What does ignition time mean?
Timing - This has several different meanings when applied to your car's engine. One of the most critical is the ignition timing (not to be confused with engine timing). Ignition timing refers to the moment a spark is generated during an engine cycle. It has to be right or you will end up losing power, increasing fuel consumption and producing more exhaust emissions.
What is time here?
Your engine is running on a controlled series of explosions. Spark plugs create a spark to ignite fuel vapors. This creates combustion. The explosion then pushes the piston down, which rotates the camshaft. However, the fork cannot work at any time. This must be correctly synchronized with the motion of the motor.
An automobile engine has four strokes (hence the name "four-stroke"). It:
- Consumption
- compression
- Burning
- Exhaust
The spark plug must fire at the right time in these cycles to maximize the power generated by combustion. The system must fire before the piston reaches top dead center (TDC). The increase in pressure from combustion pushes the piston back down (after reaching TDC) and turns the camshaft. The reason the spark plugs have to fire before the piston reaches TDC is because if it didn't, by the time combustion actually occurred, the piston would be so far in its downward motion that the combustion force was would be largely lost. .
Remember: although the gas is highly flammable, it does not burn instantly. There is always a delay. By firing before the piston reaches TDC, your engine can take this delay into account and maximize power every time.
