When General Motors introduced the High Energy Ignition (HEI) distributor in the mid-1970s, it was revolutionary. So much so that it still has a strong following among today's hot rodders. Like other ...

And there's a lot that you can do with only the simplest of tools (Fig. 1) to see that your distributor is in top condition. Think of your distributor as an infinitely accurate electric switch. It is.

The ignition system is a glutton for punishment. As the miles rack up, the distributor wears out, the coil gets abused, and the spark plug wires melt. The steadfast ignition system only gets attention ...

Engines need spark plugs to burn their air/fuel mixture, and the spark plugs need a jolt of electricity to do their work. Older cars with conventional distributor-based ignition systems did it by ...

The demands for better emissions and fuel economy in the mid 1970s necessitated leaner fuel mixtures. These leaner mixtures required greater voltage and more spark to ignite. This challenge led GM ...

Q. I've noticed my new car doesn't have a distributor or spark plug wires, unlike every other car or truck I've ever owned. Can you explain how this works? A. This is one of the neatest automotive ...

A battery in a traditional car cannot directly create engine spark. It’s only rated at 12 volts, after all, so it needs a little help boosting the signal to the spark plugs. To make that happen, a car ...

An ignition coil is a vital component of a vehicle's ignition system. It is responsible for converting the low voltage from the battery into the high voltage needed to produce sparks at the spark ...

The ignition control module is a crucial component of a vehicle's ignition system. It is a control unit responsible for regulating the ignition timing and generating sparks to ignite the fuel-air ...