At 10:14 PM 9/19/2015, Angus Gordon wrote: >I'm almost out of troubleshooting time (back to work), but doesn't >the ECU control the coil power ground? Why the high voltage? The ECU does basically the same thing that a points-type ignition does -- it grounds the coil causing current to flow and energy to be stores as expanded lines of magnetic force. As the lines expand they cut the turns of the coil and produce an opposing voltage, so the current doesn't reach its full value instantly. When it's time for the spark the ECU opens the circuit and the stored energy causes the voltage to instantly rise very high as the collapsing field cuts the turns of the coil. This phenomenon is known as inductive kick and occurs any time you open an inductive circuit that has current flowing in it. Yrs, d |
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