I am losing faith Fellas...

[Dan Stewart]

I just for the life of me cannot get the wagonner to run.

Last time I got it to run it was right after I rebuilt the carb.
The carb was flooding bad, but ran.
I pulled carb and fixed the float problem and reinstalled it. It squirts fine.
I put it back on and it will crank all day but not fire.
I just installed a new ignition module.
No fire :(
I am getting spark to #1 plug ( i didnt put the light on others)
The plugs are new (possibly fouled now, I do need to check)
I get voltage to the coil
Odd thing i found what when i put light to the negative terminal of the coil, i get a dim light.
The coil is new.
The motor did run before and i didnt touch the distributer.

Anything I am missing here?

Thanks! I cant pull anymore hair out, it is a bit thin.

[1cdccop]

I just for the life of me cannot get the wagonner to run.

Last time I got it to run it was right after I rebuilt the carb.
The carb was flooding bad, but ran.
I pulled carb and fixed the float problem and reinstalled it. It squirts fine.
I put it back on and it will crank all day but not fire.
I just installed a new ignition module.
No fire :(
I am getting spark to #1 plug ( i didnt put the light on others)
The plugs are new (possibly fouled now, I do need to check)
I get voltage to the coil
Odd thing i found what when i put light to the negative terminal of the coil, i get a dim light.
The coil is new.
The motor did run before and i didnt touch the distributer.

Anything I am missing here?

Thanks! I cant pull anymore hair out, it is a bit thin.
Do a compression check. I dont have much experiance with electronic ignition but if you have compression, fuel, and spark it should light. The only thing else I could think of is a short in the ignition modual, causing weak spark. Also double check the fireing order on the plug wires. Worst case. Jumped time or broken timing gear. Best of luck:confused:

[Millerluck]

Pour some gas down the carb and see what it does.

Larry

[CJ5]

Just to check something, attach your timing light to each plug, have someone turn it over and see if you get lights.

Also, pop a squirt or two of starting fluid, see if you get a response.

You know your getting fuel, right?

How is your choke system?

If you have a vacume guage, you can check while you turn it over and if I am not mistake you should get 5-7hg. That could help trace an air leak.

Just throwing things out there. I hate when someone starts to lose faith...lol

[caionneach]

We need a little more information please.

I put on a Mallory Hyfire, and it works great. Since that is the biggest change and the component that has the most impact on whether you get fire or not, I would begin there.

What kind of electronic ignition module is it? A replacement for the stock unit, or something more advanced like Mallory or MSD?

I know with my Mallory Unit I had to be very careful which diagram I used to wire into my vehicle, and it mainly depended on the kind of distributor I am using. Your problem might be similar. If I had not used the correct wiring diagram I would have wired it for a different engine and distributor and would not have gotten fire to the plugs.

If yours is a stock replacement, its possible the unit itself is bad, but I would double-check the wiring if that is what you have.

Kenneth

[Dan Stewart]

The ignition module is a factory repalcement. The wiring was good, but i do want to pull the loom jsut to make sure something didnt melt. I have one of those dummy inline lines between the plug and the wire, i will check each plug. I can smell it is getting fuel and see it squirting. The weak spark I am not sure of. Another possibility is it may be old fuel. I had some old fuel in the tank and i added new stuff and it did fire and run, but it sat and I added more when i rebuilt the carb and it ran again, but it has been a bit now, maybe a month so maybe the tank settled. Does for some reason old gas settle on the bottom or top?
I have the butterflys on the choke wired open for now.

Still the on thing I am concerned about is the voltage coming from the negative side of the ignition coil. I did not have my volt meter at home with me, but when i put the dummy light on it i got a very low light.

I can try gas or carb cleaner down the carb. The carb cleaner always worked a bit better for me.

[caionneach]

Did you say weak spark?

I thought it was no spark? That changes things a bit. Weak spark is almost as bad as no spark.

Weak spark can be caused by an old distributor. I had to rebuild my distributor because of that precisely. The pickup coil in the distributor could be in need of refurbishing or replacing.

It is probably easier, if you are so inclined, to just replace it with a newer unit.

