Coil pack?

Tiny
CASEYWARD78
  • MEMBER
  • 2002 NISSAN SENTRA
  • 4 CYL
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 119,000 MILES
It started running rough and then died going down the road. I took the coil pack and the spark plug out and is was not firing. What do I need to check for?
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Sunday, December 19th, 2010 AT 5:54 PM

16 Replies

Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 108,005 POSTS
Start by checking if the coil is getting power. If it is, check the crank sensor.

Let me know what you find.
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Wednesday, December 22nd, 2010 AT 6:50 PM
Tiny
FRANK LOPEZ2
  • MEMBER
  • 3 POSTS
Hello, I have the same exact problem as Casey. My 2002 Nissan Sentra die while going up a road. Now I have a crank/no start. I checked everything and I don't have spark in any coil. I have replaced my crankshaft sensor. At this point, what is the next step to check? I need help from someone, thank you!
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Friday, October 7th, 2016 AT 4:59 PM
Tiny
CHRISCHANDLER73
  • MEMBER
  • 4 POSTS
  • 2001 NISSAN SENTRA
  • 100,420 MILES
Is ther a way to check the coil packs with a digital multi-meter to see if they are good or bad?
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Tuesday, October 1st, 2019 AT 3:38 PM (Merged)
Tiny
CARADIODOC
  • MECHANIC
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With no other details or information to go on, I would have to guess you're looking for the cause of a misfire. '96 and newer cars have the OBD2 emissions system which includes misfire monitors that detect which cylinder is misfiring. If you have the coil-on-plug ignition system, the easiest thing to do is swap the coils between that cylinder and any other one, then erase the fault code and see if a new code sets for that cylinder you moved the suspect coil to.

If you have the coil-on-plug or a coil pack you can measure the resistance of one and compare it to another one, but that is not conclusive. You will very rarely find a coil that is open, and even if some of the loops of wire are shorted together the lower resistance would still be within the acceptable range. Most coil failures involve internal arcing which won't be found with an ohm meter.

If you measure the resistance of a coil, either the primary or the secondary, and find it is open, then obviously you found the problem, but that is pretty uncommon. The service manual will give the resistance specs for reference, but if you find a coil that works fine, it is just as likely to be slightly out-of-specs as a failed coil that reads in-specs. So I guess to answer your question, yes you can measure them with an ohm meter, but no experienced professional would bother or waste their customer's time doing so. We don't like throwing random parts at a problem, but when the diagnosis leads us to an ignition coil, substitution is the fastest test.
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Tuesday, October 1st, 2019 AT 3:38 PM (Merged)
Tiny
CHRISCHANDLER73
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  • 4 POSTS
Ok, that answered that question. Now can you tell me if I checked my coils with my multi-meter correctly?

Here is how I did it, I set my multi-meter to: 2000ohms I then took each coil off of the car 1 by 1. I placed 1 lead on the negitive pin (coil) then I placed the other lead on the positive pin (coil). I was going for the "primary resistance" of the coil.

My meter showed nothing. No reading.

So I then moved the lead from the positive pin (coil) to the
high-tenison pin (coil) while leaving the other lead on the negitive pin (coil)
this was my attempt to get the "secondary resistance" of the coil

here were my readings: all 4 of the coils showed no reading when I was checking the "primary resistance" of each coil. But I got these readings for the "secondary resistance" of each coil.

Coil #1 - 1844
coil #2 - 1858
coil #3 - 1922
coil #4 - 1863
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Tuesday, October 1st, 2019 AT 3:38 PM (Merged)
Tiny
CARADIODOC
  • MECHANIC
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First of all, can I assume you have the 1.8L engine with the coil-on-plug system? There are two different versions of the coils depending on the production date of the car. I've never tested one so I can only offer some suggestions.

Are you using a digital meter or an analog one with a pointer?

Normally the primary winding is between the two terminals in the connector and that reading is going to be very low, as in less than 2.0 ohms. Your meter leads will have more resistance than that so you can expect to find around, ... Oh, ... Perhaps 5 ohms. If you're on the 2,000 ohm scale that will read "0" ohms. You have to switch to the 20 ohm or 200 ohm scale to get the most accuracy.

