Nissan Ignition Coil

Description

WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF A FAILING IGNITION COIL?

A failed ignition coil can severely damage your engine, so keep an eye out for these five ignition coil failure symptoms.

1. AN ILLUMINATED CHECK ENGINE LIGHT

Fortunately, if your vehicle has a computer running things instead of a distributor, chances are that it’ll notice when an ignition coil has gone bad. When it does, it’ll illuminate your check engine light so that a professional technician can use an OBD-II scanner to identify the problem.

2. DIFFICULTY STARTING YOUR ENGINE

Since ignition coils are responsible for delivering electricity to your spark plugs, you may notice that starting your engine is difficult with a failed ignition coil. In fact, if you have a single ignition coil, your vehicle may not start at all due to no spark being delivered to the spark plugs. With COP setups, however, you may have to feel for symptoms of a “dead” cylinder, like jerky or sputtery starts.

3. MISFIRING

That feeling of having a “dead” cylinder is called misfiring, and may also occur while driving. If your engine is misfiring, it may run poorly, shake, and vibrate when idling — and jerk or sputter while driving. A bad misfire will also cause your check engine light to flash, indicating a severe issue that needs to be addressed immediately. Misfiring puts incredible strain on engine components, so we recommend getting your vehicle looked at ASAP if you notice any of these symptoms.

4. LESS POWER AND REDUCED FUEL EFFICIENCY

When spark plugs don’t receive enough electricity from the ignition coil, they may fail to spark or do so intermittently — resulting in reduced power output. When this happens, your engine makes up for the lack of power by consuming more fuel, which reduces gas mileage and can foul spark plugs. So watch out for stalling, slow acceleration, and rough idling, since they’re all symptoms of a bad ignition coil.

5. BACKFIRING

If your engine attempts to burn more fuel to compensate for the bad ignition coil, it may also backfire. Backfiring happens when unburnt fuel travels through the exhaust system and detonates. If your engine is backfiring, you may notice loud popping sounds coming from the rear of your vehicle.