Reverse-Post set-up makes car run better
Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2010 12:55 pm
98 bonnie SSEI. I actually have the wires for each coil plugged in reverse order. IE, instead of 145236, it is 412563. Why do I have it that way? Because if I have it the *correct* way, the car runs EXTREMELY poorly. it idles okay... but any gas and it either dies or has an extremely tough time overall. If somebody understood that whole system enough to explain it, I might be able to pinpoint the source of my problem. I read a complicated explanation of how an ignition control system works, and I found one important piece of information. I thought that the spark that goes out through each post on the same coil was exactly the same. It turns out they are not... The current goes a different direction because the polarity never changes. On one post the current goes out to the ground, and on the other the current comes in from the ground. But again, if everything was working perfectly, it shouldn't MATTER whether it goes out or in for a given spark plug and thus it should run exactly the same if you switch posts. But it doesn't... Who can figure out why?
More Info I read about an Ignition Control system:
"When the coil discharges, both plugs fire at the same time by using the engine block to complete the electrical circuit. The cylinder on the compression stroke is called the event cylinder and the one on the exhaust stroke is the waste cylinder. The two cylinders share the energy available from the ignition coil to fire both spark plugs. This method of ignition is called waste spark ignition.
Since the polarity of the ignition coil primary and secondary windings does not change, one spark plug always fires with a forward current (center electrode to ground electrode) and its companion plug fires with a reverse current (ground electrode to center electrode). This is different from a conventional distributor ignition system that fires all the plugs with the same forward current flow.
It is possible for one spark plug to fire even though a plug wire from the same coil may be disconnected from its companion spark plug. The disconnected plug wire acts as one plate of a capacitor and the engine block acts as the other plate. These two capacitor plates are charged as a spark first jumps across the gap of the connected spark plug. The plates are then discharged as the energy is dissipated as the spark continues. Voltage requirements are very high with an open spark plug or wire. The ignition coil may have enough reserve energy to fire the connected plug at idle, but possibly not under some engine load conditions. A more noticeable misfire may be evident under load; both spark plugs may then not fire."
Read more at http://www.cadillacforums.com/forums/no ... ck=kcplink
More Info I read about an Ignition Control system:
"When the coil discharges, both plugs fire at the same time by using the engine block to complete the electrical circuit. The cylinder on the compression stroke is called the event cylinder and the one on the exhaust stroke is the waste cylinder. The two cylinders share the energy available from the ignition coil to fire both spark plugs. This method of ignition is called waste spark ignition.
Since the polarity of the ignition coil primary and secondary windings does not change, one spark plug always fires with a forward current (center electrode to ground electrode) and its companion plug fires with a reverse current (ground electrode to center electrode). This is different from a conventional distributor ignition system that fires all the plugs with the same forward current flow.
It is possible for one spark plug to fire even though a plug wire from the same coil may be disconnected from its companion spark plug. The disconnected plug wire acts as one plate of a capacitor and the engine block acts as the other plate. These two capacitor plates are charged as a spark first jumps across the gap of the connected spark plug. The plates are then discharged as the energy is dissipated as the spark continues. Voltage requirements are very high with an open spark plug or wire. The ignition coil may have enough reserve energy to fire the connected plug at idle, but possibly not under some engine load conditions. A more noticeable misfire may be evident under load; both spark plugs may then not fire."
Read more at http://www.cadillacforums.com/forums/no ... ck=kcplink