Kenneth

[CJ5]

Still the on thing I am concerned about is the voltage coming from the negative side of the ignition coil. I did not have my volt meter at home with me, but when i put the dummy light on it i got a very low light.



It is not the coil. I am sitting next to mine and put my test light on the neg side of the coil and I have a vey weak light. Mine is running and fine, so you don't have to worry about that indicator.

Bad fuel can cause problems. I wouldn't wire the choke open unless you know you are flooded.

Try fuel in the carb again and see if it sparks.

You could remove the fuel filter and tap it to see if it drops any debris.

[Millerluck]

Carb cleaner to make it run instead of gas????

Every time I shoot carb cleaner down a carb on a running engine it just about kills the thing.

Try gas.

My .02

Larry

[bigun]

Time to get out the rubber chicken

[caionneach]

What level spark are you getting at the plug?

[Green Giant]

Check all of your ground wires.......................don't ask me how I know.

[Dan Stewart]

I am not sure "level" of spark I am getting but the light in the little spark checker i got seems pretty good to me, it is bright, doesnt look weak to me.

The grounds are good, i repalced all cable grounds. I have the main engine ground bolted to the AC bracket. It was like that when i received the truck.

The carb does not have the choke connected so that is the reason for the choke tied open.

Yeah the carb cleaner worked for me before to test to see if the engine would fire. I didnt have any starting fluid at the time.

Rubber chicken maybe needed.

[710 Burner]

The ign. module is clamping the negative side of the coil and waiting for a signal from the pickup. Sounds normal.
I'm betting since your choke is tied open, you do not have enough of a fuel charge to light it off. Untie the choke and find a way to hold it closed, pump a shot or two of fuel down its throat with the throttle, and crank it. If it tries to bust off, you can open the choke.

[newtojeeps]

How many miles on the thing? Has it jumped timing? how long has it been since you rebuilt the carb? How old is the gas? when is the last time it might have run? When trying to start it did it back fire? More details please. I have started cars with 2 year old gas. They idled rough but still ran.

[Dan Stewart]

Not sure of vehicle miles 100k+
Carb rebuilt 2 months ago
Vehicle started 2 months ago right after carb rebuilt. But flooded because I didnt have the flood in correctly. Did not touch anything else
Gas is mostly 3-4 months old, with gas that maybe a year or two old inside the tank. I tried to mix the old with new to get it to run. Gas filter is new. No backfire, when it starts it starts OK, I havnt had a chance to "time" it with a lgiht but it idled.

I have had the choke open prior to me tieing it up the other day, i just tied it up because i know i have been flooding it.

[caionneach]

Looks like you have verified good spark to the plugs.

If it is a bright white, or bluish white, then it is quite good.

Mine had been a dim yellow, which pointed me to the pickup coil in the distibutor, since other things (coil, et al) had just been replaced.

I like what 710 Burner suggested by untying the choke, maybe even use a small squirt of starter fluid to see if it will fire.

[1cdccop]

Did you do a compression test?

[LTS06]

Don't quit Dan. I don't have any helpful tips but I had similar issues with the J10. Rebuilt the carb...old motor was just too tired. Actually swapped in a new(er) motor and it still wasn't right.

Took retracing everything and then taking the carb partially apart again to get it running halfway decent and I still have some small gremlins (man I wish I had a gremlin) in it.

Put the matches down...your neighbors may not like an explosion this close to Christmas. :eek:

[Tatsadasayago]

Let us not forget/overlook the dreaded distributor drive gear self destruct.....

[Dan Stewart]

Well Not sure if it is good or bad. :( I got some starting fluid and tried the waggy again and no fire. So i will have to charge the battery up and do a compression test on the engine.

[710 Burner]

There is something nagging me about the dim light on the neg. side of the coil, I just can't seem to work out in my head. If you shot it with ether and had a spark, it should have done something like tried to start, backfire, kick like a mule....something. You might pull a plug and see if the spark is jumping the gap when you turn it over. At the moment I am leaning toward the new module being bad, but I cannot support that statement with reason.

[CJ5]

I would lean towards a "fire" issue if you got nothing with starting fluid. Like I mentioned before, I placed a test light on my coil when you first reported your findings and got the same results. That is in no way a full diagnostic on the coil, though.

