1999 Nissan Maxima

PRIOR TO GETTING MY 1999 NISSAN MAXIMA INSPECTED, THE 'SERVICE ENGINE SOON' LIGHT TURNED ON AND I EVENTUALLY FOUND OUT THAT THE LIGHT IS ON BECAUSE A FEW OF MY IGNITION COILS ARE NO LONGER WORKING. UNFORTUNATELY, THIS WILL BE ABOUT A $1500 REPAIR (BECAUSE I WAS TOLD THAT I NEED TO REPLACE ALL OF THE COILS BECAUSE THEY CAN'T DETECT WHICH ONES ARE OUT) AND I AM A COLLEGE STUDENT WHO DOESN'T MAKE MUCH MORE THAN TWICE THAT IN A YEAR. I WAS RESEARCHING ONLINE TO SEE IF THERE WERE ANY CHEAPER IGNITION COILS I COULD PURCHASE, AND CAME TO FIND OUT THAT THERE ARE SO MANY PEOPLE WITH THIS EXACT SAME PROBLEM THAT A PETITION HAS BEEN CREATED WITH OVER 3,000 SIGNATURES(HERE IS THE PETITION: HTTP://WWW.PETITIONONLINE.COM/MOD_PERL/SIGNED.CGI?NIS_IGN&851). I AM GOING TO CONTACT MY LOCAL NISSAN DEALERSHIP TOMORROW (AS I WAS BUSY GETTING ESTIMATES FROM OTHER MECHANICS EVER SINCE I FOUND OUT ABOUT MY FAILED IGNITION COILS UNTIL TODAY WHEN I LEARNED THAT MANY OTHERS WITH '99-'03 NISSAN MAXIMA'S HAD THIS SAME PROBLEM) AND HOPEFULLY SOMETHING WILL BE DONE, BUT MORE THAN ANYTHING I BELIEVE THAT THEY SHOULD DO WHAT'S MORALLY RIGHT AND ISSUE A RECALL. *JB

MY 1999 NISSAN MAXIMA SE HAD ONE COIL REPLACED IN 2003. THIS YEAR I REPLACED THE ALTERNATOR AS WELL. MY AIRBAG LIGHT FLASHES CONSTANTLY AND MY CLOCK GOES IN AND OUT OF SERVICE. MY SERVICE ENGINE SOON LIGHT CAME ON AND THE CAR RUNS VERY ROUGH. WHEN IDLING IT SOUNDS LIKE A CHOKING PIECE OF CRAP AND ON THE HILLS THE LIGHT FLASHES. I WAS TOLD I HAD A BAD COIL AGAIN AND TOOK IT FOR A DIAGNOSTIC THAT SAID MULTIPLE MISFIRE AND REPLACE ALL SIX COILS. I HAVE READ COMPLAINT AFTER COMPLAINT ABOUT COILS. WHEN I BOUGHT MY MAXIMA NEW I THOUGHT I WAS BUYING A CAR THAT WAS RELIABLE BUT I AM HEARING THAT COIL REPLACEMENT IS THE RULE NOT THE EXCEPTION. I ALSO HAVE REAR BRAKE NOISE....SINCE YEAR THREE OF OWNING THE CAR. I HAVE REPLACED TWO SETS OF BRAKE PADS AS WELL. *TR

ANYONE CAN SPEND JUST A MOMENT OF TIME ON THE INTERNET AND FIND THAT NISSAN MAXIMAS FROM 1999 TO 2003 , PERHAPS A LENGTHIER TIME PERIOD, MINE IS A 1999. HAVE MAJOR PROBLEMS WITH IGNITION COILS AND STARTERS. YET NO RECALL HAS EVER BEEN ISSUED! I HAVE SEEN HUNDREDS OF CONSUMER WEBSITES OF PEOPLE REPORTING THESE PROBLEMS WITH COILS AND STARTERS. I JUST HAD TO REPLACE STARTER AND COILS. SOME PEOPLE REPORT REPLACING THEM EVERY 10,000 - 20,000 MILES!!! THIS IS A PRICEY REPAIR AT ABOUT $1000 TO $1500 PER EVENT! PLEASE URGE NISSAN TO RECALL THESE DEFECTIVE PARTS AND REFUND THOSE WHO HAVE HAD TO PAY FOR THIS SERVICE.*AK