Typically the secondary will read in the area of 12,000 to 15,000 ohms. On the 2,000 ohm scale of a digital meter that would read over range or open, ... The same as if the meter leads were not connected. Some meters go blank for that condition. Some read a single "1" on the left. The secondary connections are normally to the spark plug terminal and a metal insert on the mounting flange. The secondary has no connection to the two small terminals in the connector, but if you're finding something there, that might be some kind of radio noise suppression resistor they put in there. Since all four coils read the same I would have to assume that is normal, but 1.8k to 1.9k is too low to be the secondary coil. That wouldn't produce much spark voltage. Switch the meter to the 20,000 scale, (20k), then measure from the mounting ring to the spark plug terminal. I'll bet you get a much higher reading. You might even have to go to the 200k scale.
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Tuesday, October 1st, 2019 AT 3:38 PM (Merged)
Tiny
CHRISCHANDLER73
  • MEMBER
  • 4 POSTS
  • 2001 NISSAN SENTRA
  • 100,420 MILES
Did I check my coils with my multi-meter correctly?

Here is how I did it, I set my multi-meter to: 2000ohms I then took each coil off of the car 1 by 1. I placed 1 lead on the negitive pin (coil) then I placed the other lead on the positive pin (coil). I was going for the "primary resistance" of the coil.

My meter showed nothing. No reading.

So I then moved the lead from the positive pin (coil) to the
high-tenison pin (coil) while leaving the other lead on the negitive pin (coil)
this was my attempt to get the "secondary resistance" of the coil

here were my readings: all 4 of the coils showed no reading when I was checking the "primary resistance" of each coil. But I got these readings for the "secondary resistance" of each coil.

Coil #1 - 1844
coil #2 - 1858
coil #3 - 1922
coil #4 - 1863
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Tuesday, October 1st, 2019 AT 3:39 PM (Merged)
Tiny
ASEMASTER6371
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Yes, you checked the secondary side ok.

What is the issue you have?

Roy
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Tuesday, October 1st, 2019 AT 3:39 PM (Merged)
Tiny
CHRISCHANDLER73
  • MEMBER
  • 4 POSTS
Here is my problem, I changed the plugs about 2 months ago & now about a week ago it started acting like it is only running on 2 cylinders really rough idle & it is really hard to start it up. I don't have access to a OBD2 scan tool either. I really think either 1 or 2 of the coils have gone bad. But now I know that it could also something other than the coils that needs to be replaced. The readings that I stated above for the secondary side of the coils, aren't they supposed to be higher than that? & I could really use a crash course in how to check the primary sides of the coils. If you could help me do that it would really help alot. Or just help me figure out what it is I need to replace to fix this thing would be a blessing!
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Tuesday, October 1st, 2019 AT 3:39 PM (Merged)
Tiny
RENEPCOMEAUX
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  • 2 POSTS
  • 2000 NISSAN SENTRA
  • 4 CYL
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 120,000 MILES
How do I check for a faulty ignition coil on a 2000 nissan sentra?
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Tuesday, October 1st, 2019 AT 3:39 PM (Merged)
Tiny
WRENCHTECH
  • MECHANIC
  • 20,758 POSTS
Why do you suspect one. Do you have a misfire or check engine light?
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Tuesday, October 1st, 2019 AT 3:39 PM (Merged)
Tiny
RENEPCOMEAUX
  • MEMBER
  • 2 POSTS
The engine sounds like it's having a misfire, and the check engine light goes from being on to blinking and back to being just on again. This happened once before over a year ago, and one of the coils had to be replaced. I just want to know if there's a feasible way to check it myself before bringing to a professional.
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Tuesday, October 1st, 2019 AT 3:39 PM (Merged)
Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
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You need an ohm meter to check it. Disconnect the wiring from the coil. You should have.8 OHMS at the primary circuit and 16,000 at the secondary. If either are at 0, replace the coil.
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Tuesday, October 1st, 2019 AT 3:39 PM (Merged)
Tiny
WRENCHTECH
  • MECHANIC
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No, there really isn't a good way to test them without using a scope. Many of the failures are temperature related anyway. Get the codes read and that will tell you which cylinder. Then I would just go ahead and change the coil. It's not real expensive.
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Tuesday, October 1st, 2019 AT 3:39 PM (Merged)
Tiny
CRAIGBEVANS
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  • 1 POST
  • 2000 NISSAN SENTRA
  • 4 CYL
  • FWD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 147,385 MILES
Ignition coil fuse keeps blowing, car will not stay running unless I keep the pedal depressed down a little. One time I got it to stay running but it started to idle a little high and kept cutting off and now wont run.
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Tuesday, October 1st, 2019 AT 3:39 PM (Merged)
Tiny
KHLOW2008
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Hi craigbevans,

If the fuse keeps blowing, then there must be a wiring short circuit somewhere. Might be a defective coil.
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Tuesday, October 1st, 2019 AT 3:39 PM (Merged)

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