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Ignition

The battery ignition system is one of the oldest systems in the vehicle. In the last few years though, after having remained virtually unaltered for decades, it has been subjected to considerable changes owing to the rapid pace of developments in the electronics field. Today, thanks to electronics, there are ignition systems on the market which comply with a very extensive range of requirements. There are still a variety of different ignition systems in operation though, which operate independently of the other systems in the vehicle. Since such ignition systems are today only of interest as far as servicing and repair is concerned, this manual only describes them briefly by means of their salient characteristics. Modern series-production vehicles are equipped with combined ignition and fuel-injection (Motronic). Linking this to the vehicles other electronic systems permits the joint optimisation of all systems so that comprehensive engine-management becomes a reality. These engine-management systems with their integrated ignition are described in the manual Motronic Engine Management.

Combustion in the gasoline engine 2 The spark-ignition or Otto-cycle engine Ignition in the gasoline engine 4 Ignition point, spark advance, ignition voltage, ignition of the mixture, pollutant emissions, fuel consumption, knocking tendency Conventional coil ignition CI 7 Operating principle, ignition coil, contact breaker, ignition distributor, spark-advance mechanism Breaker-triggered 14 transistorized ignition TI-B Operating principles, circuit Transistorized ignition with 17 Hall generator TI-H Hall effect, Hall generator, current regulation and dwell-angle closed-loop control, ECU Transistorized ignition with 21 induction-type pulse generator TI-I Induction-type pulse generator, current regulation and dwell-angle closed-loop control, ECU Semiconductor ignition SI 24 Advantages, operating principle, input signals, signal processing, ignition output signal, ECU Distributorless semiconductor 30 ignition DLI Advantages, high-voltage distribution, ignition coils, ECU Knock control 34 Basic functions, special functions, safety and diagnosis Electrical connecting elements 38 Plugs and sockets Workshop testing techniques 40 Bosch customer service, Testing techniques for engine and ignition

Ignition

Semiconductor ignition SI
On transistorized ignition systems, the conventional ignition distributor with centrifugal advance and vacuum advance mechanisms is capable of implementing only very simple advance characteristic curves. This means they can only approximately meet the demands im-posed by optimum engine operation. On the semiconductor ignition system (SI, Fig. 1), there is no mechanical sparkadvance system in the distributor. Instead, a pulse-generator signal, in the form of an engine-speed signal, is used to trigger the ignition. An additional pressure sensor supplies the load signals. The microcomputer computes the required ignition-point adjustment and modifies the output signal issued to the trigger box accordingly.

Advantages
Spark advance can be matched better to the individual and diverse requirements made of the engine. It is possible to include other control parameters (e.g. engine temperature). Good starting behaviour, improved idle control and lower fuel consumption. Extended operating-data acquisition. It is possible to implement knock control. The advantages of the semiconductor ignition system are most clearly demonstrated by the ignition-advance map which contains the ignition angle for every given engine operating point. This ignition angle was selected during engine design as the best compromise for every engine speed and for every load condition. The ignition angle for a specific operating point is selected on the basis of the following aspects: fuel consumption, torque, exhaust gas, safety margin from the knock limit, engine temperature and driveability etc. Dependent upon the optimization criterion, one of these

Fig. 1 Semiconductor ignition system (SI) 1 Ignition coil with attached ignition output stage, 2 High-tension distributor, 3 Spark plug, 4 ECU, 5 Engine-temperature sensor, 6 Throttle-valve switch, 7 Rotational-speed sensor and reference-mark sensor, 8 Ring gear, 9 Battery, 10 Ignition and starting switch.

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aspects will be more important. This is why the ignition-advance map of a semiconductor spark-advance system frequently appears very rugged and jagged by comparison with the ignition map of a system with centrifugal and vacuum advance mechanisms. If, in addition, the generally non-linear influence of temperature or of another correction function is also to be represented, this would require a four-dimensional ignition map which would be impossible to depict.

Operating principle
The signal issued by the vacuum sensor is used as the load signal for the ignition system. A three-dimensional ignition-advance map is, so to speak, stretched over this signal and the engine speed. This map permits the best ignition point (angle) (in the vertical plane) to be programmed for every engine speed and load condition (horizontal plane) in respect of the exhaust gas and fuel consumption. The entire ignition-advance map contains approximately
Fig. 2 Optimized electronic ignition-advance map (top) compared with the ignition-advance map of a mechanical spark-advance system (below) Ignition angle

1,000 ... 4,000 individual recallable ignition points, dependent upon requirements (Fig. 2). When the throttle valve is closed, the special idle/overrun characteristic curve is selected. The ignition point can be advanced for engine speeds below the nominal engine idle speed in order to achieve idle stabilization by increasing the torque. Ignition points matched in respect of exhaust gas, handling and driveability are programmed for overrun operation. At full load, the full-load curve is selected. This curve contains the best programmed ignition parameters allowing for the knock limit. In the case of specific systems, for starting, a progression of the ignition point, independent of the ignition-advance map, can be programmed as a function of engine speed and engine temperature. This permits high engine torque during starting without the occurrence of countertorques. Dependent upon requirements, it is possible to implement ignition-advance maps of various degrees of complexity or only a few programmable advance curves. Electronic spark advance is possible within the framework of various semiconductor ignition systems. For instance the Motronic system incorporates fully integrated spark advance. However, it is also possible to implement a sparkadvance system as an addition to a transistorized ignition system (in the form of an additional advance system) or as a device with integrated output stage. Engine-speed sensing There are two possible methods of engine-speed sensing in order to determine the engine speed and for synchronization with the crankshaft: the signal can be tapped-off directly at the crank-shaft or camshaft, or at an ignition distributor equipped with a Hall ignition vane switch. The advantages afforded by an ignitionadvance map with the form already discussed can be utilized to maximum accuracy with an engine-speed sensor on the crankshaft.

Semiconductor ignition

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