[Dan Stewart]

The coil is a new internal resistored unit. I only had the inline dummy light on #1 cylinder. I havnt tried any other cylinders to see if spark is getting there. And possibly the plugs could have been fouled but they were new about 6 months ago. I hope to get look at it this evening.

[710 Burner]

Yup, all of those inline dummy lights I have seen are some type of neon. It does not take much to send one off, but now that I think it through, it will tell you if the electricity went the path it was supposed to, meaning, the light would not flash if the spark did not jump a gap from somewhere to ground.
Did you get your ether in the manifold by holding the throttle open when you sprayed?
Just to clarify things....this is your '84 with a Duraspark ignition?

[Dan Stewart]

DOH!!!!!
That is one thing i forgot, to open butterflys. I didnt eve nthink of it, but i did give about 2-3 seconds of spray. I will try with the things open this time :o

The inline thing isnt a neon, but a small halogen bulb like what you would get in a tail light.

I havnt put the plug to the block to see spark. Was trusting little light bulb a little too much.

[Dan Stewart]

I sprayed it.. with butterfly open. Still didnt start but you can hear a "poof" through the carb as if one cylinder did fire, but none else. Still quite odd, because it wasnt a "backfire" but just a poof. I did not touch the distributer between the last time it ran and now. I got a few things to go back and check and retrace the wires.

[Dan Stewart]

I am going to look more into this "voltage" on the negative side of my ignition coil. I looked the coil on my other jeep and i get no light on the negative side of the terminal. I am charing the battery up so i can put it back in the waggy and put a volt meter to the coil and see what kind of voltage i am getting and will work on that. It jsut doesnt make sense.

[JeepBountyHunter]

Dan I'm almost certain your problem is the magnetic pickup in the distrubitor.....relatively cheap fix...
Good luck.

[Dan Stewart]

How would you check that?

[Dan Stewart]

I went to look at the magnetic pickup. I ohmed out the connectors, not sure of what I am looknig for, but i didnt get any open connections. I got a used distributer from a friend to look at that pickup, but it was broken, the pics showed the circuit open and the actual wires were crunchy and cracked when i moved them. The distributer that is in the wagoneer now is very clean and new looknig under the cap. I did clean the connectors, the old dielectric grease was nasty greenish (given that maybe factory) But i cleaned the terminals to see if it may have been a dirty connection. Now I am going to concentrate and try to find out if something went bad in the wiring harness to allow voltage to the negative terminal.

[Dan Stewart]

I put the Fluke meter to the coil and found I get 2.9 volts at the negative terminal on the coil. This is with the key turned on. There is no voltage when the key is off. Odd. The wire is going straight from the coil to the control module, with no funny stuff in between.

[Dan Stewart]

I continued on today looking at the ignition circuits. I found some intersting things I am just not sure of.

I was looking why there is voltage on the negative side of the coil.
This is just some things I did, mainly switching cables and unplugging connectors.

#1
Ignition Module Unplugged
Battery Cables Connected
Ignition Switch off
Coil + = 12v - = 12v

#2
Ignition Module unplugged
Battery cables unplugged
ignition switch off
Coil + = 0v - = 0v

#3
Ignition Module Unplugged
Negative battery cable removed, Positive cable connected
ignition Switch off
Coil + = 12v - = 12v

#4
Ignition Module Plugged In
Battery Cables Removed
Ignition Switch Off
Coil + = 0v - = 0v

#5
Ignition Module Plugged In
Negative Battery Cable Removed, Positive Cable Connected
Ignition Switch Off
Coil + = 12v - = 12v

#6
Ignition Module Plugged in
Battery Calbes Connected
Ignition Switch Of
Coil + = 0v - = 0v

#7
Ignition Module Plugged In
Battery Cables Connected
Ignition Switch On
Coil + = 11.4v - = 2.4v

Doing all this I am confused why the coil is getting power when the module is disconnected and the switch is off. The module and coil are brand new. All wires are connected properly. Anyone have any sugestions or observations.
Thanks!!

[newtojeeps]

check to see if you wire loom has droped onto the exhaust manifold. there could be a short.

