How to check the ignition coil device. Manual, how to check the ignition coil with a multimeter and a spark, video.

1. Signs and causes of failure
2. Scheme test ignition coil with a multimeter
3. See how to check the ignition coil on the video
4. Ways to check the ignition coil
5. First way: spark test
6. Video: Checking the ignition coil right on the car
7. Second method: checking by measuring resistance
8. Video: Measuring the resistance of the ignition coil
9. How to check the ignition coil with a multimeter at home?
10. Stepwise Ignition Coil Check Algorithm
11. General information
12. How does the ignition system work
13. How to check the operation of the ignition coil?
14. More detailed check
15. Checking the ignition coil with a tester
16. Coil calibration using a multimeter
17. How to check the integrity of the coil on small-sized equipment?
18. Motorcycle Coil Check
19. Check coil on a domestic car
20. Cost of ignition modules
21. Main faults of ignition coils
22. Instruments and equipment for testing ignition coils

Important element The car's ignition system is a coil. In case of its malfunction in the car can happen interruptions.

It is possible that the car, due to the engine being stopped due to the failure of this coil, will not be able to move at all. Therefore, it is important for a car enthusiast to know how to check the operation of the ignition coil.

An ignition coil is needed to create a high voltage in a car's engine, which causes a spark in the engine's spark plugs. This spark ignites the fuel.

Such a coil is a step-up pulse transformer consisting of two windings and a magnetic circuit. The primary winding of the coil is composed of a small amount of thick copper wire , and the secondary winding - from a large number of thin wires.

The principle of operation of the ignition coil is that when the primary circuit is opened, powered by a low-voltage battery, a current pulse occurs in it, due to which an electromotive force is induced in the secondary winding.

The magnitude of the voltage arising there, due to the large transformation ratio, is many times higher than the supply voltage primary winding .

It reaches a value of 25-35 kV. High voltage falls on candles, where a spark arises.

Signs and causes of failure

When testing the operation of the ignition coil, it is possible to identify faults according to the following features:

• car engine can not start;
• on dashboard shows the presence of an error;
• misfiring occurs;
• excessive heating of the coil.

The following reasons are possible due to which the coil has failed:

• mechanical damage;
• overheat;
• the use of low quality candles;
• adverse effects of the environment.

Mechanical damage to the coil can occur due to severe vibration or oil leakage. As a result, the integrity of the coil insulation may be broken, which can lead to breakdown.

The measuring device can determine the operability of radio components. Step-by-step instruction - - involves the measurement of direct and reverse resistance of the emitter and collector transitions.

It is convenient to check the LEDs for serviceability with the same multimeter. How to do it, read.

In accordance with the specifications, the coil can be operated at elevated temperatures. At the same time, it has a certain resource of work in the “heating - cooling” mode. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure that such a resource is not exceeded.

Otherwise it is possible short circuit . The reason for the overheating of the coil may be that the ignition is turned on for a long time when the engine is not running.

The use of low-quality candles can cause breakdown of the insulator and the occurrence of reverse gases, which are bad for the rubber tip of the coil. Damage to the tip can cause high voltage breakdown on ground.

When operating the vehicle, factors such as moisture, dust, dirt can affect the coil.

Scheme test ignition coil with a multimeter

The method for assessing the serviceability of the ignition coil by checking the spark between the spark plug and the car body for modern cars is fraught with failure of complex control electronics. Therefore, such an instrument is often used to test ignition coils, like a multimeter.

Before checking the serviceability of the ignition coil, it must be dismantled. Then you need to make a visual inspection of the device for the presence of cracks, chips and other defects. Next, the coil must be cleaned from dust and dirt.

In case of malfunctions in the home LED lighting can do. Here you need to carefully disassemble the light source and, if necessary, solder the failed parts to new ones.

LED lamps are the most suitable type when. In this case, it is not necessary to go shopping at the store. Such fitolampy possible at home.

Checking the coil with a multimeter consists in measuring the resistance of the windings. Each type of such devices has its own parameters. In the best case, it is necessary to get acquainted with the documentation on the coil and compare the measurement results with the nominal values.

