Hello All,

I've seen a few posts talking about P1320's and misfires but I thought I would try to see if we can get it narrowed down.

Every once in a while (every 60 days or so) I would start my 01 pathfinder and it would shake and shimy. Clearly misfiring. Driving it would causing the flashing SES light but as the car warms up (about 15 minutes of driving) things would clear up. Getting P1320 and P0300 random misfire from the CarChip. This is getting worse as time is going on. Starting to happen every 10 starts or so. It still goes away when the car warms up, though. Same codes.

I did get a P1145 code a few months ago and replaced the sensor. It went away. Also had the Left CAT code, took the car to Nissan and they reprogrammed and it went away and hasn't returned.

Most of the posts point to the ignition coils but my concern is that this is intermittant. I would think that a coil(s) would just go bad and not be better after warm up.

Any suggestions to nail this down would be appreciated. Could it be another sensor?

ThanksJay

This has also happened to our 2001 QX4...

Same missfire problem...

Also showed P0330...#3 missfire...Code cleared , then missfire a week or so later, P1320 Ignition related...

Seems to only happen in cold weather...And maybe when damp...And like above...Just let it sit a bit and restart, problem gone...And after driving, no problem...

Go all thru spring and summer and no problems...Many months of drivng with no problems...Just winter...

I also think coil related...???

So I also could use thoughts...

That seems to be more of a MAF thing IMO. I think coils, as Jack said, would be good or NG, not intermittant, unless of course its a connection issue...

I talked to Service Manager at Dealer with my thoughts...Well, "Why not leave it over night and we'll see if it happens"...That could be months of waiting...

Anyway...I'm hoping, much to my wife's chagrin, as it's her truck, that it happens and if it throws a P0330 code again, which could be month's away, at least I'll know which cylinder, and as there is just one coil per cylinder...That may be it...But...........

I can't really say that my issue might be environmentally linked. There have been days where it's been pretty wet, cold, etc.. and it seems to work just fine. I also had my car in at an independent shop a couple of months ago after the problem happened 5-6 times in a row. However, when it was at the shop, the problem never occured in 3 days. Go figure.

I think I'm going to try and clean the MAF first before I go and spend $700 on coils, spark plugs and installation.

Can we get any Nissan techs to chime in here?

ThanksJay

You were never able to detect 'which' cylinder was misfiring???......

IE..Mine said P0330...#3

No. It always comes in as P1320 and P0300 random misfire.

jcarringer wrote:I can't really say that my issue might be environmentally linked. There have been days where it's been pretty wet, cold, etc.. and it seems to work just fine. I also had my car in at an independent shop a couple of months ago after the problem happened 5-6 times in a row. However, when it was at the shop, the problem never occured in 3 days. Go figure.

I think I'm going to try and clean the MAF first before I go and spend $700 on coils, spark plugs and installation.

Can we get any Nissan techs to chime in here?

ThanksJay

HI, I was reading your comments looking for some solutions because I have the same problem with my car that it's also a 2001 Qx4, but I do not have the knowledge about it, that you guys seems to have, would you please tell me what is the MAF and where can I find it, so I can clean mine to? I just hoping to find some solution to see I can save myself some money.Thank you in advance for any help.

Random misfire doesnt always mean truely "random". it means the ECU doesnt know exactly where its coming from but it knows that its coming from somewhere.

Technically a power balance test should show what cylinder is causing it...

The MAF on my 01 Pathfinder is between the air filter and the air intake on the engine. There are four 10 millimeter bolts that connect it to the air filter housing. You should be able to see the electrical connector on the right side of it. Be very careful with it. It is very sensitive and can be damaged easily and costs alot for a sensor. Do a google search and there are some videos out there that show how to take it out, clean it and put it back.

On the subject of the electrical connectors. What is the trick to taking them off without damaging them? Do you just rock them off or do you have to push in the green part then pull them off? I thought I saw a post somewhere but I can't seem to find it?

ThanksJay

I had the same problem with the 2001 QX4 and I got the error code DTC P1320 IGN signal primary and P0301 Cylinder 1 misfire. I went to the dealer and they reset the computer and didn't find anything wrong at this time. If this happen again their recommend to replace all the coilpack for about $900. I believe Nissan needs to warranty on the defective parts. I only have 46,220 miles on my car.

I had a P0303 and it turned to be a bad spark plug (bosch platinum) Keep it NGK.... have u checked plugs??

jcarringer wrote:On the subject of the electrical connectors. What is the trick to taking them off without damaging them? Do you just rock them off or do you have to push in the green part then pull them off? I thought I saw a post somewhere but I can't seem to find it?