[Dan Stewart]

The loom is good, i did repair the harness before, but the engine did run after that repair. I do not think i have had the motor even get hot enoguh to melt anything the times i had it going ;)

Thanks

[littlebuck23]

Boy sure sounds like your having a heck of a time gettin er going.

Try replacing the coil wire from the ignition coil to the dist. if that were bad or had a crappy connection. you'd be experiencing this very problem . (Crank all day no boom boom. )

hope I didn't miss that above some where.

good luck.

[stonehengeheels]

Dan,

Not a Jeep but my Coronet 440 would not start and turned out the magnetic pick up in the distibutor was bad.

[710 Burner]

You should recheck #1 and #6 and report back if both are true. There should be no difference between the two. Obviously #6 should be correct. After I looked at the wiring on an 84, I see the only way number 1 could be correct is if the starter solenoid is passing 12V during that time, which should not happen, or you have a wire shorted to 12V.

[CJ5]

A couple of those seem very odd. When I get home tonight, I can duplicate your tests and give you something to compare.

[rawdave]

The coil is a new internal resistored unit. I only had the inline dummy light on #1 cylinder. I havnt tried any other cylinders to see if spark is getting there. And possibly the plugs could have been fouled but they were new about 6 months ago. I hope to get look at it this evening.

Did you need to remove the resistor wire since the coil has an internal resistor?

[Dan Stewart]

The resistor wire is gone, it melted before i got the rig.

[Fiodh. Argus]

Keep the faith! I know, it hurts!

[Dan Stewart]

Of all the jeeps i have had, this wiring is nuts. Even my old Commando with a 304 ran better ;)

[NVJEEPER]

Have you brought #1 up and checked the rotor in the distributor? To re affirm the timing is correct? Right on for staying with it!!!:thumbsup:

[Dan Stewart]

OK, I was incorrect on #1.

I went back and checked.
I get no voltage when the ignition switch is off
When i turn on the switch
I get 12v on both positive and negative terminals on the coil when i have the module disconnected.

I get 11.4v on positive terminal and 2.3 votls on negative terminal when i have the module connected and the ignition switch is on.

[CJ5]

Dan, here are my results. I added one additional test that you did not have listed.

Ignition Module unplugged
Battery Cables Connected
Ignition Switch On

Coil +=12.44, -=12.44



I continued on today looking at the ignition circuits. I found some intersting things I am just not sure of.

I was looking why there is voltage on the negative side of the coil.
This is just some things I did, mainly switching cables and unplugging connectors.

#1
Ignition Module Unplugged
Battery Cables Connected
Ignition Switch off
Coil + = 12v - = 12v

Test += 0v, -= 0v

#2
Ignition Module unplugged
Battery cables unplugged
ignition switch off
Coil + = 0v - = 0v

Test += 0v, -=0v

#3
Ignition Module Unplugged
Negative battery cable removed, Positive cable connected
ignition Switch off
Coil + = 12v - = 12v

Test += 0v, -= 0v

#4
Ignition Module Plugged In
Battery Cables Removed
Ignition Switch Off
Coil + = 0v - = 0v

Test += 0v, -= 0v

#5
Ignition Module Plugged In
Negative Battery Cable Removed, Positive Cable Connected
Ignition Switch Off
Coil + = 12v - = 12v

Test +=0v, -=0v

#6
Ignition Module Plugged in
Battery Calbes Connected
Ignition Switch Of
Coil + = 0v - = 0v

Test +=0v, -=0v

#7
Ignition Module Plugged In
Battery Cables Connected
Ignition Switch On
Coil + = 11.4v - = 2.4v

Test +8.70v, - 2.26v

Doing all this I am confused why the coil is getting power when the module is disconnected and the switch is off. The module and coil are brand new. All wires are connected properly. Anyone have any sugestions or observations.
Thanks!!

[Dan Stewart]

So you got 12.4v on both terminals with everything plugged inand the key on. HHHMMMM I found a post earlier today but didnt end up saving it but it mentioned that I beleive you will get 12vs, but when you turn the distributer it will go to 2.4v when it "fires" to the distributer cap. I wish i had another coil to try and use. I am just at a standstill to think of my next move

So far
Coil new
ignition module new
Distributer looks good, but i couldnt find a definitive way to test pickup, or what ohms the pickup should read.
Carb is doing like it should.
Plugs, wires and cap/rotor are new

I am getting the brainpain I tell ya.

