This is going to be a lot of text and 'splaining, followed by a few questions.
We have a 2006 OR with about 126K miles, spark plugs were changed by a Nissan dealer about 10K miles ago. A couple months ago it ran really rough and threw a check engine light scanned as a P0301 code (cylinder 1 misfire). It doesn't get driven much in the winter, and had been sitting, the battery was older, and so I thought the low power of the battery could be causing the problem. Got a new battery a couple months ago and it seemed like all was well, but now it has started really rough a few more times and I got a pending P0301 on my Scangauge. Most times it starts and runs normally, but when it does this the vehicle shakes pretty aggressively upon cold start, then smooths out and seems to run normally after warming up a bit.
I've never really done anything with spark plugs or coils so this is pretty new to me. I ordered a few Hitachi ignition coils and decided to try to replace coil #1 to see if that fixed it. Seduced by reading reports and watching videos online of more competent mechanics saying you could easily do this without removing the intake plenum, that's what I attempted to do. Took out coil #3 for more access, but that damn #1 coil just fought me every step. I finally got it out, and took the #1 spark plug out as well to check it. It seems like it's OK to me.
Spark plug #1:
I cleaned up the area* as best I could and got ready to install the new parts. Here's where things started to spiral a bit. I tried to install the new ignition coil into #1, and it's just not working for me. I could not for the life of me get everything lined up, and I couldn't get the connecter to snap onto the new coil. I finally gave in and started removing the plenum because I was getting frustrated trying to work around it and contorting my hands under there. At first I was just going to lift up the plenum to give a bit more clearance, but eventually decided the whole thing needed to be out of the way. This made access to all the cylinders easy. I decided to install new ignition coils in at least locations #1 and #3 because it's such a PITA to get to these.
Plenum removed, new Hitachi ignition coils installed in #1 and #3 cylinders.
Next I try to reattach the plug to the connector on the new ignition coils. #3 goes on just fine with a satisfying click and positive engagement. But #1 absolutely refuses to click on. I battled this thing forever and finally noticed something odd.
See the green gasket around the plug? #3 is normal and #1 is really swollen, that's what was preventing the plug and coil from engaging no matter how much I squeezed them together. *I had used some Deoxit D5 spray on the #1 connector, reasoning that maybe the P0301 could have been from a poor connection. I guess the solvent in the contact cleaner just swelled that gasket right up Anyway, continuing my errors, I tried to fish that gasket out of the plug so that it would hopefully dry out and return to normal size. But of course I tore it.
So as it stands right now, I have ordered a plenum gasket set and some connectors like the ones shown above, in the hopes that I can carefully remove the gasket from one of them to replace the torn one on the truck's #1 connector.
Questions:
1) Any better solution to the torn gasket than trying to put a new one in there? I had thought about just stuffing the torn one in and squirting some dielectric grease in to the void, or improvising a gasket with some silicone material.
2) While everything is torn apart, what else should I be doing in this area that I'll regret not doing later?
3) I believe all the ignition coils were original, and I know they're not typically a preventive maintenance part, but I was planning on replacing all three ignition coils on the passenger side while they're easy to get to. Good idea?
4) Once this is all back together, if I still get a P0301 code... what next?
We have a 2006 OR with about 126K miles, spark plugs were changed by a Nissan dealer about 10K miles ago. A couple months ago it ran really rough and threw a check engine light scanned as a P0301 code (cylinder 1 misfire). It doesn't get driven much in the winter, and had been sitting, the battery was older, and so I thought the low power of the battery could be causing the problem. Got a new battery a couple months ago and it seemed like all was well, but now it has started really rough a few more times and I got a pending P0301 on my Scangauge. Most times it starts and runs normally, but when it does this the vehicle shakes pretty aggressively upon cold start, then smooths out and seems to run normally after warming up a bit.
I've never really done anything with spark plugs or coils so this is pretty new to me. I ordered a few Hitachi ignition coils and decided to try to replace coil #1 to see if that fixed it. Seduced by reading reports and watching videos online of more competent mechanics saying you could easily do this without removing the intake plenum, that's what I attempted to do. Took out coil #3 for more access, but that damn #1 coil just fought me every step. I finally got it out, and took the #1 spark plug out as well to check it. It seems like it's OK to me.
Spark plug #1:
I cleaned up the area* as best I could and got ready to install the new parts. Here's where things started to spiral a bit. I tried to install the new ignition coil into #1, and it's just not working for me. I could not for the life of me get everything lined up, and I couldn't get the connecter to snap onto the new coil. I finally gave in and started removing the plenum because I was getting frustrated trying to work around it and contorting my hands under there. At first I was just going to lift up the plenum to give a bit more clearance, but eventually decided the whole thing needed to be out of the way. This made access to all the cylinders easy. I decided to install new ignition coils in at least locations #1 and #3 because it's such a PITA to get to these.
Plenum removed, new Hitachi ignition coils installed in #1 and #3 cylinders.
Next I try to reattach the plug to the connector on the new ignition coils. #3 goes on just fine with a satisfying click and positive engagement. But #1 absolutely refuses to click on. I battled this thing forever and finally noticed something odd.
See the green gasket around the plug? #3 is normal and #1 is really swollen, that's what was preventing the plug and coil from engaging no matter how much I squeezed them together. *I had used some Deoxit D5 spray on the #1 connector, reasoning that maybe the P0301 could have been from a poor connection. I guess the solvent in the contact cleaner just swelled that gasket right up Anyway, continuing my errors, I tried to fish that gasket out of the plug so that it would hopefully dry out and return to normal size. But of course I tore it.
So as it stands right now, I have ordered a plenum gasket set and some connectors like the ones shown above, in the hopes that I can carefully remove the gasket from one of them to replace the torn one on the truck's #1 connector.
Questions:
1) Any better solution to the torn gasket than trying to put a new one in there? I had thought about just stuffing the torn one in and squirting some dielectric grease in to the void, or improvising a gasket with some silicone material.
2) While everything is torn apart, what else should I be doing in this area that I'll regret not doing later?
3) I believe all the ignition coils were original, and I know they're not typically a preventive maintenance part, but I was planning on replacing all three ignition coils on the passenger side while they're easy to get to. Good idea?
4) Once this is all back together, if I still get a P0301 code... what next?