In the first approximation, the resistance of the primary winding should lie in the range of 0.4 - 2 Ohms, and the resistance of the secondary winding - from 6 to 8 kΩ. Although some coils may have indicators secondary winding and up to 10-15 kOhm.

According to the measurement results, conclusions are made about the health of the coil. For example, the high resistance of the primary winding speaks of a break. A significant difference in the resistance of the secondary winding from the nominal value may indicate inter-turn circuit. If it is close to zero, then it is a short circuit.

Findings:

1. The serviceability of the ignition coil has a great influence on the performance of the car.
2. Evaluation of the performance of such a device can be carried out using a multimeter.
3. According to the results of measurements of the resistances of the windings, it can be determined that the ignition coil is faulty.

See how to check the ignition coil on the video

Unstable operation of the petrol power plant of the car, interruptions, hard start usually associated with disruption of one of the two systems - power and ignition. And if there are such faults, it is in these systems that you need to look for causes. Now we will not consider the power supply system, but let us dwell on, more precisely, on one of the elements of this system -.

This element converts low-voltage electricity into high-voltage, necessary to create a spark between the contacts of the glow plug.

On cars, three types of such coils are used - classical (used on cars with ignition systems that have a distributor), two-output (used in the ignition system with direct voltage supply to the candle) and individual (in such a system there is one coil for each candle).

All three types of coils are structurally very similar, the difference between them lies in some nuances. The classical coil consists of two windings - primary and secondary. The second winding is placed inside the first. The difference between the windings is reduced to the number of turns of the wire and the thickness of the wire. A core of a ferromagnetic alloy is placed inside these windings. Each of these windings has two leads. The primary, these pins are input, they are supplied with voltage on-board network. In the secondary one output is high-voltage output, the second output is connected to the primary winding.

All this is placed in a sealed enclosure, and all the findings go to the housing cover.

The two-output coil differs from the classical one by the presence of two cores - the inner one, placed in the windings, and the outer one - located above the windings. Also, instead of one high-voltage output of the secondary winding of such a coil, there are two of them.

An individual coil is distinguished by the fact that it is not the secondary winding that is placed on top of the primary one, but its high-voltage output is connected to the tip that is put on.

All of them are non-separable, and can not be repaired. Although often problems with the power plant associated with this element. Breaking the windings or shorting them can cause interruptions in operation, as well as a complete inoperability of the motor.

Ways to check the ignition coil

If the operation of the power unit causes a complaint, the reason for this may be problems with the power supply system and ignition. In this case, the coil performance check is included in the list of troubleshooting.

First way: spark test

There are two ways to do it yourself. The first can be called marching and execute it even on the road, although it will not guarantee that the problem is hidden in the coil.

Video: Checking the ignition coil right on the car

This method does not imply the presence of any special equipment. All that is required is the presence of a candle key, pliers and a working glow plug. This tool should always be available.

So, the engine was "cursed", and there is a suspicion that because of the coil. To perform a check, you must first inspect all wiring connections, starting with this item and ending with candles. In this case, the ignition key must be turned to the “0” position in order to avoid electric shock. Though not deadly, it can deliver discomfort.

After the first cylinder with a candle you need to remove the tip, and connect to. Then you need to take the tip with pliers and put out the candle. To do this, press the candle's skirt to any metal surface that is not coated with paint or other materials. You can put it on the engine.

In this case, the coil will be energized, it will work, producing high-voltage pulses, which will manifest a spark between the contacts of the candle. If the spark is bright and has a purple color - the coil is fully functional. A faint orange spark will indicate possible problems with her or wiring. Its absence can signal a coil malfunction or a break in the wiring circuit.

If there is no serviceable candle with you, you can use the one that is installed on the engine. The candle is twisted from the head candle key , and then check is performed by the above method. But, here there is an option that the candle itself is faulty, so the check will need to be done on several, while it is also desirable to change the tips, that is, we checked two candles with the tip of the first cylinder, then removed it from the candle of the other cylinder and made a check again. This will give a big guarantee that the problem lies in the coil.

On an engine that is equipped with individual coils, the test can be performed by changing their location. That is, the coil of the first cylinder is installed on the second, and from the second - on the first. But you only need to change the coil, the wiring to them remains on its cylinder.

