What do HT leads do?

[brainiac]

I was having trouble starting my car on damp, misty mornings, and my garage found a hole in the distributor cap and broken rotor arm inside. They replaced these, as well as the HT leads. Will this just help with ignition, or do the HT leads do something when the car is being driven?

[dotty.]

http://en.wikipedia.o...ki/High_tension_leads

[HowardKennitby]

The HT leads carry the high voltage which creates the spark in the plugs from the the distributor to the plugs. Your engine will not work without them.

[brainiac]

Thanks for the swift responses. I'm hoping that the starting problems are now over - no need to thrash the car with a large branch like B.Fawlty !

[TheWinner]

Oh brainiac, always keep a big branch handy = for thrashing.
You never know, you might need a new starter motor/battery soon.
Lets play the Abba song: Money, money, money.

[Just-Jude]

I doubt you needed all those replacing, but if you show a bit of ignorance, they'll take you to the cleaners.

Get some WD40 and spray the distributor cap and HT leads, this will stop the damp penetrating and stop the same thing happening again.

[Hopkirk]

If both distributor cap and rotor arm were of an age to be knackered, then replacing HT leads was probably a wise decision.