High Energy Ignition (HEI)

[Ron]

Widening the plug gap without increasing voltage will turn your ignition to sh!t. Sorry for the language but Deloreans are teaching me to cuss.

I agree. The engineers have figured out the optimum gap for the given setup. Screw with it (and nothing else) and you are probably screwing up! (see below)

Edit to clarify my response: How the hell do you think spark is going to jump across a wider spark plug gap if you don't increase voltage?

The same way it jumps across when some dumbass doesn't change his plugs out and there is hardly enough material left to recognize that it was an electrode.

My stock coil will jump a half inch or so...surely you arent talking about boring a relief hole in your piston to hanldle a greater gap. Next you will be carbing your car.
=====
Bill,
Try to carry on a reasonable conversation and you throw a lightweight at me that don't even know E=I*R

I'm done.

IKYCYC

[Soundkillr]

I agree. The engineers have figured out the optimum gap for the given setup. Screw with it (and nothing else) and you are probably screwing up! (see below)

The same way it jumps across when some dumbass don't change his plugs out and there is hardly enough material left to recognize that it was an electrode.

My stock coil will jump a half inch or so...surely you arent talking about boring a relief hole in your piston to hanldle a greater gap. Next you will be carbing your car.
=====
Bill,
Try to carry on a reasonable conversation and you throw a lightweight at me that don't even know E=I*R



I'm done.

IKYCYC

Lol, I like you Ron and wish to subscribe to your newsletter....

[stevedmc]

I agree. The engineers have figured out the optimum gap for the given setup. Screw with it (and nothing else) and you are probably screwing up! (see below)

The same way it jumps across when some dumbass don't change his plugs out and there is hardly enough material left to recognize that it was an electrode.

My stock coil will jump a half inch or so...surely you arent talking about boring a relief hole in your piston to hanldle a greater gap. Next you will be carbing your car.
=====
Bill,
Try to carry on a reasonable conversation and you throw a lightweight at me that don't even know E=I*R

I'm done.

IKYCYC

Your first sentence said you agree with me that widening gap without increasing voltage is bad. Then you go on to say you can gap yours as far as half an inch without increasing voltage. Wow.

[Ron]

Lol, I like you Ron and wish to subscribe to your newsletter....

Funny you should say that...I just landed a new advertiser for "Hacking Your D" and was eying this:

Image1.jpg[

[content22207]

Edit to clarify my response: How the hell do you think spark is going to jump across a wider spark plug gap if you don't increase voltage?

It won't.

Voltage must increase until it reaches a level sufficient to ionize the air between the electrodes. If that level is never reached, electrical current in one electrode will never flow to the other one. That is why spark plugs need a transformer (coil) in the first place, otherwise you could simply run your car with the distributor connected directly to the alternator.

Bill Robertson
#5939

[Ron]

Your first sentence said you agree with me that widening gap without increasing voltage is bad. Then you go on to say you can gap yours as far as half an inch without increasing voltage. Wow.

NO. You responded to a post where I flatly stated that widening the gap WILL increase the energy at the gap (that E=I*R thingy I spoke of) -- Then I agreed with you that widening the gap will turn the ignition to shit.

[content22207]

I agree. The engineers have figured out the optimum gap for the given setup.

Incorrect -- Bosch figured out the maximum voltage their Blue coil could handle, then dumbed down ignition accordingly. That is why Bosch ignition looked so outdated against other manufacturers such as Delco and Motorcraft even in the 1970's.

Bosch ignition is not optimized -- it is minimized.

No one outside of a narrow segment of the narrow European market ever used it. Bosch ignition was adequate in Europe because:
- Their compression ratios were higher
- Their fuel mixtures were richer
In the North American market, it is barely functional at best, with absolutely no wiggle room for variation or degredation. That is one reason why a DeLorean engine can run acceptably one day, then suddenly run very badly the next.

Bill Robertson
#5939

[Ron]

It won't.

Voltage must increase until it reaches a level sufficient to ionize the air between the electrodes. If that level is never reached, electrical current in one electrode will never flow to the other one. That is why spark plugs need a transformer (coil) in the first place, otherwise you could simply run your car with the distributor connected directly to the alternator.

Bill Robertson
#5939

Thank you for proving to everyone that has ever changed a set of nearly worn out spark plugs or found a running engine with a set of wide gaped plugs in an otherwise stock vehicle that you are full of shit.

[stevedmc]

NO. You responded to a post where I flatly stated that widening the gap WILL increase the energy at the gap (that E=I*R thingy I spoke of) -- Then I agreed with you that widening the gap will turn the ignition to shit.

How the hell is widening a gap, without increasing voltage, increase energy? All you are going to do is cause ignition problems and you will end up not reliably burning fuel. Yes it might work, you might even be able to run a screwed up spark plug, but you are not going to ignite all of your fuel. It will not be reliable. You will just be wasting fuel.

[stevedmc]

Then I agreed with you that widening the gap will turn the ignition to shit.

You took my statement way out of context. I said that widening the gap WITHOUT INCREASING VOLTAGE will turn the ignition to shit.