A DISTRIBUTOR-BASED ELECTRONIC IGNITION SYSTEM’S
BREAKER-POINT IGNITION
SYSTEM’S WIRING
1. What does the  An ignition coil consists of
ignition system’s two coils of wire wrapped
do? around an iron core,
known as the primary
winding, or primary coil,
and the secondary
winding, or secondary
coil.
2. How it work?  The primary circuit
consists of the primary
coil, the “breaker point”
and the car’s batteries.
 The secondary circuit
consists of the secondary
windings in the coil, the
high tension lead coil
wire on external coil
distributors, the spark
plugs, the spark plug
leads, the distributor
rotor and the distributor
cap.
3. Mechanical moving
part.
4. Advantages  Easy maintenance: The
mechanical nature of
these ignition systems, as
well as the fact that these
systems have been
around the longest,
render them relatively
easy to diagnose and
repair.
5. Disadvantages  Likely to breakdown:
However, they consist of
 Electronic systems have
two ignition coils and
accordingly two circuits,
a primary circuit and a
secondary circuit. The
part of the primary
circuit from the battery
to the battery terminal at
the primary coil stays
unchanged, as well as
the entire secondary
circuit.
 Less likely to break
down: The breaker
points and condenser are
removed, thus electronic
systems have fewer
mechanical moving parts,
thus are less likely to
break down.
 Reliable: Unlike breaker-
point ignition systems,
electronic systems can
generate consistent, high
voltage spark throughout
the life of the engine,
meaning fewer engine
misfires and reasonable
emissions.
 Maintenance: Still, the
distributor remains,
 a large number of which is subject to wear
mechanically moving and tear and will require
parts, thus also increasing replacement, adding to
the potential for wear repair costs.
and tear, malfunction and  Timing: Spark timing is
breakdowns. exactly precise, resulting
 Affect engine in sluggish acceleration
performance: Such likely and poor fuel economy.
deterioration of these
types of ignition system
can decrease the
maximum spark energy
over time, causing
frequent engine
problems such as misfires
and increased emissions.
6. Maintenance