OBD-II Code
P1320
Severity
Not yet reviewed
Nobody on our side has assessed this code yet, so we are not going to guess at how serious it is.
Can you drive it
We cannot say
Treat it as unknown until a shop reads it with live data. If the check-engine light is FLASHING, stop driving as soon as it is safe to — that means an active misfire, whatever the code.
Indicative cost (USD)
$120–$900
From this code's diagnostic notes. Varies by vehicle, diagnosis, parts, and local labor. This is not a repair quote.
$120 (single coil DIY) to $900 (full coil set + plugs on a VQ35).
P1320 is Nissan-specific: the ECM detected an abnormal primary-side signal from the ignition module/igniter that sits between the ECM and the coil-on-plug packs.
How a shop works this
Work from evidence to part, not the other way round. A code names a circuit or a symptom; it does not name the part that failed.
Note every code that is set, not just this one.
Codes that appear together usually narrow the cause faster than any one of them read alone.
Read the freeze frame — the conditions the fault was recorded under.
Cold or warm, idle or load, road speed and engine speed. A fault that only appears cold is a different fault from one that only appears under load, even with the same code on the scanner.
Confirm the fault is current rather than history.
Clear the code and see whether it returns under those same conditions. A code that does not come back may have been logged during a repair, a flat battery, or a bad connection that has since been disturbed.
Then follow the diagnostic notes further down this page, in the order they are written.
They are written in the order a shop works this code, cheapest checks first. Where they name a component, inspect its wiring and connector before replacing it.
If the code comes back after a repair, the underlying fault is still there. That is the point to bring in a scanner with live data and freeze-frame, or a shop that has one.
Common symptoms
- Check engine light
Read the full diagnostic procedureP1320 is Nissan-specific: the ECM detected an abnormal primary-side signal from the ignition module/igniter that sits between the ECM and the coil-on…
P1320 is Nissan-specific
the ECM detected an abnormal primary-side signal from the ignition module/igniter that sits between the ECM and the coil-on-plug packs. On VQ35/VQ37 and earlier VG/KA platforms, the ECM sends a low-voltage trigger and expects a 0V-to-12V square wave back from the igniter primary as confirmation; missing or distorted pulses set P1320. Cheapest-first ladder: pull each coil, inspect the connector for green corrosion and bent pins, then scope the primary trigger line at the coil connector during cranking (you want a clean 0-12V square wave at firing frequency — flatlined or noisy = igniter or coil dead). Swap one suspect coil with a known-good adjacent cylinder, clear the code, and see if the fault moves. Check power and ground at the coil too: battery voltage on the feed during KOEO and clean ground through the harness back to the ECM. Don't replace the ECM until you've ruled out every coil and the igniter circuit — Nissan ECMs are $600-$1,500 and almost never the actual fault on a P1320; the cause is a $120 coil-on-plug 90% of the time.
Vehicle-specific patterns2002-2006 Nissan Altima/Maxima with the VQ35DE is the textbook P1320 ticket — the OEM Hitachi coils crack internally around 80-120K miles and throw P…
- 2002-2006Nissan Altima/Maxima with the VQ35DE is the textbook P1320 ticket — the OEM Hitachi coils crack internally around 80-120K miles and throw P1320 plus a cylinder-specific misfire (P0301-P0306) together; replace as a set of six, not one at a time, because the rest are usually 70% of the way to failure.
- 2005-2012Pathfinder/Frontier/Xterra with the VQ40DE shows the same pattern but adds connector corrosion from engine-bay heat soak — clean and dielectric-grease every coil connector during the job.
- 2002-2006Sentra/SE-R with the QR25DE 2.5L throws P1320 from coil failure plus the well-known timing-chain stretch retarding cam timing, which masks itself as an ignition fault.
- 1999-2004Frontier/Xterra with the VG33E 3.3L V6 throws P1320 from the original distributor-style ignition module degrading — usually a full distributor replacement rather than just the module.
Estimated repair$120 (single coil DIY) to $900 (full coil set + plugs on a VQ35).
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