Pontiac distributor—nerve center of your car's mechanical ignition system

Anthony Fontanelle
September 12, 2007

The chemical process of combustion takes place in the internal combustion engine of your Pontiac. But to be able to function as smoothly as possible, your internal combustion engine is made up of a lot of subsystems. One of the many subsystems that make up your engine is the ignition system. This group of components performs a collective function of igniting the fuel-air mixture in the engine cylinder by creating a spark. However, it must be able to do this at an exact time with a rate of several thousands of RPM from each engine. This is particularly important, because the engine will either run poorly or not run at all if the spark timing is off by a small fraction of a second. The ignition system has 2 main tasks. It must be able to create between 20,000-50,000 volts to arc across the spark plug gap. After creating a spark, the ignition system must be able to control the timing of the spark by ensuring that it occurs at just the right time.

The ignition system of your Pontiac is divided into 2 sections: the primary circuit and the secondary circuit. Each section is made up of various parts that contribute to the over all function of your car. One of the major parts of your ignition system is the Pontiac distributor which is considered as the nerve center of your car’s mechanical ignition system. Your Pontiac distributor is a part of the ignition system’s secondary circuit. Like the ignition system, this car component has 2 major tasks. The first one is to trigger the ignition coil to create a spark at a precise time. The second function of your Pontiac distributor is to direct the spark into the right cylinder of your engine. But just like the other car parts, this ignition system component is made up of smaller parts. The failure of one part to function would leave your Pontiac distributor useless.

A typical Pontiac distributor is made up of several sub parts: the distributor cap, distributor rotor, and spark plug wires. These sub components make it possible for your stock distributor to transfer voltage to the individual spark plugs of your engine from a single ignition coil. The distributor rotor is a rotating arm that can be seen on top of the distributor shaft. It has a metal part that connects with the central voltage cable from the coil through the use of a spring loaded brush. The distributor cap, on the other hand, is used to cover the distributor and the internal rotor. Lastly, the spark plug is responsible for igniting the air-fuel mixture and transferring heat to the combustion chamber. Aside from that, the Pontiac distributor also houses a set of hinged weights called the centrifugal advance unit. Eventually, this ignition system component would wear out. You can determine if your Pontiac distributor needs replacement if you notice an intermittent failure to start from cold and when the vehicle breaks down without warning. You will definitely be inconvenienced if you have a poorly functioning Pontiac distributor, so you need to replace it with a new one once it exhibits some wear and tear signs.

Source:  Amazines.com