Traditional aircraft magnetos, a WWII-era technology, are mechanical, have many moving parts prone to failure, and offer fixed settings and a weaker spark, leading to inefficient combustion.

Heat initiates the internal combustion process. Diesel engines utilize the temperature buildup from extremely high compression (pressure) to ignite the air/fuel mixture, with a little help from glow ...

The ignition control module is a crucial component of a vehicle's ignition system. It is a control unit responsible for regulating the ignition timing and generating sparks to ignite the fuel-air ...

A clean-sheet engine design always merits a second look, and when that engine is a high-tech unit designed as the volume-seller for a global conglomerate that’s been in rough straits, it’s worth a ...

If you're a follower of the "How It Works" series, you've been learning the principles of what makes a car run. You've boned up on the four-stroke cycle, valvetrains, cooling, lubrication, and ...

[Dan] wanted to learn a bit about solid state ignition in engines; to get started he needed a test subject, so he decided he would upgrade his old 12 horsepower lawnmower. Originally the lawnmower ...

The demands for better emissions and fuel economy in the mid 1970s necessitated leaner fuel mixtures. These leaner mixtures required greater voltage and more spark to ignite. This challenge led GM ...

Mazda’s new SkyActiv-X engine will go against every convention you thought you understood about gasoline engines. It’s supercharged, but for efficiency purposes, not to increase power. It has a ...

Q: My 2002 Buick LeSabre has 98,887 miles on it. Its ignition control module is failing. Since 2014 I have replaced it three times. Can you please tell why my control module keeps failing? It stops ...