Additional Information

The 4.6L North star Ignition Control System consists of the following components:
^ Two crankshaft position sensors (A and B)
^ Crankshaft reluctor ring
^ Camshaft position sensor
^ Ignition control module
^ Four separate ignition coils
^ Eight spark plug wires and conduit
^ Eight spark plugs
^ Knock sensor
^ Powertrain Control Module (PCM).

In this ignition system, both ends of each of the four ignition coils are connected to a spark plug. Each coil is connected with spark plugs on companion cylinders, i.e. on top dead center at the same time (1-4, 2-5, 6-7, and 3-8). One cylinder is on its compression stroke when the other one is on its exhaust stroke.

When the coil discharges, both plugs fire at the same time by using the engine block to complete the electrical circuit. the cylinder on the compression stroke is called the event cylinder and the one on the exhaust stroke is the waste cylinder. The two cylinders share the energy available from the ignition coil to fire both spark plugs. This method of ignition is called waste spark ignition.

Since the polarity of the ignition coil primary and secondary windings does not change, one spark plug always fires with a forward current (center electrode to ground electrode) and its companion plug fires with a reverse current (ground electrode to center electrode).

It is possible for one spark plug to fire even though a plug wire from the same coil may be disconnected from its companion spark plug. The disconnected plug wire acts as one plate of a capacitor and the engine block acts as the other plate. These two capacitor plates are charged as a spark first jumps across the gap of the connected spark plug. The plates are then discharged as the energy is dissipated as the spark continues. Voltage requirements are very high with an open spark plug or wire. The ignition coil may have enough reserve energy to fire the connected plug at idle, but possibly not under some engine load conditions. A more noticeable misfire may be evident under load; both spark plugs may then not fire.