OK Noah- Ill check on what they want for a subscription
You can subscribe to the digital edition without charge. Another , similar option has been Motor Magazine which unfortunately vanished after 2020. Nevertheless the issues are archived and downloadable.
Gears is another one. Mostly transmission related but does have some other diagnostic content. Free online but you might need to be an ATRA member to get the treeware??
Yeah- Im good with "free" as well- I was not aware or a free digital subscription. I do have a question that is not related to this so hopefully I wont get busted asking it. Here it goes- In regards to ignition coils-(COP), what is the wire called that fires the spark? Is it called the trigger wire or something else. Also, looking at the Mitchell wiring diagram for my 2010 Dodge Ram 1500, looks like this trigger wire is straight from the PCM? This might seem like a mundane question, but Im just a DIYer living in the back woods of WV and dont do this for a living.
Thanks,
Mr Mike
"The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his"
On COPs with 3 or 4 wires the actual ignition module/circuitry is integrated into the coil housing. One of these multiple wires will carry the control signal from the ECM to the module telling it when to fire the coil. This may be called trigger, control signal or whatever fancy term you do prefer. Its job is just to tell the COP when and how to fire.
On two wire design - eg. Ford, Jeep - the coil firing is controlled by a power transistor which lives in the ECM. When turned on current flows through the primary coil and when switched of high voltage is induced into the secondary resulting (hopefully) in a spark jumping the electrodes' gap.
An expert is someone who knows each time more on each time less, until he finally knows absolutely everything about absolutely nothing.
So, on Ford's and Jeeps the transistor in the PCM basically is the voltage switch? What happens if the transistor where to take a dump? Would the entire PCM need to be replaced?
"The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his"
So, on Ford's and Jeeps the transistor in the PCM basically is the voltage switch? What happens if the transistor where to take a dump? Would the entire PCM need to be replaced?
Not necessarily.
It will depend on design, parts availability and skills. The Ford escape V6, 3 Liter, around 2008 to 2014 is an example where bad coils were to take out the pcm in the long run. Recommended procedure is changing all coils and the pcm, though you may get away with swapping in a new power transistor.
An expert is someone who knows each time more on each time less, until he finally knows absolutely everything about absolutely nothing.
Thats interesting- I guess it depends on the make alot from what your saying. I can just imagine what kind of thought process it is for the engineers, but Ive heard alot of techs complain of engineer designs in all this. Kind of like cars known for electrical gremlins.
"The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his"
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