Is your vehicle's engine failing suddenly after a long road trip? Has there been a time when your vehicle struggled to start? Does your engine stall, misfire, backfire, or you feel it has a worse fuel efficiency than it did in the past? If you've observed any or all of these indications, your ignition coil or coil pack may be failing. Here is information about ignition coils that will show you what they are and when you may need to replace them:
In your car's ignition system, an ignition coil (AKA a spark coil) is an induction coil that converts the battery's low voltage into thousands of volts, which is required to ignite the fuel with an electric spark in the spark plugs. There are two different sets of windings within the ignition coil. The primary bobbin windings include hundreds of heavy wires turns, while the secondary side has a thousand delicate wire turns. The power of the battery goes via the primary windings. When your vehicle's computer determines that it is time to turn on the cylinder's spark plug (or plugs). Then, it reduces the current to the central winds, allowing energy in them to drop into the secondary windings. This doubles the voltage that is subsequently delivered to the spark plug to ignite it.
The ignition coil is a transformer that transforms primary (low voltage) battery voltage to a secondary voltage (high voltage). This high voltage ignites the spark plugs in your vehicle that assist in producing combustion in your engine. In the last 3 decades, most vehicles have had one ignition coil or coil pack per cylinder. Others have one spindle for all the cylinders.
Internal or external resistors, or resistor wire, may be found in ignition coils to restrict the current going into the coil from the car's battery. There's also a high-voltage wire that connects the ignition coil to the distributor, as well as spark plug wires or high-tension leads that connect the distributor to each spark plug. To provide pulses to the ignition coil, most ignition coil systems nowadays utilize a power transistor. Diesel engines depend on compression to ignite the air/fuel combination and thus, they do not need an ignition mechanism.
New vehicles do not need a distributor and may utilize one ignition coil for each cylinder or pair of cylinders. Individual coils for each cylinder or set of cylinders may be housed inside a single molded block with numerous high-tension connections, referred to as a coil pack, in your vehicle. In the late 1980s, distributors began to become less frequent. Ignition is regulated electronically in advanced ignition systems.
A faulty ignition coil or coil pack in most vehicles can also set off the check engine light when your car's computer detects misfires or a problem with the ignition coil signal or circuit, such as when a coil shorts or burns out, this occurs. Please remember that a check engine light may be affected by a combination of other problems, so having the computer trouble codes checked by a specialist is strongly recommended.
Today ignition coils are much smaller than previous models since they only need to power one or two spark plugs at a time. Coil-on-plug or Direct Ignition systems may be placed either remotely or directly on the highest point of the spark plug. Misfires, a rough idle, difficulty starting, increased fuel efficiency, power loss, or even stalling are indications of a malfunctioning coil pack. The increased fuel consumption is because your vehicle needs more fuel to compensate for the loss of power. Continuing to drive your vehicle with a severe misfire may result in more significant – and costly – damage, so if you detect a problem, address it as quickly as possible.