ThanksJay

Yeah u push the green part of the connector in and it will disengage the harness once it is depress completely.

fueler wrote: I had a P0303 and it turned to be a bad spark plug (bosch platinum) Keep it NGK.... have u checked plugs??

I would if I could even find them...

Not like my other cars...

Been 3 weeks since codes appeared...I erase them...Car's been running great ...

I took my 01 QX4 to a trusted mechanic and he replaced the #1 cylinder coilpack and everything seem to running fine now. Cost $165 to fixed. I will update all of you the next couple weeks to see how thing work. Thanks.

ah, that is not the first time I have heard of VQ's having coil problems... good luck

Hello, new to this site, thanks for allowing me to join. My mech. says he thinks it is a camshaft or crankshaft sensor sending false info. because of a slight short. Not sure but when he gets a minute it will be diagnosed. I have not tryed to replace the plugs yet. I wasnt told that Bosch plugs where pieces of crap until I changed them and had around 30,000 mi, on them. my code is also p1320.

I recently started to have this problem too once when the weather would be warm one day and then cold the next. It would shake at idle and then smooth out once I was on the gas. I have not taken it to a mechanic yet.

Took mine to the dealer today. They said the number 1 coil needs to be replaced and they also want to adjust the idle.

My mech. told me that if a coil was bad that it would throw a misfire code on the particular # cylinder, i dont know im not a mech. but mine is fixin to be tested to track down problem.

Can u please tell me how they figured how they determined that it was the #1 coil. I was told that there was no way to find the bad coil that all would have to be replaced. i got the bad news today that it is an ignition coil and they could not determine which 1 it is so i would have to buy all of them. Am i being scammed or what?

tps2000 wrote:Can u please tell me how they figured how they determined that it was the #1 coil. I was told that there was no way to find the bad coil that all would have to be replaced. i got the bad news today that it is an ignition coil and they could not determine which 1 it is so i would have to buy all of them. Am i being scammed or what?

Yes, you got scammed, all they have to do is plug in an OBDII scanner and it will tell them exactly what the problem is, including which cylinder. However, by law, they do not have to tell you exactly which cylinder is misfiring, in essence giving you the EXACT diagnosis and method of repair, for free. By law, they are only required to give you an estimate including costs for parts and labor, including all time they took to diagnose and repair the problem. Unfortunately, what they did to you was legal. Next time, go to autozone and rent an OBD2 scanner for free. All you have to do is lay down your drivers license while you borrow it. Auto mechanics charge anywhere from $60 to $150 to pull a code and tell you what the problem is, when you can do it yourself for free. It is literally plug and play!

My pathfinder does not tell me where the misfire is. It just tells me random misfire.

Update: Replaced 5 of 6 coils. Couldn't get to the one below the intake without ripping a bunch of crap out so I took a chance. Engine light went out immediately and no problems for two month.

Now I have a noisy exhaust and rattling Cat.... sigh.

im having the same problem with my pathfinder, how much did you spend for the coils? did you buy them at the dealer/

thanks

I used pinnacle nissan or nissanparts.org. So far they were the best price even with shipping.

My 01 Pathfinder is in the shop for the same problems. Intermittent misfire, bad O2 sensor and just for fun a short in the headlight. I'll let them handle the last two however the $900.00 estimate to change ALL 6 ignition coils is not going to work. However after reading this forum I am going to autozone, borrowing the code reader and I'll find which cylinder is misfiring and do it my self!

Thank you NICO forum and everyone else out there who put in their won two cents.

I've also been getting an intermittent p1320 code. Based on the information in this post I am assuming that it is the cold and humidity since it happens more often in the winter time when it's really cold. Could also be because it starts really hard in -40 degree weather.

However, because it's happening more frequently now, I'm leaning towards one or more of the coils. How can I tell exactly which coil it is? Is there an electrical test that I can do, etc, because the only code it gives me is p1320. At one time last summer it gave me a p0300 but that's not helpful either.

You need to check the resistance with an ohm meter I dont know the specs tho

I have the checked the resistance values of all the coils when I changed all the plugs and they are all similar in resistance values. I have checked them in cold condition( after the car has been sitting overnight) and hot condition(just after being driven) and the are all the same. I have checked the fuel filter as well and its not clogged up. I dont know what else to check for. I have followed the service manual step by step from the harness to the relay to the coils and the plugs, but found nothing out of whack. Any other thoughts? I dont want to replace the coils yet if they are not the problem.

Dennis