Caps, Rotors & Contacts

A distributor is a device in the ignition system of an internal combustion engine that routes high voltage from the ignition coil to the spark plugs in the correct firing order. The first high-tension distributor was developed around 1904, independently by Napier, Bouton, and Winton. more...

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It consists of a rotating arm or rotor inside the distributor cap, on top of the distributor shaft, but insulated from it and the body of the vehicle ("earth"). The distributor shaft is driven by a gear on the camshaft. (Usually the distributor shaft extends to also drive the oil pump.) The metal part of the rotor contacts the central high voltage cable from the coil via a spring loaded carbon brush. The metal part of the rotor arm passes close to (but does not touch) the output contacts which connect via high tension cables to the spark plug of each cylinder. As the rotor spins within the distributor, electrical current is able to jump the small gaps created between the rotor arm and the contacts due to the high voltage created by the ignition coil.

The distributor shaft has a cam that operates the contact breaker. Opening the points causes a high induction voltage in the system's ignition coil.

The distributor also houses the centrifugal advance unit: a set of hinged weights attached to the distributor shaft, that cause the breaker points mounting plate to slightly rotate and advance the spark timing with higher engine rpm. In addition, the distributor has a vacuum advance unit that advances the timing even further as a function of the vacuum in the inlet manifold. Usually there is also a capacitor attached to the distributor. The capacitor is connected parallel to the breaker points, to suppress sparking and prevent wear of the points.

Around the 1970s the primary breaker points were largely replaced with Hall effect sensors. As this is a non-contacting device and the primary circuit is controlled by solid state electronics, a great amount of maintenance in point adjustment and replacement was eliminated. This also eliminates any problem with breaker follower or cam wear, and by eliminating a side load extends distributor shaft bearing life. The remaining secondary (high voltage) circuit was as described above, using a single coil and a rotary distributor.

Distributor cap

A distributor cap is used in an automobile's engine to cover the distributor and its internal rotor.

The distributor cap is a prime example of a component that eventually succumbs to heat and vibration. A relatively easy and inexpensive part to replace, if its bakelite housing does not break or crack first, carbon deposit accumulation or erosion of its metal terminals may also cause distributor-cap failure.

The distributor cap has one post for each cylinder and in points ignition systems there is a central post for the coil voltage coming into the distributor. In HEI (High Energy Ignition) systems where there is not a central post, the ignition coil sits on top of the distributor. On the inside of the cap there is a terminal that corresponds to each post and the plug terminals are arranged around the circumference of the cap according to the firing order in order to send the secondary voltage to the proper spark plug at the right time.

Read more at Wikipedia.org