Pontiac Distributor

When one sees a Pontiac vehicle, one won’t be able to help but be amazed by the way the vehicle performs. Such performance is often credited largely to the Pontiac engine. But do you know that the Pontiac engine would rely on a lot of other components and systems so that it would function at its best? One of the systems that aid the engine in its performance is the ignition system which is responsible for providing the engine’s cylinders with the electrical sparks needed for the combustion process. And to ensure that such electrical sparks are delivered to the cylinders smoothly and in the proper firing order, some Pontiac vehicles, especially the older ones, would make use of the Pontiac distributor.

A distributor is an ignition system component used on most vintage vehicles and some late model vehicles. Distributors are made up of two basic components, the rotor and the distributor cap, although other components like the distributor shaft, distributor arm, breaker points and condenser are also considered parts of the distributor. Most of these parts, except for the rotor and the cap, are no longer being used in modern distributors. Most modern vehicles would not even use a distributor for the ignition system.

The main function of the distributor is to route pulses of high voltage electricity from the ignition coil to the spark plugs in the proper firing order. The high voltage pulses are first delivered to the rotor through the ignition coil cable. As the rotor spins, it passes close to individual contacts in the distributor caps. The high voltage pulses would then be delivered to these contacts, which in turn would deliver it to the individual spark plugs through spark plug wires.

In order for your Pontiac’s engine to run smoothly, the movement of the Pontiac distributor’s rotor must also be timed precisely. Thus, it is essential that the condition of the distributor be maintained at its prime, or else the engine may incur a lot of internal damages. To eliminate this problem for good, many Pontiac vehicles no longer make use of distributor-based ignition system. Instead, many new Pontiac vehicles are already using a direct ignition system.