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Wondering if anyone has put on of the D i c k Smith / Jaycar high-energy / CD ignition kits on, and whether it made a difference ?

Also, what's the difference between an "electronic" distributor and a "points" one, when you don't actually have a computer controlling the whole thing ?

Ive considered that Jaycar Hi energy ignotion kit before. But thats as far as it got.

I think that it works on the same principal as CDI (Capacitor Discharge Ignition) But is adaptabe to engines with distributors.

A points disty has a cam and a mechanical switch contact that opens and closes with rotation of the disty.

An electric disty has a magnet and a 'hall effect sensor' (a device for detecting magnetic fields) and switches the power to the coil with the help of transistors.

The disty in EFI cars has a 'photo diode' and an 'optical pickup' with a disk with 360 slots cut in it between them. This gives the ECU crank position and the ECU then calculates the required time to fire a spark


Hope this helps

So the electronic distributor is mechanically timed but electronically switched, whereas the mechanical distributor is mechanically switched.

The gain comes from not having to worry about points wearing ?

mroberts wrote:So the electronic distributor is mechanically timed but electronically switched, whereas the mechanical distributor is mechanically switched.

The gain comes from not having to worry about points wearing ?

Yes,

as for the DS/Jaycar kits, with the electronic distributor, the problem is during cranking, as the electronic dis controls the dwell (period of coil current), so the waveform supplied for coil (OFF) is too short for consistent sparks during the cranking rotations,
it'll start, but not on the first rotation.
They are really designed for mechanical points best.
A custom trigger can solve the problem tho.

As for the EFI dis with the 360tooth pickup, it would need to be even more custom!