Honda Distributor

Have you ever wondered why the engines of Honda vehicles run smoothly? Honda is known as a world leader in engine technology and people have come to expect Honda engines to perform well. The smooth performance of Honda engines, however, does not rely on the engines alone. Of course we can easily point out the perfectly timed movement of the engine's piston for this smooth performance. But have you ever wondered what causes the pistons to move in such a perfect timing?

The main culprit behind the perfect movement of each piston in Honda engines are the various components of their ignition system. One of the most important components in this system is the Honda distributor. The distributor is that particular ignition system device that distributes, in the correct firing order, pulses of high-voltage electricity to the spark plugs in the engine's cylinders. In a typical distributor set-up, the ignition coil, through its cable, delivers high-voltage electricity to the distributor's rotor. The rotor would then spin, driven by the engine's camshaft, and its tip would pass through a series of contacts in the distributor cap. As the rotor arm's tip passes each contact, the high-voltage pulse on the rotor would cross the small gap between the tip and the contact. Such voltage is then delivered to the proper spark plug through a spark plug wire connected to the contact.

On older distributor-type ignition systems, there is another mechanism on the bottom half of the distributor that controls the timing of the high-voltage electric pulses. This mechanism includes the breaker point or contact point which opens and closes to interrupt the current in the coil. But since spark timing is very critical to the engine's performance, modern distributor systems have replaced the said mechanism with a transistor controlled by the engine control unit (ECU) computer. Many modern ignition systems don't even use a distributor for spark timing; instead, the engine management computer tells the coil when to fire.

Now, if your Honda's engine has started to run rather poorly, can you instantly say that it's the Honda distributor that causes the problem? Of course not! If your Honda is quite new, it may not even have a distributor at all. In such cases, you better ask your mechanic to check on your vehicle's engine and other associated vehicle components first. If it is indeed the distributor that is causing the problem, then you know where to get your replacement Honda distributor – Parts Train. Here at Parts Train, we have a wide selection of Honda distributors for every Honda vehicle that uses one.