What are the effects of secondary ignition on the engine?
2 Answers
Frequent secondary ignition in a car can cause damage to the starter motor, starter engagement gear, and the flywheel ring gear of the engine. Here are the relevant details: Symptoms of secondary ignition: The most obvious sign of secondary ignition is hearing a "screeching" noise from the engine area. This sound comes from the meshing of the starter and the flywheel. The flywheel rotates very quickly when the engine is running, far exceeding the speed of the starter. Due to this speed difference, during secondary ignition, the starter's drive gear does not re-engage with the flywheel teeth, thus preventing the starter from being damaged by centrifugal force. Precautions: Occasional misoperations like this may not cause significant harm to the starter. However, frequent occurrences can lead to starter damage, such as starter slippage, severe wear of the starter drive gear, or even burning out the starter coil. These issues are directly related to secondary ignition.
Double ignition refers to the action of repeatedly attempting to start the engine multiple times in succession. My experienced driver friend used to do this often, but later found it quite harmful to the engine. Firstly, frequent starting puts extra strain on the starter motor, which can overheat or even get damaged over time. Secondly, the battery drains much faster—each ignition attempt consumes power, and repeated attempts can severely deplete the battery, shortening its lifespan by a year or two. Additionally, the fuel system can accumulate excess fuel, potentially leading to cylinder flooding and making the next start even harder. My advice is: if the engine doesn’t start on the first try, calmly check the key or button, wait about ten seconds before trying again, and avoid rushing into repeated ignition. This helps protect vehicle components from unnecessary wear and failure, saving you repair costs.
