Nissan Repair: 2001 Pathfinder Missfiring, service engine soon light, highway speeds

Question
Hi

I have a 2001 Pathfinder that has been misfiring at highway speeds.  It will do this for about 10 - 30 seconds, I will back off the accelerator and let the truck slow down.  The service engine soon light will come on and usually flash for about the same length of time and then turn itself off. Sometimes the service engine soon light will come on and stay on.  Occasionally on start up it run rough for a minute or two before smoothing out.  I have it to a Nissan dealer numerous times and they say it is a primary ignition fault related to a bad coil but that the computer is not telling which of the six coils is bad.  Do you have any wisdom that could help solve the problem in a more efficient manner.

Thank You

Tim

Answer
Tim,

Nissan had a history of bad coils in the 200 to 2001 timeframe.  I have a 2000 Maxima SE and have replaced all the coils.  They seem to fail around the same time and I ended up replacing one here and there and then god disgusted and replaced the rest of them to be done with it.  courtesynissan.com is a good source to get the coils for about half of the walk in dealer cost.  These guys are in Dallas, Texas, so if you live in Texas you will end up paying sales tax.  I live in Las Vegas and they ship same day you order and if you want them sooner just pay a little extra for quicker shipping.  All you need is a ten millimeter socket to do the change out and about an hour...  After you are done, disconnect the battery for five minutes and the codes wil be cleared.