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Vehicle Distributor

vehicle distributor

How a car's distributor works

When you open up the hood of your car, you may notice the vehicle distributor right away.  If you dont' see it at first, ask your mobile mechanic and they can point it out during your vehicle inspection.  It is usually on the engine, in an easy to access location.  It is identifiable, because it will have a number of thick electrical wires coming out of it, with the same count as the number of cylinders your engine has.  The wires will connect in a central location in a pattern resembling a circle.  This pattern is precisely the reason for the timing of the vehicles firing.  On the top of the distributor is the distributor cap.  This is where the wires connect.  Upon removal of the distributor cap, you will see what is known as the rotor.  The distributor rotor sits directly in the center of the distributor, and spins like the hands of a clock.  On the distributor cap sits the contacts for the wires that go to each spark plug.  As the rotor spins, it makes contact, in an exact order, the piston firing order, triggering the spark plug to spark. Vehicle distributors are an integral part to the engine function, but at the same time, an experienced mechanic can replace one in usually under an hour.  The placement and ease of access make this fix perfect for mobile auto repair.

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