97 nissan xe pickup with 2400 motor runs like grap in hot weather. replaced the usual suspects ..plugs wires dist etc.. has no ignition coil or place to plug into dist cap. Could ignition coil be somwhere else or even come on this model.. think it electrical not sure. new fuel filter as well.. any thoughts???

I would suspect the Ignition module AND pickup coil. If you remove the module and look at the pins there may be corrosion on the metal,the distributor side is usually the worst, use a mirror if necessary but try to look at the the terminals that the module plugs into. They tend to fail.
My best guess!! Good luck.

First, If a dstributor is used, check for carbon tracking iside and corrosion. Replace cap. Then check for arcover from faulty plug wires and ignition components- start it up at night and let the engine warm up outside before the moon rises and look for corona discharge along all spark plug wires, and ignition components. They are not always visible at first and never in daylight, but at night in the dark they can be seen. be mindful of the moving engine components.

If that checks okay, confirm steady fuel flow/pressure, and clean Mass Air Flow Sensor wire- back flush with contact cleaner to clean wire, and lastly replace the Throttle Position sensor. Checking and correcting in this order should correct issue.

I would start with the IAC (Idle Air Control) valve. The IAC valve usually, USUALLY, trips the Check Engine Light, but, sometimes may not.

Aside from that, it could be other issues: spark plugs, ignition wires, distributor components/assembly, etc.

BTW, is the Check Engine Light on?

You must have an 8 cylinder Nissan vehicle, so you have 8 plus wires.

The plug in the very center should lead you to an external ignition coil.

Some cars and trucks have the ignition coil inside of the distributor cap and some have the coil placed somewhere in the engine bay externally.

There is also some people who like to use aftermarket high performance external ignition coils. In this case the internal one is removed and a new cap with one extra plug point is installed so that they can run the external coil off of the extra plug point.

COIL IN THE DISTRIBUTOR.

I have a 97 pickup 4 cyl that did the same thing. I replaced the plugs and wires. dist cap, coil and still had the same problem. I ended up taking it to a shop where they pumped smoke into the engine to look for leaks. They found that the intake was leaking do to the bolts on the intake not tightening up. They had to take the intake off and re-thread the holes in order to fix it. It did fixed the problem and runs much smoother than it ever has since I owned it. DW

You have spark on the coil wire but not coming from the cap. You replaced the cap right. Did you replace the rotor too. Sometimes the rotor burn in the center and the spark goes right thru it in to the distributor shaft.

Always replace with a new or working used one. I have never heard of rebuilding a MAF sensor!!

Do you have spark??? if so, check fuel pressure, these trucks must have 60 psi to run, 50 psi will not work,.

Improper spark plugs installed or weak coil.