Ignition

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3 Item(s)

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Car Ignition Parts

You need that spark to ignite the mixture of air and fuel sat within the combustion chamber. In order to generate it however, every element of the ignition system needs to be functioning correctly. That’s where The Green Spark Plug Company comes in. We offer a wide range of car ignition parts including ignition coils, spark plugs, rotor arms, distributors, ignition switches, condensers, wires and other fittings.

At The Green Spark Plug Company we stock a mixture of historic brands, helping us to cater for as wide a range of classic vehicles as possible. These brands include AC, Beru, Bosch, Champion, Denso, KLG, Lodge, Motorcraft, NGK, Powerlite, Remax and Unipart. Unlike other car ignition part suppliers who prioritise contemporary car models, we have extensive stocks of new and used parts suitable for vintage cars, built up over the course of 40 years.

So when it comes to ignition coils, ignition leads and spark plugs - The Green Spark Plug Company has what you need.

Ignition Coil

With the turn of a key or press of a button, a car’s ignition switch is turned on. From there, a series of mechanisms have to work perfectly in order for the engine to roar to life. The first of these occur in the ignition coil. This car ignition part essentially acts as a transformer. It receives 12 volts from the car battery via a wire, and transforms that into a powerful spark of between 20,000 and 50,000 volts.

The ignition coil is actually made up of two distinct coils known as the primary and secondary windings. The former is thicker and winds downwards whilst the secondary winding is much thinner. As the current is passed through them, a powerful magnetic field is generated. But how to turn that into a spark? The magnetic field needs to be collapsed in order for the trapped voltage to be directed elsewhere, namely the spark plug.

Distributor Cap

It is the role of the distributor to switch on and off the magnetic field within the ignition coil and then transfer the generated spark to the spark plug. Attached to the distributor itself is a camshaft which when turned, opens and closes a series of contact points. This has the effect of allowing volts to escape from the magnetic field. As the camshaft rotates, it turns a rotor arm at high speed. This speed is perfectly calibrated to hit the copper posts located within the distributor cap which sits on top of it. Each of these copper posts is connected to an individual spark plug, the number of which corresponds to the engine cylinders. In short, as the magnetic field in the ignition coil builds up, it is allowed to periodically collapse with the voltage escaping and being transferred through the rotor to the spark plugs.

 

Spark Plug/Glow Plug

As the high voltage from the ignition coil and distributor enters the spark plug, it is able to jump the gap between the plug’s firing end and the combustion chamber itself. The hot blue spark that is produced in doing so ignites the air/fuel mixture contained within, allowing the vehicle to run.

 Glow plugs provide a similar function in diesel engines but instead of creating a spark to ignite the fuel, it instead warms the air itself. They’re effectively small heaters and are primarily utilised during the cold winter months.