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A distributor consists of a rotating arm ('rotor') that is attached to the top of a rotating 'distributor shaft'. The rotor constantly receives high-voltage electricity from an ignition coil via brushes at the centre of the rotor. As the rotor spins, its tip passes close to (but does not touch) the output contacts for each cylinder.
The contact breaker is operated by an engine-driven cam.On an engine with a distributor, the contact breaker can be found beneath the distributor cap.The position of the contact breaker is set so that it opens (and hence generates a spark) at exactly the optimum moment to ignite the fuel/air mixture.
A replacement automobile engine is an engine or a major part of one that is sold individually without any other parts required to make a functional car (for example a drivetrain). These engines are produced either as aftermarket parts or as reproductions of an engine that has gone out of production.
A wider spacing was also needed between the cap, inserts and the distributor housing to prevent arc-over and leakage to ground. The higher voltage output of the HEI system required new insulation materials. To prevent ignition failure due to carbon tracking, a special material is used for the distributor cap and rotor.
Older engines often use a single ignition coil which has its output directed to each cylinder by a distributor, a design which is still used by various small engines (such as lawnmower engines). Modern car engines often use a distributor-less system (such as coil-on-plug), whereby every cylinder has its own ignition coil.
Because the magneto has low voltage output at low speed, starting an engine is more difficult. [5] Therefore, some magnetos have an impulse coupling, a spring-like mechanical linkage between the engine and magneto drive shaft which "winds up" and "lets go" at the proper moment for spinning the magneto shaft.