I had coil pack number five replaced within 2 weeks it burnt out again. I took it to the dealer the second time around and they replaced it, but it didn’t fix the problem and they couldn’t figure it out. They called the Nissan tech department and they said every time coil pack five burns out, it causes fuel injector 6 to burn out. Has anybody ever heard of this? The car only has 44,000 miles on it and I’ve already spent $2200. I’m thinking I’m going to have to buy a new car because I can’t continue to afford this. I’m wondering if I bought a lemon? I don’t know what to do because this was my retirement car. Please help! I am a widow and I do not know anything about cars! Thank you!!
If the spark plug gap gets too wide the computer will compensate by boosting the spark voltage, and that will sometimes burn out the coil. So first step, suggest to ask your shop to make sure all the spark plugs are the correct gap. The relationship to injector 6 is hard to figure, but needs to wait on the resolution of the spark plug gap issue.
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Thank you so very much George I will surely do that!!
With a failed coil I would suspect a spark plug as being the main cause of a coil failure. To me, anytime a coil is replaced new plugs are a must.
What year model is this vehicle?
Your car’s engine has modern iridium spark plugs, the gap does not change. I have replaced iridium spark plugs after 200,000 miles that had minimum wear.
Modern vehicles can have misleading faults, a cylinder 6 misfire might be misdiagnosed as a cylinder 5 ignition problem, or this young mechanic doesn’t know cylinder 5 from 6.
Keep the car for ten more years before giving up.
The mechanic is 65 years old. Hopefully I can keep the car until I leave this world. I don’t drive very often and it’s only got 44,000 miles on it. How often should you drive a car to keep it running good? Thank you so much for the information!
In theory, Platinum and Iridium plugs should be good for the long haul but…
Some plugs fail in service sooner and in a few cases I’ve seen some that were dead right out of the box.
Regarding the latter, a lady stationed at the AFB here brought me her Toyota for a lookover before taking a trip to Vegas with another service member. The car ran well but she just wanted a service to be sure including a plug change. Once done I fired it up and it ran like garbage.
It’s a 4 cylinder and no way I crossed any wires. Checked and sure enough everything in order.
After some thought I started wondering about the plugs. i pulled them out and after checking with a multmeter discovered that 2 of the 4 were stone dead. A call to NAPA for another set and all was well with the car after that.
First time I’ve ever run into that but plugs like everything else are a production line item and a certain percentage are expected to fail. Plugs have to be in the very low percentile though. Factor in other things on a running engine such as driving habits, gasoline type, other potential issues, etc and that number would go up. This example is a rare anomaly.
My late uncle worked for Bosch for near 50 years; most of it as a plant foreman. He said one would not think plugs and fuel injectors would be much of an issue but problem children do crop up now and then.
Cars are designed to be driven. It’s not so much how frequently you drive the car, but it is best to avoid a lot of short, low speed trips. It’s important to heat up the exhaust system enough to eliminate all the accumulated moisture. I haven’t driven my Corolla on the road at all for the past 30 months, but engine still running well after all that time of non-use. I did start to notice some exhaust system problems so now I fast-idle (1500 rpm) the engine in the driveway for 15-20 minutes to clear the moisture out.
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Once every two weeks and for at least 15-20 minutes.
This is done to keep the battery charged.
But, If you were to use a battery maintainer to keep the battery charged, the vehicle could sit indefinitely.
Tester
One of my coworkers had to go out of the country for two years on business assignment, and asked me to come by his house once a week and idle his car for 15 minutes, which I was happy to do for him. He had removed the wheels and left the car situated on cement blocks. Perhaps to avoid flat spots on the tires?
Thank you so much for your thoughtful response. After much deliberation and research I think I’m going to trade the Nissan in on a Toyota.
This is your revenge against pollution police that won’t allow you to drive your old car, however it affects your neighbors, not the law makers.
I would have removed two gallons of fuel from the tank and told him the unnecessary wear was inflicted as requested. The engine will run just fine after two years of rest.
Driveway idling a modern-design Corolla for 15 minutes? Doesn’t seem like a very good revenge plan to me !!! … lol …
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