[1cdccop]

I had a 383 Chrysler do this to me once. Tried to start it on a cold morning and Ka Pow. It had all the symptoms you have posted. Timing, fuel and Ign was good but it would'nt start. I was told that I gas washed the rings by applying too much starting fluid and flooding the motor:confused: What was the results on your compression test. Did you do one???

[Dan Stewart]

I havnt done one yet. Getting home at dark thirty gets old :(

[CJ5]

I'm sorry Dan, The extra test I did which you did not have listed was

Ignition Module unplugged
Cables connected
Switch on

+=12v, -=12v

I see in another post you corrected yourself so we are the same on all tests except #3 and #5. The difference seems to be the ground. Could there be an issue with a ground somewhere?

#3 Module unplugged
Switch Off
Negative cable removed
+=0v, -=0v

#5 Module Plugged in
Switch Off
Negative Cable rmoved
+=0v, -=0v

I do not thnk you should be getting able power to the coil with the negative cable disconnected, period. Something has to be grounding for power to recorded at the coil with the negative off the battery. The negative of the battery should kill everything. For giggles, try these two tests with the switch on.

Also, with the negative cables disconnected are you getting power to anything else?

This seems like the or an issue. How is the coil getting 12v with the negative on the battery disconnected...riddle me this someone?? lol


So you got 12.4v on both terminals with everything plugged inand the key on. HHHMMMM I found a post earlier today but didnt end up saving it but it mentioned that I beleive you will get 12vs, but when you turn the distributer it will go to 2.4v when it "fires" to the distributer cap. I wish i had another coil to try and use. I am just at a standstill to think of my next move

So far
Coil new
ignition module new
Distributer looks good, but i couldnt find a definitive way to test pickup, or what ohms the pickup should read.
Carb is doing like it should.
Plugs, wires and cap/rotor are new

I am getting the brainpain I tell ya.

[Dan Stewart]

Ok at least I am not going crazy if others get the same response with the module disconnected. I just think it was odd with a "negative" terminal showing voltage.

[CJ5]

Ok at least I am not going crazy if others get the same response with the module disconnected. I just think it was odd with a "negative" terminal showing voltage.

Yea, we are getting the same results except #3 and #5. Are you sure you are getting voltage to the coil with the negative battery cable unplugged? I am not an electrical guy so I wouldn't even know how that is possible.

[Dan Stewart]

I'll do 3 and 5 again tomorrow.

Thanks for the help.

[710 Burner]

With the module disconnected and voltage applied to the positive side of the coil you will see 12V on the negative side because the coil is now not in circuit so it becomes basically a lenght of coiled wire with 12v applied to it.

[Dan Stewart]

Good. At least that means the coil is not shorted on the inside. :)

[CJ5]

Dan, I am still trying to figure out how you are getting any power to the coil with the negative battery cable off. Am I missing something or are these tests not correct?

#3
Ignition Module Unplugged
Negative battery cable removed, Positive cable connected
ignition Switch off
Coil + = 12v - = 12v

Test += 0v, -= 0v


#5
Ignition Module Plugged In
Negative Battery Cable Removed, Positive Cable Connected
Ignition Switch Off
Coil + = 12v - = 12v

Test +=0v, -=0v

[Dan Stewart]

I will check again when i get home. I probably either remembered it incorrectly (which happens often) or messed something up. I didnt have a pad of paper with me as it happened i wrote it all down after.

[Cherokee-Kid]

This isn't the first time I've seen a thread about hard start after changing out most of the major ignition components. Probably safe to assume your coil is good if you have spark at the plugs.

First solve the fuel and carb issues, siphon the tank (which is a PITA) and put fresh gas in it. Gas that sits too long begins to break down and doesn't want to burn. Fix the choke so it is closed to fire the engine. The engine needs a reduced air charge to create a gas enriched air/fuel mix to start cold. The combination of just these two items could be the issue. I mean you could be getting gas, it's just bad along with a poor mixure of it with the incoming air. The addition of the carb cleaner (starter fluid) and not much of a ignition from it, leads me to think it is a spark/timing issue. Probably a bad module.

