Mirage L4-1597cc 1.6L DOHC (1990)
Ignition Coil: Description and Operation
Ignition Coil Secondary Circuit Test
The Ignition Coil pack is located on the intake manifold and consists of 2 coils. The coils use the principle of mutual induction to step up battery (low)
voltage to ignition (high) voltage. The Ignition Coil contains two windings of copper wire around a soft iron core. The primary winding is made of a
hundred or so turns of a heavy gage wire. It is connected to the battery through the ignition switch. Current flows through it creating a magnetic field.
When current flow in the primary winding is stopped (by the power transistor breaking the circuit ground), the collapse of the magnetic field causes a
voltage to be induced in the secondary windings. The ratio of turns in the primary windings to the number of turns in the secondary windings determines
the voltage step up.
