How Ignition Systems Works
The basics of a car engine
We need to know the basics of internal combustion in order to understand how your vehicle’s ignition works.
A car engine can be described as a large pump. The engine pumps air and gas in, and the exhaust is pumped out. Excess energy is also being sent to the wheels, and the exhaust exits the tailpipe. The engine of your car combines the fuel and air, then adds spark. The spark ignites the fuel and air mixture, causing an explosion. This is called ignition.
An ignition system is a collection of components that work together to create an ignition. An ignition coil, a distributor cap and a distributor cap are all part of the ignition system. Older ignition vaporizer wholesale distributors systems use what is called a “points-and-condenser system” in the distributor. ECUs are used in current ignition systems, such as the one you have. ECU, or engine control unit, controls ignition timing and spark.
Let’s take it apart, piece by piece, until you get the idea.
- 1.
The ignition coil converts weak battery power into a spark strong enough to ignite the fuel’s vapor. The ignition coil has two coils, and they are located right next to each other. They are called windings. There are two types of windings: primary and secondary. The primary winding collects the power needed to spark a spark. The secondary winding transmits the power to the distributor.
An ignition coil has three contacts. The contacts will be on the inside of an ignition coil with an external plug. The coil wire is located in the large, obvious contact at the center of the ignition coil. The coil wire connects the ignition coil to a distributor cap. The second contact is a 12V cable that connects to a positive power source. The third contact relays information to other parts of the vehicle, such as the tachometer.
- 2.
Your ignition coil is connected to the distributor by a coil wire, as we have already mentioned. The distributor takes the powerful spark and sends them out to spark plugs.
The distributor spins very precisely. The distributor spins, distributing sparks to the correct spark plugs. The mechanism that distributes sparks is actually the rotor. It is connected directly to the shaft. The rotor is connected to the distributor and spins, making contact with points that correspond to how many cylinders you have. It then sends the spark through that point to the plug wire at the other end. Modern distributors can alter the timing of the ignition using electronic assistance.
- Spark Plugs & Wires
As we have already mentioned, the ignition coil produces the spark. The distributor and rotor then spin that spark to the correct outlet. We still need to get that spark to the sparkplug. Spark plug wires are used to do this.
The spark plug’s end is located at top of the cylinder. That’s where all the action takes place. The spark plug ignites the mixture by creating a spark when the intake valve releases just enough fuel vapor and air. This is how combustion occurs. This is what causes combustion.