Now as far as the ignition components, don't assume items are good because they are new. I've seen many posts with baffling hard start issues after changing the ignition module only to find that the replaced unit gave up the ghost and the new unit didn't work to begin with. I hope you retained your old one as it it ran with it. Swap in the old unit and see what you get.

If it doesn't work after this, do a compression check. Good air/fuel charge + hot spark + low compression = poor performance and not usually a no fire senerio.

Keep the faith brother, you'll get there.:thumbsup:

[Dan Stewart]

Dan, I am still trying to figure out how you are getting any power to the coil with the negative battery cable off. Am I missing something or are these tests not correct?

Unfortunately one of the tests was wrong, but not as expected.

I tested the coil terminals with the negative cable off, with and without the ignition module connected.

I got 12.3v on both positive and negative coil. I have the negative lead to the Fluke meter on the ground of the battery.

[1cdccop]

I havnt done one yet. Getting home at dark thirty gets old :(
DO A COMPRESSION TEST FOR GOD SAKES:banghead: This is the only thing on this thread I havn't see you do.

[Dan Stewart]

Still havnt had a long enough chance for that, probably wont get to that till sunday.

[Dan Stewart]

OK, I was able to get half a compression test done before the battery died.

I was able to check all cylidners on the driver side of the motor.
1 = 130
2 = 140
3 = 135
4 = 125

All plugs are new, but they looked like it could have been fouling of the plugs. They were not "wet" with oil but you can tell it was dirty from oil and probably cooked on there. I took the wire wheel to the outer tang and tried to clean them the best i could with some carb cleaner, which i also ran out of. I know the engine had been sitting for abotu a year or so before I fired it up. When i pulled the valve covers i saw alot of gunk inside on the rockers.. And when it did run, it smoked like heck. I didnt get a chance to run it long enoguh to burn everything out of it, so it could be a mix of crap in the cylinders, exhaust and maybe a stuck ring or two. I added some mhystery oil in my last oil change to try and clean it up a bit, so the plugs could have been fouled for multiple things.

[amc75matador]

Carb cleaner to make it run instead of gas????

Every time I shoot carb cleaner down a carb on a running engine it just about kills the thing.

Try gas.

My .02

Larry
Anytime you add more fuel to the mix (carb cleaner to a running engine) you have to add more air, so this will make the engine flood. You need to have the throtle open when you add cleaner or any other fuel to a running engine. This is helpful when cleaning a carb, if you must do it with the engine running it helps to have an assistant that will sit inside and keep the thottle half way down.

[CJ5]

Unfortunately one of the tests was wrong, but not as expected.

I tested the coil terminals with the negative cable off, with and without the ignition module connected.

I got 12.3v on both positive and negative coil. I have the negative lead to the Fluke meter on the ground of the battery.

This just does not make any sense to me, how are you getting voltage to coil with the negative battery disconnected. I don't see anyone else chiming in on this little fact so maybe I am dumb in this regard???

I see you did a compression check and all was pretty good. This should not be the issue based on where you started from. You can have bad compression and still get fire, especially using starting fluid.

The gas may be an issue but again, if you are not getting fire using starting fluid then I thnk that too is a secondary issue.

To me, all things are pointing towards fire. I will look in the manual and see if there are some tests that can be done with the distributor pickup, like someone mentioned.

Do you have a timing light? If so, you could check to see if you are getting pulse from each plug wire.

Keep the faith...

[Dan Stewart]

I havnt tried putting a timing light on the wires to check that way. I am going to clean the rest of the plugs, that is one thing that looked odd, just because the oil was kind of cooked on it and it looked like it would be tough to get a spark through the coating.

[710 Burner]

This just does not make any sense to me, how are you getting voltage to coil with the negative battery disconnected. I don't see anyone else chiming in on this little fact so maybe I am dumb in this regard???

He is measuring across the battery. He is taking an odd route to get there, but he is measuring across the battery.

