4 Things To Know About Spark Plugs in Houston, Texas
Ever since they came onto the scene more than a century ago, spark plugs have been central to the gasoline-powered engines. If you're driving a car with a gas-powered engine, it needs three things to function: fuel, air and spark. Of these three, spark is the one that is easiest for most drivers to ignore. After all, you'll refuel your vehicle and even have the engine air filter changed more often than you'll change your spark plugs. But, since spark plugs are so important, we think they're worth knowing something about. Find out more below, or contact us to ask our experts any other questions.
4. What Are Spark Plugs?
As we mentioned, spark plugs create the spark necessary for your engine to run. To be more precise: in modern direct-injection engines, the fuel injectors will inject fuel into the cylinder while the piston's motion draws in air. Once the proper amount is brought inside the cylinder, the intake valve closes and the volatile combination is compressed by the piston. At this point, a spark jumps between the center and side electrodes of the spark plug, igniting the fuel and air mixture. When the mixture combusts, the piston is driven downward in the cylinder, and the exhaust gases exit through an exhaust valve. This happens over and over again, hundreds of times per minute.
3. How Do Spark Plugs Fit Into the Ignition System?
Before the spark plugs can light up for the first time, several things first have to take place. When you turn the key in the ignition or press the ignition button, the battery will send current to the ignition coil, which transforms the battery's current into a high-voltage current. In older engines, this current was broken by current breakers and sent to a distributor, which used a rotor to feed the current directly to the correct spark plug via a distributor point. Of course, technology marches on, and cars have had distributorless ignition systems for the past few decades. In this case, the car's Electric Control Module, or ECM, is in control of the timing of the spark, and the coils sit directly above the spark plugs. This means that spark plug wires and the distributor are no longer necessary, so you won't have to get the timing adjusted or worry about the moving parts in the distributor wearing out. Once the car has started, the alternator provides power to the coil, continuing this process. In fact, most new cars have a separate ignition coil for each spark plug
2. What Makes Up a Spark Plug?
Spark plugs themselves are complex little components. In order to create a spark, an incredibly high-voltage current must travel through them. Since copper is a good conductor, most basic spark plugs have a copper core across which this spark travels. Surrounding this core is a ceramic insulator, which keeps the current from sparking along the core or grounding out before it gets to the spark plug gap. The copper core sticks out of the opposite end of the ceramic insulator from the connector or terminal; this is the center electrode. When the current reaches this electrode, it jumps the tiny gap between it and the side electrode. The center electrode is usually coated with another metal, either a nickel alloy or an even longer-lasting metal like platinum or iridium.
1. Signs That Spark Plugs Need To Be Replaced
The good news is that spark plugs are sturdy long-lasting components, and they don't usually have problems that cause them to break or wear out prematurely. However, even iridium-tipped spark plugs will wear out eventually. So, the biggest sign that the spark plugs need to be replaced is when your service interval schedule says that the time has come. If you take your Volkswagen in for service at the recommended intervals, there's a good chance you may never experience any other symptoms at all.
But if you go too long without getting spark plugs replaced, you may find that other problems present themselves. Your vehicle's idle may be rougher, and it may take you longer to accelerate. Fuel efficiency will likely fall noticeably, and you may have trouble starting your vehicle or keeping it running. These may be caused by problems other than worn spark plugs, but they're always cause for concern.
