29th Oct 2006, 11:36

My 2000 GLE has 96,000 miles on it and recently the SES and SLIP and TCS OFF lights came on. Car doesn't appear to be driving any different. Took it in yesterday to the Nissan dealership and they told me I had to replace all 6 of my ignition coils to the tune of $900. Is there a way to get rid of this light w/o replacing the coils???

2nd Nov 2006, 12:16

To erase the ses light disconnect the negative battery cable for 24 hours or overnight. I have a 2000 maxima and I have already replaced one coil. Other than the coils, I think that there is a problem with the computer. My next car would be a Toyota or Honda.

6th Nov 2006, 17:41

I have a 2000 Maxima GLE and for about 3 months the TCS, Slip, SES, and Brake light have been on (and off). When the lights are on the car sputters at stop lights and shakes like it is going to stall. Other times I will start the car and it will run fine with no lights on! I took it to shucks to get their free diagnostics test. It said I had Random/ Multiple Cylinder Misfire and Manufacturer specific trouble code. I don't know what this means. But I have called 2 mechanics. One being the Nissan dealer and he said the we will have to replace all the coils for the tune of $1000! I don't have a clue what to do. I am a women in my early 20's and I have a feeling that I am going to be taken advantage of. If anyone can give me any advice I would greatly appreciate it! I am thinking that one of the above comments seemed realistic about replacing the spark plugs and buying an Ohm meter. Is this something I should do? I just really don't like the shaking and don't want any further problems because of driving it. Please help.

10th Nov 2006, 18:57

I have a 2000 Maxima GXE. The SES light has been on for a while. The dealer's diagnosis was to replace vent control valve and a canister. Does anyone ever have the same problem? What's a low cost way to fix this issue. Thanks.

15th Nov 2006, 03:21

I have an 00 Maxima, 178,000 miles. Just a heads up on coil replacement. You can go to AutoZone or Advanced and get your car scanned for free when the service engine soon light comes on. Coils are not hard to replace, I bought 2, one for the front and one for the rear bank. I just kept swapping coils around in the front and rear banks til the car ran better. I also replaced all the spark plugs. I got it right on the 3rd try. Each time the car threw a ses light, I disconnected the battery and swapped the coils around, making notes of what I had tried. Disconnecting the battery for a while clears the ses light. Hopes this helps someone. There's no need to replace all 6 coils at one time unless you have a $1000 bucks to throw away.

19th Nov 2006, 05:20

I have a read a lot of comments regarding the check engine light coming on in the Nissan Maximas. I have 1995 Maxima with over 200,000 miles on it. One thing I can tell you is that if the check engine light comes on and the car is running completely normal don't bother taking it in to get it fixed. Just keep driving the car and the light will go off after about 1K miles. It's a gimmick to get you to get the car serviced. I have only changed the oil and trans fluid at regular intervals and the car has had no problems at all. I have never had the plugs changed, yes they are still original. I put a new starter in at 130K miles, put new belts on at 120K, new front rotors at 180K, and a new fan speed control resistor recently, and haven't done anything else except oil and trans fluid changes, tires, brake pads, and occasional alignments. It's an amazing car.

19th Nov 2006, 18:25

2000 Maxima coil failure - diagnose & fix it yourself.

Over the last few weeks I had a single coil failing intermittently, like when I'm waiting in the center lane to turn across fast-moving traffic, or when I pull out in front of an 18-wheeler travelling at 60. I suspect Nissan's ECU contains playful AI code that can detect life-threatening situations and generates failures when the driver is likely to soil their underwear as a consequence.

The problem with an intermittent coil failure is that the ignition fault code stored in the OBD system doesn't show which cylinder failed. The local dealer told me to take it home and drive it until it failed permanently, then they could detect the bad one. Next day, it failed just before I got home from work, so I drove in and left the thing idling, and was able to identify the bad coil.. like this.

When you pop the hood, you will notice 2 rows of grey connector plugs with green centres mounted on top of the engine. Those at the front are for the 3 fuel injectors, and those at the back are the 3 ignition coils for the rear cylinder bank. Of course, each cylinder has a connector for a fuel injector and another for the igniter coil, but the rear injectors and the front coil connectors are hidden.. read on!

Now, given that a cylinder needs both fuel and spark to fire, we should be able to make it misfire by disconnecting one or the other. If the engine shakes worse, than that one's OK, if it makes no difference then we have found the culprit that was failing all along.

OK, so the connector plugs aren't impossible to get off, just extremely difficult, it can be done with 2 screwdrivers and involves pushing the green centre down against it's springs, and while holding it, pushing sideways on a little arrow-shaped tag in the centre of the sliding section. If you get it right, the plug pops off by itself. The green section stays in until you push the plug back on. When I look at the design of these things, it is clear to me that the Japanese still haven't forgiven us for Hiroshima.

Anyway, when you have identified your dud coil, if you live in Australia your Nissan dealer will sell you a coil for around $200.00. The coils for the front and rear cylinder banks are different.

The back ones will need a 6 inch extension on a 10mm socket spanner. First remove the stupid plastic connector, this is the only difficult part, so go have a beer when you've done that. When you undo the 10mm bolt, the coil assembly just pulls out of the hole it lives in, it is a firm fit because it has nice waterproofing seals. Pull it out, push the new one in and do up the bolt. The connector goes on easier than it comes off.

The front coils and their connectors are underneath a grey plastic cover on the front of the engine. The cover is held by 4 screws that will require a small Allen-key wrench. Underneath, the setup is the same as for the back.

Sure, the rest of them may fail eventually.. but...

The replacement fixed my misfire problem, so I was feeling quite pleased with myself, except this weekend I was driving home from the city running the air conditioning, and the engine just stopped while I was in heavy traffic moving at about 40mph. I managed to haul the car into a side-street and coast to a stop. The steering was so heavy that I could barely make the turn, and the brakes without boost are terrifying. In winding hilly country this is a killer car. It wouldn't restart, so I waited about 10 minutes and tried again, it started and I crept home. I'm thinking of buying a bicycle...

Peter L.