Chapter 19

Ignition System Components and Operation

CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
1. Explain how ignition coils create 40,000 volts. 2. Discuss crankshaft position sensor and pickup coil operation. 3. Describe the operation of waste-spark or coil-on-plug ignition systems.

Ignition System Operation The ignition system includes components and wiring necessary to create and distribute a high voltage (up to 40,000 volts or more). All ignition systems apply voltage close to battery voltage to the positive side of the ignition coil and pulse the negative side to ground. When the coil negative lead is grounded, the primary (lowvoltage) circuit of the coil is complete and a magnetic field is created by the coil windings.

Ignition System Operation (continued) When the circuit is opened, the magnetic field collapses and induces a high-voltage spark from the secondary winding of the ignition coil. Distributor ignition (DI) is the term specified by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) for an ignition system that uses a distributor. Electronic ignition (EI) is the term specified by the SAE for an ignition system that does not use a distributor.

Ignition Coils

The coil creates a high-voltage spark by electromagnetic induction. Many ignition coils contain two separate but electrically connected windings of copper wire. Other coils are true transformers in which the primary and secondary windings are not electrically connected.

gnition System Components and Operation

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Ignition Coils (continued) The center of an ignition coil contains a core of laminated soft iron (thin strips of soft iron). This core increases the magnetic strength of the coil. Surrounding the laminated core are approximately 20,000 turns of fine wire (approximately 42 gauge). These windings are called the secondary coil windings. Surrounding the secondary windings are approximately 150 turns of heavy wire (approximately 21 gauge). These windings are called the primary coil windings.

Ignition Coils (continued) The secondary winding has about 100 times the number of turns of the primary winding, referred to as the turn ratio (approximately 100:1). The primary windings of the coil extend through the case of the coil and are labeled as positive and negative. The positive terminal of the coil attaches to the ignition switch, which supplies current from the positive battery terminal. The negative terminal is attached to an electronic ignition module (or igniter), which opens and closes the primary ignition circuit by opening or closing the ground return path of the circuit.

Mutual Induction In an ignition coil there are two windings, a primary and a secondary winding. When a change occurs in the magnetic field of one coil winding, a change also occurs in the other coil winding. Therefore, if the current is stopped from flowing (circuit is opened), the collapsing magnetic field cuts across the turns of the secondary winding and creates a high voltage in the secondary winding. This generation of an electric current in both coil windings is called mutual induction. The collapsing magnetic field also creates a voltage of up to 250 volts in the primary winding.

How Ignition Coils Create 40,000 Volts If the primary circuit is completed, current (approximately 2 to 6 A) can flow through the primary coil windings. This flow creates a strong magnetic field inside the coil. When the primary coil winding ground return path connection is opened, the magnetic field collapses and induces a voltage of from 250 to 400 volts in the primary winding of the coil and a high-voltage (20,000 to 40,000 volts) low-amperage (20 to 80 mA) current in the secondary coil windings. This high-voltage pulse flows through the coil wire (if the vehicle is so equipped), distributor cap, rotor, and spark plug wires to the spark plugs.

Primary Ignition Circuit 1. Battery 2. Ignition switch 3. Primary windings of coil 4. Pickup coil (crank sensor) 5. Ignition module (igniter) Secondary Ignition Circuit 1. Secondary windings of coil 2. Distributor cap and rotor (if the vehicle is so equipped) 3. Spark plug wires 4. Spark plugs

Married And Divorced Coil Design An ignition coil contains two windings: a primary winding and a secondary winding and these windings can be either connected together or kept separated. Divorced. These are also called a true transformer design and used by most waste spark ignition coils to keep both the primary and secondary winding separated.

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Primary Circuit Operation To get a spark out of an ignition coil, the primary coil circuit must be turned on and off. This primary circuit current is controlled by a transistor (electronic switch) inside the ignition module or (igniter) that in turn is controlled by one of several devices, including: Pickup coil (pulse generator) The magnetic pulse generator is installed in the distributor housing. The pulse generator consists of a trigger wheel (reluctor) and a pickup coil. The pickup coil consists of an iron core wrapped with fine wire, in a coil at one end and attached to a permanent magnet at the other end.
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Primary Circuit Operation (continued)

Pickup coil (pulse generator) (continued) The center of the coil is called the pole piece. The pickup coil signal triggers the transistor inside the module and is also used by the computer for piston position information and engine speed (RPM).