Second method: checking by measuring resistance

The second method of testing is using an ohmmeter or multimeter with the ability to adjust the range of 2 megohms. The fact is that one of important characteristics which can be used as a test is resistance. At the same time, this indicator of both coil windings is measured.

Such a check will give a more accurate answer, whether this element is the cause of the motor interruptions. But for this you need to remove it from the car.

Ignition Coil Resistance Measurement

Before taking measurements, one should inquire what resistance of the coils is nominal. Many coils installed on the car, the resistance of the primary winding is in the range of 0.7-1.7 ohms, and the secondary - 7.5-10.5 kOhm, but the values ​​of other coils may differ. Before testing, check the resistance of the device itself, closing its probes between themselves.

The primary winding is checked first. For this, the probes are connected to its terminals, usually they are located on the sides of the central output of the coil. After measurement, the resistance of the device itself is taken away from the obtained value, and then the result is checked with the nominal value. Any exit from the nominal resistance range will indicate a coil malfunction.

After the secondary winding is checked. To do this, one of the probes is connected to the central terminal, and the second - to the side, no matter what. After that, you need to again verify the results of measurements with nominal values.

Video: Measuring the resistance of the ignition coil

Some nuances about such a test of double lead and individual coils. When measuring the resistance of the secondary winding of a two-output coil, the difference on which of the conclusions a check was made is not. Structurally, it is made in such a way that a single impulse is given to both outputs.

But it should be borne in mind that for 4-cylinder engines can be used a block consisting of two such coils, so it is better to check on all the central conclusions.

As for the verification of the individual coil, when checking the primary winding, the probes are connected to the two side terminals in the place where the chip with the wires is connected.

An action such as checking the ignition coil with a multimeter is not very often required. Justice requires that this site rarely fails.

Once a similar misfortune has occurred, there are usually two causes for the malfunction:

• defect spark plugs or high-voltage wiring due to which there is an overload and rupture of the coil winding;
• insulation defects resulting from a voltage surge, strong vibration of the node or its strong heating and leading to a short circuit of the winding.

So what to do if with a fully charged battery stubbornly does not want to wind up? There may, of course, be several reasons for failures, but our advice is to eliminate the coil immediately. How is she? By checking “for a spark” between the candle and the car body we do not recommend categorically. This old-fashioned way can ruin all the electronics at the moment.

Better use a tester.

How to check the ignition coil with a multimeter at home?

This device is good because it is capable of testing both resistance and voltage. We first need to figure out how to measure with a multimeter on the breakdown of the device. We watch a short video on how to work with the device, and then analyze specific numerical values.

As you can see, working with a tester is absolutely no difficulty even for a beginner. But what numbers to navigate when working with the device? The problem may be that when checking the ignition coil with a multimeter you will need additional data. In particular, it is desirable to have on hand the instruction manual for your car, from which you can gather data related to this model. But there are some averaged data that allows you to calculate the fault on the fly.

Stepwise Ignition Coil Check Algorithm

1. 1. A multimeter checks the primary winding first. His probes need to touch the positive and negative output of the device (in resistance mode). The digital value on the display must fit in the range of 0.4-2 Ohms. A zero on the display indicates a short circuit, the node is faulty. Infinity diagnoses open circuit.

1. Next, the secondary winding of the ignition coil is checked. This time, the multimeter probes should be connected to the high voltage lead and the positive terminal. For the construction with a pointy core, the numbers should fit in the parameters of 6-8 kΩ, for other types of aggregates - about 15 kΩ (or even higher).

The ignition coil is an integral part of the car's constructional performance. When it starts to work incorrectly or fails for some reason, quite serious failures and problems appear in the operation of the power unit. Malfunctions in the ignition coil can cause the engine to stop or to break its rhythm. The considered element is part of the distributor. To exclude breakage of the ignition coil, it is necessary to check it according to the car diagnostics schedule.

General information

Ignition coils are widely used in engines with a carburetor and an injector. They can be produced in different variations: single, double, individual character, multi-shell. Also the construction coil can be made in various ways.

It is worth noting that an element such as an ignition coil is an ordinary transformer. It has two windings (primary and secondary) and a magnetic conductor (core). The secondary winding may consist of 5000-15000 turns of thin copper wire. The primary winding consists of 100-150 turns of thicker copper wire.

