Y33 random misfire... coil pack?

[NateB29]

Hi all, so i have a Y33 with about 175k miles on it and about 15 minutes in to my 25 minute commute to work it started to misfire and my check engine light was flashing. on my way home it was fine but i have just parked it since then. Since searching the problem on this forum it seems to be that one of my coil packs have gone out. I already had a CEL for a knock sensor which I already was planning on doing so now would be a good time to do everything at once. I was wondering what is wrong with the aftermarket coil packs. The price on the OEM compared to the aftermarket ones is enough to seriously consider them unless they are complete garbage... so what would go wrong with the aftermarket ones and what makes the OEMs so far superior? has anyone had any experience with aftermarkets?

[Q451990]

Full disclosure, I've always been a factory parts fanboy. That said, Nissan has gone insane on some of their parts pricing lately. I replaced the belts on my wife's G with Bando belts for about 25% of the cost of factory belts. Bando makes the belts for Nissan, and the Bando part number is stamped on the Nissan belt. As best I can tell, it's the same belt. Similar story on the alternator for my truck... bought the Hitachi part through Rock Auto, shipped directly to me from Hitachi in KY for about half the cost. Hitachi makes the alternator for Nissan.

So that's my compromise between blindly buying dealer parts, and picking up whatever is in the house brand box down at the local AutoZone. Some aftermarket parts on eBay are knockoffs, like knock sensors filled with a resistor and sand. But if you buy from a reputable source, especially if they ship directly from the manufacturer, I think aftermarket is OK sometimes.

If I were buying coils for your car, I would look at the Hitachi part. I believe they made the coils for Nissan. http://partcat.com/hitachi

At about $53 each from Rock Auto, that's about half of the cost from one of the online discount Infinti Parts vendors.

[steve_c]

I think the same way as Q451990 does when it comes to parts.
My 2006 M35x has a code PO304 (#4 cyl. misfire). I've got 115k miles on original spark plugs & coils, so I wanted a complete set of new coils since they had to come out to replace the spark plugs. I ordered Hitachi's. I do see coils for under $30.00, and complete sets of 6 for well under $200.00! I would stay clear of them altogether. The problem's I've read about the cheapo coils range from dead on installation to only lasting a few months before going bad.
Hitachi is an OEM supplier to many automobile manufacturers, and I have read (but have not verified) that for certain models/years they provided coil packs to Nissan/Infiniti. At under $60.00 a coil for the Hitachi, I felt that was reasonable for a known OE brand, so I went with them. All I can say at this point is that they all work fine, but do not have any miles on them yet as I am still working on the misfire issue (injector wiring-see M35 forum "Injector #4 R&R Advice needed).
Good Luck!

[3Q Jay]

for me it's mostly about how much my time is worth and the hassle factor of doing the job again.
The coil packs on the FGY33 can be done in an hour (i've personally done it), so might be ok with non-nissan but japanese pedigree part.
Do NOT do the ks now. fix the coils first and then decide when you want to go back in. there is not a significant economy of scale (no real overlap) between the jobs.
fwiw, my FGY33 has one non-OEM coil pack. Carquest 52-1562. long story, but only option i had at 800 miles from my destination. retroactively when i got the other genuine nissan coils, i put the knockoff in the #2 position so it would be easiest to replace when it fails. 10k on it so far.

[Wiggler]

sounds like someone might be in need of my video after they take care of their coil problem. Might be more helpful to watch it like a Quentin Tarentino movie, if you know what I mean.

[maxnix]

Got the Hitachi from FCA for about $72 each a few years ago.

The difficult lesson I learned is that it is near impossible to diagnose and replace them as they experience sequential failure. So count on all 8 at once.

KS should be sourced OEM as best you can as you don't want to go back in there. This requires a lot of new hoses including fuel hoses. Plan on a Dremel tool to clean EGR tube in the plenum. This is where the VH41DE lost it's easier to work on reputation when compared to the VH45DE, for me anyway.

Injector harness is incredibly expensive and only available en toto. So save any sub-assemblies and test.

Just for the record, in the USA it is a FGY33 with the VH41DE.