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Primary Circuit Operation (continued) Pickup coil (pulse generator) (continued)

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Primary Circuit Operation (continued) Hall-effect switch This switch also uses a stationary sensor and rotating trigger wheel (shutter).

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Primary Circuit Operation (continued) Hall-effect switch (continued) Hall-effect is the ability to generate a voltage signal in semiconductor material (gallium arsenate crystal) by passing current through it in one direction and applying a magnetic field to it at a right angle to its surface. Most Hall-effect switches in distributors have a Hall element or device, a permanent magnet, and a rotating ring of metal blades (shutters) similar to a trigger wheel (another method uses a stationary sensor with a rotating magnet.) When the shutter blade enters the gap between the magnet and the Hall element, it creates a magnetic shunt that changes the field strength through the Hall element.
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Primary Circuit Operation (continued)

Hall-effect switch (continued)

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Primary Circuit Operation (continued)

Magnetic crankshaft position sensors This sensor uses the changing strength of the magnetic field surrounding a coil of wire to signal the module and computer. This signal is used by the electronics in the module and computer as to piston position and engine speed (RPM).

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Primary Circuit Operation (continued) Optical sensors These use light from a LED and a phototransistor to signal the computer. An interrupter disc between the LED and the phototransistor has slits that allow the light from the LED to trigger the phototransistor on the other side of the disc.

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Primary Circuit Operation (continued) Optical sensors (continued) Most optical sensors (usually located inside the distributor) use two rows of slits to provide individual cylinder recognition (low-resolution) and precise distributor angle recognition (high-resolution) signals.

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Distributor Ignition (continued) DaimlerChrysler Distributor Ignition (continued) The pickup coil in the distributor (pulse generator) generates the signal to open and close the primary coil circuit.

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Waste-Spark Ignition Systems Each coil is a true transformer in which the primary winding and secondary winding are not electrically connected. Each end of the secondary winding is connected to a cylinder exactly opposite the other in the firing order, which is called a paired cylinder.

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Waste-Spark Ignition Systems (continued) This means that both spark plugs fire at the same time. When one cylinder (for example, 6) is on the compression stroke, the other cylinder (3) is on the exhaust stroke. This spark that occurs on the exhaust stroke is called the waste spark, because it does no useful work and is only used as a ground path for the secondary winding of the ignition coil. The voltage required to jump the spark plug gap on cylinder 3 (the exhaust stroke) is only 2 to 3 kV and provides the ground circuit for the secondary coil circuit. The remaining coil energy is used by the cylinder on the compression stroke. One spark plug of each pair fires straight polarity and the other cylinder fires reverse polarity.
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Ignition Control Circuits Ignition control (IC) is the OBD-II terminology for the output signal from the PCM to the ignition system that controls engine timing. Ford referred to this signal as spark output (Spout) and General Motors referred to this signal as electronic spark timing (EST). This signal is now referred to as the ignition control (IC) signal.

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Ignition Control Circuits (continued) The ignition control signal is usually a digital output that is sent to the ignition system as a timing signal. If the ignition system is equipped with an ignition module, then this signal is used by the ignition module to vary the timing as engine speed and load changes. If the PCM directly controls the coils, such as most coil-onplug ignition systems, then this IC signal directly controls the coil primary and there is a separate IC signal for each ignition coil.

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Bypass Ignition Control A bypass-type of ignition control means that the engine starts using the ignition module for timing control and then switches to the PCM for timing control after the engine starts. A bypass ignition is commonly used on General Motors engines equipped with distributor ignition (DI), as well as those equipped with waste-spark ignition.

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Bypass Ignition Control (continued) The bypass circuit includes four wires: Tach reference (purple/white). This wire comes from the ignition control (IC) module and is used by the PCM as engine speed information. Ground (black/white). This ground wire is used to ensure that both the PCM and the ignition control module share the same ground.

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Bypass Ignition Control (continued) Bypass (tan/black). This wire is used to conduct a 5volt DC signal from the PCM to the ignition control module to switch the timing control from the module to the PCM. EST (ignition control) (white wire). This is the ignition timing control signal from the PCM to the ignition control module.

