iTrader: (3)

What's a good cheap place to get good coils?

txskbec

Just ordered one from WORLDPARTSEXPRESS.COM
They carry Hanshin and Mitsu for under $70 + shipping
Expecting delivery on the 15th
I also read on a few threads about DaveB, I think his info is
on the FAQ page.

dshadow35

Thanks sky jumper I'll take a look at it.

ComradeJew

iTrader: (3)

Oooh btw - is it a ***** do this if i have a strut bar?

ComradeJew

iTrader: (3)

So - Hanshin or Mitsu? Any suggestions between the two? I heard I need to stay away from one... dont know which one though haha

txskbec

I have read in few other threads that Mitsu is a better choice then Hanshin.
My first 99 origin Hanshin went bad at 82k.
I still did not find out if there is a difference between both designs...I would really like to know if they can be mixed and matched as I plan to replace my coils one by one as they go bad.

sky jumper

I have a mix in my '99. 4 original hanshin and 2 mitsu that the previous owner had replaced. it runs fine, no codes. 93k miles. i just don't like the hanshin design. mitsu seems better put together, etc.

btw - previous owner paid $270 for one coil replacement, and $230 for the other. ripoff nissan dealers.

Cdg2125

iTrader: (7)

i thought the Mitsu coils were no longer made for our cars?

Jtech

Lets break down the coil packs. Way back when there was a solidary coil. Now you can have up to eight coils. I have seen anywhere from 1 coil per two cylinders up to what I see most often one coil per cylinder. The coils now and before are made up of two circuits. Primary and secondary. Think of the primary circuit as the switch. Think of the secondary circuit as the power source. I am not going to go into ignition modules and all that but lets say a computer turns off and on the coil by providing and removing ground on the Primary Circuit. Every time the Primary circuit is opened the magnetic field on the secondary circuit is broken(Correct me if I am wrong about the magnetic field part) and a charge of far greater magnitude is created so much in fact that it can jump across air! The main benefit of the new coil packs is the computer can turn on spark at precise time to increase power and save on gas. Long ago there was a mechanical mechanism that could not adjust for changing conditions. So basically you get one reading from testing the positive and negative terminals, i.e the primary circuit and another from testing either the positive or negative terminals and the middle plug where the spark plug wire goes, i.e the secondary circuit.

Dcarlton

My 95 Maxima, 196,000 miles, has what I call a misfire, only after it has warmed up. Per the posts here, I have:
Replaced the plugs,
Replaced the PCV valve,
Replaced the Air Filter,
Replaced the Fuel Filter,
Cleaned the IAC valve,
Cleaned the Throttle Body.
It still has a misfire to it that seems to get worse as the car gets to normal operating temperature. If you're sitting at a red light, with it in drive, it will shake and shutter or stumble, rpm's dropping about 200 rpm then back and you can smell unburned gas. From all of the above, it sounds like it could be a coil pack or a fuel injector. Anyone have a any ideas on the best way to diagnose this? I did remove 3 of the packs today and used my meter on it but didn't get the numbers that had been posted in another thread on either of them.

If you're in the Atlanta area, or even in the Gwinnett Area, contact me if you want to.

PLUMMAXSE

iTrader: (2)

That sounds like the problem that I had which turned out to be 1 bad coilpack. It would only fail when hot. I just removed each coilpack at a time until I found the one that didn't affect the engine idle. That was the one!!

Dcarlton

It seems that this is a definite problem with the 1999's on up, but on a 1995? Is it the age and miles?

Dcarlton

All I can say is WoW and Thanks! Just finished diagnosing the misfiring and stuttering per the posts here and narrowed it down to the middle rear coil pack. Drove up to the parts store, got the new one, put it in and now it's running like it's supposed to. Of course, all the things I did to it before this made a huge difference now that the coil pack is operating too. I knew it would because when it was cold it would run like it was in a race, but as soon as it warmed up, it would misfire and stumble all over itself.

So I guess I will be prepared to replace them all over the next few weeks/months and at least know what the symptoms are over the next 5 packs.

Thanks again!

And by the way, maybe I can't follow the Haynes manual for ohm testing these things or maybe the ohm testing just doesn't work, but the one I pulled ohms out like the rest of them and I can't get it or any of the others to work the way Haynes says they should. Mine also shows pin 1 for what looks like the front packs, but not the rear packs.

willard00

iTrader: (1)

not true at all. you can buy a spark tester at sears for about $8. looks just a spark plug. you pull your coil pack off the plug and outa the hole, leaving the connector attached. pop the spark tester in, ground it, and crank. if it sparks, coil pack is good.

Anii23

iTrader: (1)

I have a bad #2 coil pack code 06-07. Where is it located rad side or intake side? Does anyone have one for sale? I have a 99 max.
Thanks

aznsap

iTrader: (29)

you should be able to do it w/ the strut bar on, but if you had to take it off, it's only 6 nuts holding the strut bar on

btw, i have FOR SALE 3 coils off my '95 that are still in good working condition. pics here: http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=505598

gratuitous

Holy smokes... 211K out of the original coil packs. I started getting a cascade failure of my packs on my '99 at 92K. I ended up replacing all six because I didn't want to have to keep dealing with it, and I knew it was such a big problem for my model year after reading the boards.

Maximeyez

Check out PEPBOYZ. They have them for $59 a pop. I just replaced one last week.

ThurzNite

iTrader: (13)

Dang, that's cheaper than I got mine. What manufacture and warranty?
Here's mine: http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=530042

BTW, I looked in the FSM for the correct resistance/ohm and all it says is 0=bad coil, and anything else is good.

Jae