I HAVE A POTENTIALLY DEADLY PROBLEM WITH MY 133,000-MILE, 1999 NISSAN MAXIMA. IT MIGHT BE RELATED TO THE CRANK SENSOR ON NEWER MAXIMA, A STEERING COLUMN LOCK, A FAULTY IGNITION SWITCH, FAULTY CLUTCH DEPRESSION SWITCH, AND THE ANTI-THEFT KILL SWITCH, PERHAPS EVEN A RANDOM GROUND. THE PROBLEM WAS CONCEIVABLY CATASTROPHIC.*AK UPON ENTERING MY CAR USING THE REMOTE, OCCASIONALLY THE CAR WON'T RESPOND, AND MUST BE UNLOCKED MANUALLY. IN THESE INSTANCES, NEITHER THE DOME LIGHTS NOR THE HEADLIGHTS SHINE. WHEN THE IGNITION KEY IS ROTATED TO THE START POSITION, AS THE CLUTCH IS BEING DEPRESSED, SOMETIMES THE GAUGE LIGHTS APPEAR AND THEN QUICKLY FADE AND DISAPPEAR; THE CAR JUST DOESN'T CRANK. A FAINT, DIMINISHING TELLTALE BUZZING SOUND CAN BE HEARD. WHAT'S WORSE, THIS CAN HAPPEN SPONTANEOUSLY WHILE DRIVING, IN WHICH CASE THE CAR'S STEERING WHEEL LOCKS AND THE BRAKES BECOME INOPERABLE. I HAVE HAD THIS HAPPEN ON THREE OCCASIONS, TWICE WHILE DRIVING IN A MALL PARKING LOT (FEBRUARY AND MARCH ''07) AND THE OTHER TIME (JUST LAST WEEK) WHILE TURNING INTO MY NEIGHBOR'S DRIVEWAY, TO TAKE OUT HER OAK TREE. THE IGNITION CRANK SENSOR MUST SLIP INTO AN INOPERABLE MODE DURING DRIVING OR WHILE ATTEMPTING TO START THE CAR, OR THE ANTI-THEFT SWITCH SOMEHOW INTERFERES WITH STARTING, OPERATION OR DRIVING. MAYBE THE MASTER IGNITION COIL IS FAILING (BUT THAT DOESN'T EXPLAIN THE HEADLIGHT AND DOME LIGHT PROBLEMS). THE CLUTCH SWITCH MAY NOT ENGAGE WHEN ITS PEDAL IS BEING DEPRESSED. SOMETIMES, I CAN RESTART THE CAR AFTER AN INCIDENT IN WHICH IT WAS PARKED FOR A WHILE. MY BATTERY IS BRAND NEW, AND THERE DON'T SEEM TO BE ANY SHORTS AS FAR AS I CAN TELL. BUT NOTHING ELECTRICALLY WORKS (NOT EVEN THE RADIO) WHEN I HAVE TO UNLOCK THE CAR MANUALLY. I AM VERY CONCERNED ABOUT DRIVING THE CAR BEYOND MY NEIGHBORHOOD. I MIGHT HAVE TO BECOME A HERMIT, OR WORSE, A COLLEGE PROFESSOR. ANY IDEAS? THE CAR IS IN EXCELLENT SHAPE OTHERWISE AND HAS ALL SERVICE RECORDS.

I AM LOOKING AT $1400 TO REPLACE 6 IGNITION COILS, THIS IS PREPOSTEROUS, THIS IS A KNOWN PROBLEM THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN CORRECTED. MY CAR HAS LESS THAT 60,000 MILES ON IT, AND I HAVE BABIED IT AND MADE SURE ONLY THE BEST HAS BEEN USED ON IT. THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE COMPLAINING ABOUT THIS, AND THE PROBLEM REMAINS. I AM FINISHING THIS AND WRITING A LETTER TO MY CONGRESSMAN AND SENATORS. I BOUGHT THIS CAR ON NISSAN'S REPUTATION AND KNOWING THAT THEY ALLOW THIS TO EXIST, I WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER NISSAN, PERIOD.*JB

I BEGAN HAVING MISFIRES ON MY 1999 MAXIMA IN MAY 2005. DEALERSHIP STATED THAT ONE OF THE IGNITION COILS WAS GOING BAD BUT WOULD HAVE TO WAIT FOR THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT TO COME ON BEFORE BEING ABLE TO TELL WHICH COIL WAS MALFUNCTIONING. LESS THAN TWO WEEKS LATER, THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. I TOOK MY CAR TO THE DEALERSHIP AND THE MECHANIC REPLACED THE DEFECTIVE COIL AT A COST OF AROUND $250. LESS THAN TWO MONTHS LATER, IN JULY, ANOTHER COIL BEGAN MALFUNCTIONING (MISFIRING), THE DEALER REPLACED IT FOR AROUND $250. NOW A THIRD COIL IS MISFIRING. *NM

AT ABOUT 30,000 MY 1999 MAXIMA GLE STARTED TO MISFIRE RANDOMLY. I WAS TOLD BY A DEALER THAT THERE WAS NO TEST THAT COULD ISOLATE A BAD IGNITION COIL AND THAT ALL SIX COILS WOULD HAVE TO BE REPLACED AT A COST OF ABOUT $900. I DID NOTHING FOR A WHILE, BUT WHEN THE PROBLEM BECAME WORSE I CONTACTED MY LOCAL MERCHANT TIRE DEALER AND ASKED IF THEY COULD REPLACE THE COILS WITH NEW COILS BOUGHT BE ME FROM AN AUTO PARTS DEALER. MERCHANT TIRE AGREED TO MAKE THE REPLACEMENT FOR $130. I PURCHASED REPLACEMENT COILS FROM BRIGHTAUTO.COM FOR A TOTAL COST OF $364.63. THE REPLACEMENT COILS ARE IDENTIFIED BY NISSAN AT NISSANHELP.COM AS 22448-31U11, RH COIL (#89057915) AND 22448-31U16, LH COIL (#89057914). I HAVE HAD NO PROBLEM SINCE THE REPLACEMENT. *NM