Car Distributor

Distributors and dealers are participants in a supply channel the distributor usually a wholesaler who sells to dealers and dealers usually retailers who sell directly to the public.

Car distributor. The ignition system consists of an ignition coil distributor distributor cap rotor plug wires and spark plugs. The distributor cap has one post for each cylinder and in points ignition systems there is a central post for the current from the ignition coil coming into the distributor. Inside the cap there are more electrodes often called segments to which the sparkplug leads are connected one per cylinder. The distributor cap is made of nonconductive plastic and the current is fed to its central electrode by the ht lead from the centre of the coil.

See diagram below the system is powered by a lead acid battery which is charged by the car s electrical system using a dynamo or alternator. In order to fix your car s problem you must first know how to troubleshoot in order to determine what exactly the problem is. Check engine light comes on. A cam in the center of the distributor pushes a lever connected to one of the points.

A bad distributor can wreak havoc on your engine. External to the distributor is the ignition coil the spark plugs and wires linking the distributor to the spark plugs and ignition coil. There are some exceptions however as some engines many alfa romeo cars some 1980s nissans have two spark plugs per cylinder so there are two leads coming out of the. Older systems used a points and condenser system in the distributor newer as in most we ll ever see anymore use an ecu a little brain in a box to control the spark and make slight changes in ignition timing.

This causes the coil to suddenly lose its ground generating a high voltage pulse. These are not steps exactly but they are ordered by importance this means that the first way to test your distributor is the most common problem many distributors have so check your car in this order in order to do it in a sort of eliminating method. On the latest cop coil on plug systems an ignition coil is directly connected to the spark plug in each cylinder and spark timing is computer controlled based on input from sensors and internal programming. When the distributor cap isn t on tightly or is malfunctioning the engine is unable to send the spark through the entire circuit required to move the cylinders which ultimately make the car run.

The points also control the timing of the spark. The rotor arm is fitted on top of the central shaft and connects to the central electrode by means of a metal spring or.