How does the ignition system work

To find out the main points due to which the coil fails, it is necessary to clarify the basic principles of the ignition system, tied to the distributor. The distributor itself is nothing more than a distributor. A low-voltage discharge is supplied to it, which is converted to a large discharge on the winding. Using the breaker, the contact on the coil opens; in fact, at this moment it is fed through high-voltage wires to each cylinder.

In the cylinder, this discharge manifests itself in the form of a spark on a candle, thereby igniting the fuel mixture. If the current supply to the candle will be untimely or will not be carried out at all, the engine will stop working.

How to check the operation of the ignition coil?

If you have a problem with the engine, namely with the ignition of the fuel, then in search of a malfunction, the gaze falls on the specified element. How to check the ignition coil? The most common method of testing this mechanism is the following sequence of actions:

1. Unscrew the spark plug.
2. Disconnect the high voltage wire.
3. Now we take the wire aside and insert a candle into it.
4. We press it to the car body.
5. Start the engine.
6. At the same time on the car body must make a spark.
7. If there is no spark, then this indicates that the ignition coil has served its time, it must be replaced.

It is worth noting that in this way it is not worth checking the coil on some machines. For example, on the Honda, after such a check, the mechanism will immediately deteriorate.

How to check the operation of the ignition coil? Before you start working, you should firmly make sure that it is this that affects the engine malfunction. Therefore, in order not to harm the car, you should conduct a thorough inspection.

Before checking the ignition coil for current supply from it, it is necessary to inspect its body for the presence of chips or breakdowns. After you get to the coil, determine if there is a breakdown on the body. To understand this, it is enough to examine the adjacent walls to reveal scorched points or black plaque. If this fact occurs, it indicates the presence of a breakdown. In this case, the coil should be replaced with a new one.

More detailed check

How to check the serviceability of the ignition coil? After you have checked the coil for breakdowns visually and did not dare to pierce the body with a spark, we proceed to more detailed search methods.

So, how to check the ignition coil and what is needed for this? To troubleshoot the ignition system, it is necessary to build a small circuit. You need to prepare the coil itself, a switch, a capacitor, and some kind of battery (power source).

Now we collect the scheme:

1. One contact of the coil is connected to the battery (to the primary winding).
2. The second contact is interrupted through a capacitor and a switch (included between the primary and secondary windings).
3. The output from the secondary winding is connected to a switch and a capacitor. At this contact we make a break (for spark breakdown).
4. In the gap, you can insert a candle.

When the circuit breaker is closed, a spark must occur in the prepared contact break. Also, when checking you need to inspect what color the spark will be. If it has a reddish tint, then this indicates a weak discharge. If such a syndrome can be traced, then the coil is hopelessly broken. This also indicates a breakdown between individual turns in the winding.

Thus, we can conclude that, before checking the serviceability of the ignition coil, it is necessary to take a number of measures aimed at visual detection of system failure.

Checking the ignition coil with a tester

There are a large number of options for checking this kind of mechanism. How to check the ignition coil with a tester? For this procedure, you must take the device with the function of measuring the resistance of the circuit. All work is done fairly quickly and easily.

1. First you should check for a spark.
2. Connect the connector connected to the switch to the coil.
3. Connect the voltmeter to the 1 and 2 terminals.
4. Turn on the ignition.
5. The device should show a digit equal to the voltage on the battery.
6. If there are digital discrepancies, then it is worth replacing the coil and re-checking.

Coil calibration using a multimeter

How to check the ignition coil with a multimeter:

1. We evaluate the primary winding first.
2. On this winding, depending on the type of coil, the resistance may be in the range from 0.4 to 2 ohms.
3. If there is a defect in the winding, the resistance will tend to infinity.
4. If it will be at a level below the threshold (0.4 ohms), therefore, the coils are shortened in the coil.
5. Then the secondary winding goes to check.
6. We throw a plus on the plus contact of the coil, and a minus on the output of the high-voltage wire.
7. We expose measurement on a multimeter to 22 clod.
8. When tester testimony, seeking to infinite value, we conclude about the precipice.
9. The range of normal operating resistance ranges from 6 to 10 kΩ.

