HOW IT WORKS

In a conventional system, the main part is the distributor, which incorporates the points.points these–theseclose,close,providingprovidinga a switch fromswitchthefromprimarytheprimary—low – low tension —–circuitcircuitininthethecoil,coil,to to the highhigh-tension,tension; when the coil is charging. When the points open, the now-charged coil, discharges through the HT leads to the spark plugs,plugs–viavia the rotortherotorarmarminthein distributor,thedistributor, which surprisingly, distributes the voltage. It’s this that provides the whopping belt needed to jump the gap in the spark plugs,plugs; providing a spark to ignite the compressed fuel/ air charge in the cylinder.

Apart from the obvious charging of the coil, the system is largely mechanical and is therefore subject to mechanical discrepancies —–wear,wear,thethepoint pointfaces facescanburn,can burn,thegapthecan gap canclosecloseup–upin short,—inshort,awholea host wholeofvariableshostofthatvariablesalladd upthatto all addthat upstuckto thatbythestucksidebyofthethe side ofroadthescenario. road scenario.

Managed ignition removes the points and mechanics associated with itit–—andandininthe the ideal case, the distributor altogether,altogether; replacing it with a computer-controlled system within the ECU. However, it needs a few more components to work with it to reliably provide the spark.