Ignition

Are you picking it up?

Am I teaching you well?

I cannot sit by and do nothing, if I can assist with getting a (real) Jeep back on the road.

I will be here as long as you continue to respond. Several other Jeeps I have assisted have gone to well over 100 replies.

Any news with your distributor?

The Medic

Okay.

Is the cam follower (plastic piece on the points that rides the hex) still in the flat spot of the hex as it was in your picture that I "painted" on?

If so, that is where we want it!

Now, turn the adjusting screw CW (clockwise) until you see the cam follower lift slightly off of the flat of the hex (the whole points assembly will move). This gap you make between the follower and the flat will insure the breaker points are actually closed (touching)

Let me know when you are there, then we will do a test!

The Medic

Sorry about your other vehicle, it is probably not a Jeep! LOL!

This is how 2carpros works!

The best thing you could do is bring it over here to me and we could jump on hands on!

That would involve a heck of a tow bill to get it to the East Coast!

The way this works over here a 2car is: you ask, I respond, you do the tests, we figure out whats wrong!

Later (maybe even sooner) another feller reads what you and I have plundered through and figures out whats been going wrong with his 1972 CJ5.

(This may be how you came across the 2carpros site)

Any other route, that feller misses out on all of the fun!

Besides, there are other good things about working it all out here, There are about twenty other regular responding experts (and a bunch more of intermittent ones too) that I can depend on for assistance should I get stumped. We also have free access to many pay online references (vehicle manuals) that would cost a pretty penny for an individual.

Many folks get an answer like check this, check that, sounds like your catastrophic converter needs to be re-calibrated!

Pretty much they understand and are happy with the answer or they are still lost. We never see another response.

I started out here looking for an in depth Jeep answer myself when I stumbled onto this site in 2009. As I read through a bunch of short, sweet, complicated Jeep answers, whereas the question asker was left in the dark and never came back (I realized they would probably mess things up more than fix them).

CJs are super and are my cup of tea! Bad thing now days is everything is computer and complicated and the older carbureted vehicles fall to the wayside and fewer and fewer people really know them by heart!

So, over 10,000 responses ago from me back in 2009, I sort of vowed that I would really help out with the CJs by going to any length to try to get educate and get their CJ on the road again (I do answer other types of vehicles too).

Being laid up for months with a broken foot with complications got me started using a computer for the first time and plenty of time to repair CJs from my recliner!

I am all ears! Do not feel embarrassed or nothing, we like feedback!

Am I not explaining well enough? Bad pictures? I know it takes time, short and sweet stuff leaves you hanging, a Jeep manual is great except for everything is explained kind of scientifically and that sometimes leaves a beginner not knowing what to do.

So,

Are you still on board? I will stay as long as it takes!

The Medic

Great policy explanation CJ. :-)

Renee

Pictures below.

Maybe I have explained this a little better/different.

Let me know when you have done this.

Then we can move onward to a good test.

Still lost? Let me know.

The Medic

The beaker points now touch!

Turn on the ignition (key) to "on".

Do this when it is kind of quiet and maybe not so bright (not in the sunshine).

Insert a Popsicle stick or plastic whatever between the distributor shaft and the point arm.

Warning!

If you use something metal you will probably get shocked!

Twist or pry with the stick to barely crack the points apart.

You should hear a faint pop along with a blue spark between the breaker points.

Pry it open barely but very quickly over and over and over, you should get a pop, pop, pop, pop, pop along with the blue spark each time!

Nothing?

Turn off the key.

Fold a small piece of fine sandpaper in half or grab your cardboard fingernail file. Pry the points open and insert your sandpaper or cardboard fingernail file between them. Let go of the points and commence sanding for a minute or so! Remove the sanding device.

Start over!

Key on.

Popsicle stick

Pry.

Results? Popping? Spark?

Whatever happens (or does not), I am ready to tell you what to try next!

Picture below.

My keyboard has something under the "R", sorry if my "Rs" do not show all of the time!

The Medic

Do you have a voltmeter?

$5.00 at "Harbor Freight", maybe $20.00 at a parts store.

Got to have one to continue. You can use it forever and ever.

Like my pictures huh?

I really try to get things down to K-3 level.

My "was" two year old grandson (now 12) asked me why I had a chock behind the wheel of my 1946 Willy's army Jeep in my garage. He had not really mastered the English language at the time. I was all alone baby sitting.

The only way I got it through to him was to set up a small piece of plywood as a ramp beside my Jeep (for effect). I put one of his heavy metal trucks on it.

I then stuck a scale model make-do chock behind his wheel.

We both looked at it for a while with puzzled faces as we stared at each other.

He was lost until I pulled the chock out and let his truck fly down the driveway and crash when it went into the grass.

At that point, I started to scream and cry like a little girl!

I regained my composure for thirty seconds or so.

Then I went over to my Jeep and acted like I was going to pull the chock out.

He was so very insistent,

"No, Papa, No!"

He has never forgotten that "In Garage" physics lesson!

Driver's side rear wheel in picture

Got Voltmeter?

The Medic

Let's try one more thing while we are at this point.

Turn the key off and re-run your temporary jumper wire from the positive battery post and back over to your positive coil post.

Now with the points being still closed try the Popsicle stick thing again.

Any sparking? Any popping?

The Medic

Give me a little time, I just got in from the Veterans Day parade.

I was the only military vehicle there today, my other two buddies with Jeeps were sick today. The National Guard armory has relocated while their building is being revamped so they were not there. Almost a riot as to who was going to ride with me today.

The winner was 102 year old Mike who stormed the beach in Normandy.

Maybe I can grab a picture from a local online newspaper when they post.

Must eat and get warm now, four hours time difference, back as soon as I can.

The Medic

Same here,

Cannot answer till after work (about 6:00 PM EST).

You need some feeler gauges for next task. Get them!

See picture.

The Medic