Thus, we have described another way to check the ignition coil.

How to check the integrity of the coil on small-sized equipment?

On small vehicles, the procedure is much easier. As an example, consider the question of how to check the scooter ignition coil.

For detailed calibration, you need a multimeter. When connecting the probes to the contacts of the coil on the multimeter should register resistance in the range from 0.5 to 5 ohms. With such testimony we can talk about the health of the primary winding.

We check the secondary winding: we connect in the same way as before, plus to plus, minus to high-voltage, and the resistance should be about 2-3 kΩ. Any deviation of this value makes it clear that the coil has failed.

Motorcycle Coil Check

Now consider the question of how to check the ignition coil of a motorcycle. To carry out such a procedure, one should remove the high voltage wire from the plug. Then remove the chip from it. Make it so that the wire is exposed.

Now we bring it to the body of the motorcycle (for example, to the engine) at a distance of about 5 mm. Turn the foot or crankshaft crankshaft, and at the same time between the body and the wire breaks a spark. If it is missing, then the ignition coil is out of order.

A motorcycle ignition coil can fail for several reasons:

• ignition is not turned on when the engine is off;
• low voltage when winding test;
• high voltage during winding test;
• motor overheating;
• the size of the gap on the candle is too large.

Check coil on a domestic car

On a Russian car, how to check the ignition coil (VAZ, for example)? First of all, we conduct a visual inspection for the presence of chips, cracks, drips of transformer oil. Now with the help of a multimeter we measure the resistance value. As described earlier, first on the primary and then on the secondary winding. The primary resistance of the technical guide should be in the range of 0.4 to 0.5 ohms. This value for the secondary winding will range from 4.5 to 5.5 Ohms. At resistance values ​​that differ from the above, the element must be replaced. We also measure indicators for the coil body. To do this, one edge leads to the terminal, and the second - to the body. In this case, the values ​​should not fall below 50 mΩ.

Based on the above, we can conclude that checking the ignition coils on different vehicles has a similar procedure. However, the best and most accurate option is to check with a multimeter, since in this case the mechanism does not deteriorate, and the indicators are the most accurate. To carry out this kind of work does not require any serious skills. Therefore, everyone can cope with checking the ignition coil.

During the operation of a car with an engine, various malfunctions occur, the engine can troit, not develop speed, stall on Idling .

In some cases, the engine does not start at all, often the cause of the malfunction is the ignition coil. In this article we will look at what kind of ignition modules are on passenger cars, their main problems, as well as how to check the ignition coil with a multimeter and other devices.

Depending on the car model and engine brand, different ignition coils (CC) are installed, they can be in different versions:

• cylindrical shape;
• doubled;
• monolithic (four cylinder);
• as a separate module for each cylinder of the engine.

Cylindrical short circuits were mainly placed on cars of past years, now such coils are considered outdated. The cylindrical short circuit is one for four cylinders, it is used on engines with a distributor ignition system. There are engines with a different number of cylinders, but in this case we do not consider them.

The common module is a short-circuit combined in one case; this device provides a spark to four cylinders. Recently, separate ignition modules (MV) are increasingly being used, where each coil is mounted on its cylinder, and if the engine is 4-cylinder, then there should be four short-circuits. MZ is mounted directly on the spark plug, so there are no high-voltage wires in such a system.

Cost of ignition modules

The price of the ignition coil is different, it depends on the model of car, engine type, manufacturer of spare parts. All items can be original and aftermarket production, the original is always more expensive. The most inexpensive short circuits for GAZ and VAZ cars of the 80s and 90s, for example, you can buy a coil for the VAZ-classic and VAZ-2108-09 with contact or contactless ignition at an average price of 500 to 800 rubles. Monolithic modules for 4 cylinders 2111-2112 are already sold from 1000 to 2000 rubles, for some foreign cars the Ministry of Health may cost more than 10 thousand rubles.

Main faults of ignition coils

In any automotive ignition coil there are always two windings - the primary (with a small number of turns and a thick wire) and the secondary (thin wire with a large number of turns). Using short circuits, a low voltage in the circuit is converted to high, and if the primary circuit has a voltage of 12 volts, then in the secondary chain it already reaches several tens of kilovolts.