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Diagnosing A Bypass Ignition System One advantage of a bypass-type of ignition is that the engine will run without the computer because the module can do the coil switching and can, through electronic circuits inside the module, provide for some spark advance as the engine speed increases. This is a safety feature that helps protect the catalytic converter if the ignition control from the PCM is lost.

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Up-Integrated Ignition Control Most coil-on-plug and many waste-spark-type ignition systems use the PCM for ignition timing control. This type of ignition control is called up-integrated because all timing functions are interpreted in the PCM, rather than being split between the ignition control module and the PCM. The ignition module, if even used, contains the power transistor for coil switching. The signal, as to when the coil fires, is determined and controlled from the PCM.

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Compression Sensing Ignition Some waste spark ignition systems, such as those used on Saturns, use the voltage required to fire the cylinders to determine cylinder position. It requires a higher voltage to fire a spark plug under compression than it does when the spark plug is being fired on the exhaust stroke. The electronics in the coil and the PCM can detect which of the two cylinders that are fired at the same time requires the higher voltage, which indicates the cylinder on the compression stroke. Engines equipped with compression sensing ignition systems, such as Saturns , do not require the use of a camshaft position sensor to determine cylinder number.
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Coil-On-Plug Ignition Coil-on-plug (COP) ignition uses one ignition coil for each spark plug. This system is also called coil-byplug, coil-near-plug, or coil-overplug ignition.

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Coil-On-Plug Ignition (continued) There are two basic types of coil-on-plug ignition including: 2-wire This design uses the vehicle computer to control the firing of the ignition coil. The two wires include ignition voltage feed and the pulse ground wire, which is controlled by the computer. All ignition timing and dwell control are handled by the computer.

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Coil-On-Plug Ignition (continued) 3-wire This design includes an ignition module at each coil. The three wires include: Ignition voltage Ground Pulse from the computer to the built-in module

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Ignition Timing Ignition timing refers to when the spark plug fires in relation to piston position. The ignition in the cylinder takes a certain amount of time usually 30 ms (3/1000 of a second). For maximum efficiency from the expanding gases inside the combustion chamber, the burning of the air-fuel mixture should end by about 10 after top dead center.

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Ignition Timing (continued) If the burning of the mixture is still occurring after that point, the expanding gases do not exert much force on the piston because it is moving away from the gases. Therefore, to achieve the goal of having the air-fuel mixture by completely burned by the time the piston reaches 10 after top dead center (ATDC), the spark must be advanced (occur sooner) as the engine speed increases.
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Knock Sensors Knock sensors are used to detect abnormal combustion often called ping, spark knock, or detonation. Whenever abnormal combustion occurs, a rapid pressure increase occurs in the cylinder, creating a noise. Inside the knock sensor is a piezoelectric element that generates a voltage when pressure or a vibration is applied to the unit. The voltage signal from the knock sensor (KS) is sent to the PCM. The PCM retards the ignition timing until the knocking stops.

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Diagnosing The Knock Sensor A scan tool can be used to check the operation of the knock sensor, using the following procedure. Step 1 Start the engine and connect a scan tool to monitor ignition timing and/or knock sensor activity. Step 2 Create a simulated engine knocking sound by tapping on the engine block or cylinder head with a soft faced mallet.

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Diagnosing The Knock Sensor (continued) Step 3 Observe the scan tool display. The vibration from the tapping should have been interpreted by the knock sensor as a knock, resulting in a knock sensor signal and a reduction in the spark advance. A knock sensor can also be tested using a digital storage oscilloscope.

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Diagnosing The Knock Sensor (continued)

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Spark Plugs Spark plugs are manufactured from ceramic insulators inside a steel shell. The threads of the shell are rolled and a seat is formed to create a gas-tight seal with the cylinder head.

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Spark Plugs (continued) The physical difference in spark plugs includes: Reach. This is the length of the threaded part of the plug. Heat range. The heat range of the spark plug refers to how rapidly the heat created at the tip is transferred to the cylinder head. A plug with a long ceramic insulator path will run hotter at the tip than a spark plug that has a shorter path. Type of seat. Some spark plugs use a gasket and others rely on a tapered seat to seal.

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