Nissan 5.6L (338 cu in) firing order — diagram & guide

As one of the most capable and durable SUV-class engines, the Nissan 5.6-liter V8 has been in production for quite some time now. it’s no wonder that the engine manages to withstand several generations of Nissan vehicles and still goes strong in production to this day.

Even so, it comes with a few issues just like any other engine, and the Nissan 5.6L (338 cu in) firing order could be your ticket out of those problems. So, this guide made by our automotive experts will give you detailed explanations and steps to follow to use the firing sequence for the benefit of your engine’s longevity.

Nissan 5.6L firing order

To give you a straight-up answer, the Nissan 5.6L firing order is 1-8-7-3-6-5-4-2 which is a specific firing order for this V8 engine. However, it’s not simply enough to memorize the firing order to do the necessary repairs to your car.

It also takes getting to know the cylinder arrangement to inspect one cylinder at a time and do all that with a focus on the firing order. Naturally, you’ll need to start with the first cylinder, so we’ll tell you how to identify it and proceed from that point.

Nissan 5.6L cylinder arrangement

Nissan’s 5.6-liter V8 engine features a regular V8 cylinder pattern, so it’s easy to find your way through the cylinders. However, it’s crucial to know where to start, and it’s best to identify the first cylinder right off the bat.

It shouldn’t be too difficult since the first cylinder is the front-most cylinder on the driver’s side, or on the right side looking at it from outside of the car. You’ll notice that the cylinders are divided into odd and even cylinder banks.

So, as you move from the first cylinder on the driver’s side towards the windshield, you’ll also encounter cylinders 3, 5, and 7. On the other hand, the cylinders on the passenger’s side include even cylinder numbers 2, 4, 6, and 8. With this in mind, if you were to check the cylinders by sticking with the firing order, you would check the first cylinder and then proceed with the cylinder numbers eight, seven, three, etc.

Nissan 5.6L vehicle applications

Finally, we have to give you a complete look at the models using this engine since these are the vehicles that use the mentioned firing order. This engine was mostly used in Nissan’s SUV-class vehicles and these are the most notable models:

• Nissan Pathfinder
• Nissan Patrol
• Nissan NV Passenger
• Nissan Titan
• Nissan Armada

Along with these, the same engine was also used in some Infiniti models including the M56, QX80, and Q70.

Our take

Ultimately, we have to say that the firing sequence of the 5.6-liter V8 may not seem as easy to remember as the firing order for Nissan’s V6 engines without a distributor.

However, the significance of using the firing order to diagnose misfires and do the necessary repairs is the same, so we hope this guide has made it at least a bit easier for you.