Under influence the environment the destruction of the Ministry of Health occurs, and they are subject to aging over time. In coils there are defects:

• breakage in the primary or secondary winding;
• interturn closure in winding wires;
• cracks in the body (if the body is plastic).

If there is a short circuit in the short circuit, then the coil overheats, and as a result can be completely damaged. If a crack appears in the case of the Ministry of Health, the spark starts to punch to the ground, the engine troit, and in some cases works on two cylinders.

Instruments and equipment for testing ignition coils

You can check the operability of the short circuit by any means, including various devices:

• multimeter;
• oscilloscope;
• discharger.

The simplest and most accessible device for checking ignition coils is a multimeter; it can be used to measure the voltage and resistance of windings. As a rule, voltage is measured only in the primary circuit, and the measurement is made on the vehicle with the ignition on.

Resistance is more convenient to measure on the removed coil, the measurement is done on both windings. Resistance depends on the model of short-circuit, but approximately the readings are close in their values. On serviceable coil Ignition ohmmeter should show resistance:

• on the primary winding - from 0.4 to 3.5 ohms (depending on the ignition system);
• on the secondary winding - from 4 to 17 kΩ.

First, we consider how to measure the resistance of the primary winding on a cylindrical coil. On the device we set the lowest limit (200 Ohms), we take readings by installing probes on the winding terminals.

To measure the resistance of the secondary winding, we switch the multimeter to kilo-ohms. On a circular coil, one probe is installed at the point of attachment of the high-voltage wire, the second is at the side contact.

A wide range of high-voltage arresters are manufactured by the industry, for example, there is a MM-BP-01 device in the Motor-Master part, which is designed to check a type of 043.3705 or 42.370 MZ (on VAZ vehicles).

Also to check the WHA coils ( contactless ignition ) you can make a discharger with your own hands, for this you need:

• ordinary clip;
• a small piece of wire, stripped along the edges;
• wooden block;
• self-tapping screws 2 pcs., 40 and 60 mm long;
• used spark plug,
• Scotch;
• pen;
• ruler;
• small handsaw;
• high voltage wire .

To make a simple device, first from the candle we unscrew the metal cap, fasten it on a long screw. It is better to carefully tighten the tip with pliers so that it will not fall off.

How to use such a device? We take the ignition coil, connect it with the high-voltage wire made by the device, connect the second wire to the short-circuit ground.

Turning on the ignition, scrolling the engine, at the same time it is necessary to connect the coil with wires, supply power to it (+12 volts and mass). If the spark discharge between the screws is missing, the fault is likely to be faulty. But here a high-voltage wire can also be broken, so we remove it, install the probe directly on the coil itself.

Check again. If the spark appeared, the high-voltage wire is to blame; if not, the fault is faulty. It should also be clarified that the gap between the caps of the self-tapping screws for testing the cylindrical coil of the VAZ should be equal to 10 mm, if it is different, it is necessary to adjust the gap.

The ignition module may produce a spark, but the parameters will not correspond to the required values. Most accurately, a fault fault is detected using an oscilloscope. On modern injection engines, the signal is removed from the plug that goes to the coils. But this is how the low-voltage circuit is tested, to check the high-voltage signal, an inductive or capacitive sensor will be additionally needed, and the oscilloscope probes directly connected to the short-circuit.

1. Before proceeding with the measurements, it is first necessary to inspect the ignition coil - it should not have chips and cracks, signs of burnout. If there are external defects, it is better to replace the part immediately.
2. When working with high voltage care should be taken, as with careless handling can severely hit by current.
3. If the resistance values ​​obtained using a multimeter, coincide with the passport data, it only says that the coil as a whole is operational. But a more accurate check is carried out using an oscilloscope.
4. If a contactless ignition with a distributor is installed on the car, very often the ignition coil overheats due to the switch. In this case, you need to check the heating of the switching device itself - if it is heated, most likely, the whole thing is in it.
5. If the ignition coil is inexpensive, it is better to have it in reserve - on the road it can be very useful. The failed part does not change for long, and the driver will not have to lose time - after replacing the short-circuit, it will be possible to continue driving immediately.

How to check the ignition coil with a multimeter: video