A battery in a traditional car cannot directly create engine spark. It’s only rated at 12 volts, after all, so it needs a little help boosting the signal to the spark plugs. To make that happen, a car ...

Don’t worry, it’s not just you. Everyone dropped their first, or likely fortieth, F-bomb when their dad had them hold the spark plug while he hit the kickstarter on their dirt bike. While it might ...

Whether you service your own ignition or need more troubleshooting savvy for road rallies and cruising, this month's lesson focuses on spark and ignition system basics. Understanding ignition ...

"It's not a heap, dad. It's a classic." That's harder to justify when your classic muscle car won't start. Nothing like a high-compression V8 combined with a battery that hasn't seen a charge for a ...

Editor's Note: Way back in March of 1998, GMHTP ran "Opti-Spark" by Ray Bohacz, an engineering-level dissection of GM's Opti-Spark distributor. This evolutionary ignition component was a bridge ...

Spark plugs are one of those maintenance items that, along with things like brake fluid and thermostats, are easily overlooked but extremely important to your car's safety, longevity, and performance.

Autoblog aims to feature only the best products and services. If you buy something via one of our links, we may earn a commission. Do you routinely struggle to get your car to start? Are you ...

A fundamental difference between gasoline and diesel engines is that a gasoline engine uses spark ignition while a diesel engine uses compression ignition. Before we delve deeper, let's understand how ...