What does a ignition coil pack do?

Question

What does a ignition coil pack do?

Answer 1

On a late '90's and early '00's VW, it fails and leaves your car unable to start!

It generates the sparks to ignite the petrol / air mixture in the engine - no spark, no go, just the starter motor spinning!

Answer 2

No-one has yet mentioned the distributor.  This is what used to determine the order in which the cylinders got their plugs fired, but the coil-pack is a sold-state (i.e. no moving parts) system to replace a conventional distributor.  

    Some coil-packs are for two-cylinders, so a typical car will have two of them.  Some are for four cylinders.  Advantages over a distributor are: no power needed to drive the distributor.  No chance of damp/condensation inside the distributor cap affecting the distributor.  no wear problem of the rotor-arm and inside of the dizzy cap...

    And of course, no dizzy cap and rotor arm  to buy!  

Answer 3

It converts 12volt electric into High tension electric to start you car and fire the spark plugs.

Answer 4

You need several thousand volts to jump the gap in a spark plug, the only power source you have is a 12volt battery. The coil takes the 12 volts and amplifies them to the several thousand required.

Ja.