Coilpacks do they slowly die?

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bowlofturtle

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I've only encountered coilpacks that were completely working or completely dead. I was wondering if they slowly die.



My 98 maxima has a misfire at idle. It doesn't happen all the time. But when it does happen, it only misfires 1/4 of the time. So its not a DEAD misfire like i'm used to. I dont get any CEL oddly for this, even tho 100% the car is misfiring. The rpm which is normally at 750 at idle dip to like 700 and back up again.

So far no obvious vac line leaks, plugs look decent and was recently changed about 8k miles ago with NGK plats. Maybe the IACV could be it.
 
I have encountered this on a Ford 5.4 once. It was the version with 8 individual coils. A friend explained that sometimes a tiny break inside the coil will occur, and it will only cause a problem when heat causes the coil to expand.

This is extremely rare.
 
Have a '04 Taurus. The coil pack on started to fail. The car would hesitate at 45-55 pretty bad (almost felt like a tranny jerk). It didn't throw a code but still hooked it up. It pulled a code tho. Checked online and it seemed coil pack was the #1 fix. Replace it paid about $65?? Anyways hesitation completely went away.
 
Originally Posted By: Warstud
Could be the NGK plugs your using.

are-you-kidding-me.jpg

I'm not going to even dignify that with an explanation of HOW WRONG that question is in this situation.
 
You've cleaned the MAF with MAF cleaner?
Throttle Body's clean?
Checked for vacuum leaks?
Fuel filter?
Are plugs the OEM NGK Laser Platinum Double Platinums? # PFR5G-11?
Ohm out the injectors, should be 10-14 ohms
Test the CTS
Test the TPS
Have you any form of Scan Tool?

Do a power balance test?
 
Maxima coil packs need to be replaced with the updated units. They do routinely die but before dieing they start going intermittent. So, the answer to your question is "YES"!
 
This will be an interesting thread. My daughter drives my dad's 1999 Infiniti I30. It has the Maxima's 3.0L engine. We started getting the CEL w/misfire code a couple of years ago. The car has over 200K on the clock. I tried going the economical route and replaced all six coils with a $150 aftermarket set. I had read that these cars needed OEM brands only (Hitachi or Denso). I didn't believe it, but now I do. We still get the misfire code even though it runs fine. The cheapest set of OEM brand coils I have found is $400! Since she may not keep the car after graduating college I may just buy a set of used coils on eBay that come from a car that has lower mileage. They run around $75/set.

Her school is in a "non-emissions" county in Texas. She can get the car past inspection by signing a waiver stating that she will fix it when she returns to an emissions county. Otherwise, a CEL would cause the car to fail.
 
JUST to recap...

I forgot to mention it happens more when engine is warm.

I'm using Torque and my BT dongle. I also have a OLDER REAL ELMscan327 serial cable and laptop. Both didn't pull any codes.

All coilpacks ive ever seen are, dead on the spot or work 100%.

These coilpacks are the ones that SIT on top of the sparkplug, they are standalone units, i have 6 total.


At this point i would LOVE to see a P030x code. But i dont, this weekend i'll be looking at the Idle air control valve, never cleaned it. Free to do minus cost of gasket.
 
I just bought a full set of Nissan OEM coils for my daughter's I30 for $260. It's a lot of money, but better than the $400 I was looking at previously.

Thanks, folks, for reminding me that I needed to get these things. I was reading some Maxima forum posts stating that BWD brand might be good as well, but they cost as much as the OEM.
 
Quote:
At this point i would LOVE to see a P030x code.
I was checking for pending code every single trip for six months before I got a cylinder specific code on my Maxima after the first onset of the coil problems. The pending code only lasted one trip and was not there later.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: bowlofturtle
JUST to recap...

I forgot to mention it happens more when engine is warm.

I'm using Torque and my BT dongle. I also have a OLDER REAL ELMscan327 serial cable and laptop. Both didn't pull any codes.

All coilpacks ive ever seen are, dead on the spot or work 100%.

These coilpacks are the ones that SIT on top of the sparkplug, they are standalone units, i have 6 total.


At this point i would LOVE to see a P030x code. But i dont, this weekend i'll be looking at the Idle air control valve, never cleaned it. Free to do minus cost of gasket.


Coils don't like heat, because it makes resistance. Do't forget that injectors also have coils to pulse the needle.
 
Originally Posted By: michaelluscher
There's a NissanDataScan app for Android now
http://nissandatascan.com

I love my OBDLink MX and Torque Pro to death, but for some vehicles (My Nissan Designed Villager included), you need something special.
This gives more Nissan specific live data, and IIRC, the infamous idle air relearn.


$10 might be little tough for this car. I'll look into it and see how people like it on the maxima forum.

I have uprev's cypher for newer nissans. That works great on my g35 for datalogs and power balance testing.
 
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