Car Distributor Caps

Although engine operation starts with one simple thing, which is the turning of your car's ignition key, it actually takes several processes to start your engine. Before your car's engine starts burning fuel, it needs the ignition system to initiate everything. The ignition system has several parts, and these include the spark plugs, the ignition coil, and the distributor. From the battery, electricity is transferred to the ignition coil. Then, the distributor delivers the voltage to the right cylinders through the spark plugs. For this process to successfully happen, it needs a very special and important component called the distributor cap.

The distributor is composed of two main parts: the cap and the rotor. The rotor is directly connected to the ignition coil. It is driven by the distributor shaft that is actually powered by the camshaft via a gear and spins inside the car distributor cap. This spinning movement allows the voltage to arc across the space between the rotor and the set of contacts in the cap. Each point or contact is allocated for each cylinder, arranged according to the cylinders' correct firing order. Once the electricity reaches the right cylinder, the air-fuel mixture is ignited, and that in turn starts engine combustion. Engine combustion is the process that generates power so that the wheels of your car can move.

Meanwhile, distributor caps are made of voltage-insulating materials such as bakelite to prevent them from being burned by electricity. They also have low-resistance terminals to maximize their conductivity. Despite these measures to prevent them from getting damaged, the caps remain as among most commonly replaced components of the ignition system.

Because of this, the car distributor cap and rotor are usually among the things that you must replace when you're tuning your engine. Because when they get damaged and they're not replaced at once, you may experience ignition problems and start-up troubles. To help you determine if the cap is already damaged, you must watch out for different signs such as cracks on the cap or breakage on the terminal, burnt cap surface, and buildup of carbon around or under the cap.

When you notice these signs, you'd better replace your stock cap at once so that the ignition performance of your car won't be affected. The good thing is that getting a premium-quality replacement distributor cap is not a problem-only if you know where to go to. It's available right here at Parts Train, where you can have access to thousands of auto parts and accessories that you can purchase at the most affordable price online. With an efficient cap in your ignition system, you can enjoy quick starts and smooth engine operation at all times.