[CJ5]

Weel, Dan, I saw in another post that your coil was cracked. Hopefully, this was the issue. Keep us posted on how you got it running.

[Dan Stewart]

Yeah it should be. I am going to HEI and will get it running. I tried to finish up the compression test, i got 130 for each of the front two cylinders on the passenger side, but i could get to the back two because of the heater. So I do believe the engine will run. Now to get a ignition setup to let it run :)

Thanks for the help!!

[Joe Guilbeau]

This just does not make any sense to me, how are you getting voltage to coil with the negative battery disconnected. I don't see anyone else chiming in on this little fact so maybe I am dumb in this regard???

I see you did a compression check and all was pretty good. This should not be the issue based on where you started from. You can have bad compression and still get fire, especially using starting fluid.

The gas may be an issue but again, if you are not getting fire using starting fluid then I thnk that too is a secondary issue.

To me, all things are pointing towards fire. I will look in the manual and see if there are some tests that can be done with the distributor pickup, like someone mentioned.

Do you have a timing light? If so, you could check to see if you are getting pulse from each plug wire.

Keep the faith...

;)

[Joe Guilbeau]

You cannot do voltage tests on the Jeep with the Negative Battery cable disconnected.

Your coil should have voltage on it when the Ignition Key is turned to the "On" but not Start position.

The voltage on the Positive and Negative terminals on the coil will be either the same, or the Negative Terminal on the Ignition Coil will be at 2.4Vdc or less.

The distributor pick-up coil grounds the wire that is going to the Ignition Module which sends this ground to the Negative Terminal of the Ignition Coil.

This, in turn dumps the energy stored in the secondary side of the Ignition Coil windingss ( usually 1:100 step-up ratio to primary side winding of coil) and the energy is sent to the distributor via the Ignition Coil Spark plug wire to the center of the distributor cap.

The reason why you measure 11Vdc or so on the Positive Terminal of the Ignition Coil is that one side (the side you put the voltmeter positive RED cable on) is connected to ground thru the Primary Windings of the Ignition Coil. Therefore you will get the battery voltage less the Voltage of the IR drop of the resistance of the primary windings of the Ignition Coil.

Just a little background, in case any of you are interested.

[Joe Guilbeau]

Still havent read:

Year
Make
Model
Engine


This after 4 pages of posts, if you understand my post above, you will see that all of your voltage measurements are correct.

Put the NO. 1 Pisgton at Top Dead Center (TDC) on the compression stroke, verified with wooden dowel stick with No. 1 Spark Plug removed.

Replace No. 1 Spark Plug.

Place distributor so that the rotor is pointing directly at the No. 1 Spark Plug Brass terminal of the Distributor, and the timing marks line up with manufactures specifications.

Now, the vehicle should start. If it does not start, get someone to crank it while you gently twist the distributor (after loosening the distributor clamp down bolt) and you SHOULD be able to get her to run and start.

If you can get her to start, then you can pull the Vacuum line off of the Vacuum advance (you do have the other end to manifold vacuum and not ported vacuum, right?) after the engine warms up.

Put the timing light on it and set to manufactures specs, in this case we are assuming you might have a OEM AMC Jeep engine.

I apologize if I do not know this already, as I will not go searching post to post on other threads to see if this fact was mentioned aforehand.

[Skeeter74]

Olde Poste Rivival! Come on down!










:hide:

[710 Burner]

Gonna have some healin' under the big tent?

[fulsizjeep]

Gonna have some healin' under the big tent?But can a big tent event really heal the pain of FSJ ownership? :p

[fisheyestudio]

But can a big tent event really heal the pain of FSJ ownership? :p

Probably not...this is more a thorn in the flesh issue. God's Grace is sufficient!

In all seriousness, Jesus has used our FSJ in many ways so far...even to teach me patience and not to throw my tools...hehe.

Bro. Chris

[710 Burner]

But can a big tent event really heal the pain of FSJ ownership? :p
Pppfft! You tell me. How's your head?

[fulsizjeep]

Pppfft! You tell me. How's your head?:lol: My head feels pretty good thanks! :) Still have some aches and pains in my R ribs and back but that is coming along with chiropractor care. No word back yet on the L knee MRI last week.