73 CJ5 was running great, started sputtering and now wont start

I see a pinch mark in the insulation. Bein a 45 year lectrician I am suspicious..

I am thinking that hole may be for an alignment tab on the dist cap. But I don't have the cap to look at and am not familiar with that distributor.

 

Don't worry about it. We all started from the same place. Some of us just started from that place fifty years ago. It is hard to diagnose anything about any vehicle over the internet. Standing around with a bunch of people, one foot on a bumper and a beer in hand has usually worked for me. A few times it took more than one day and more than one beer. Usually it was something really simple and embarasing later.

 

Thank you. I'll try that. After talking to a few people, I was gonna change it to electronic ignition. I'll try that first.

What's your opinion on changing to an electronic ignition?

 

ive run a pertronix unit for years,without issue just dont pinch the wires.

 

Electronic ignition is a good upgrade, but I would want to make the points ignition work first. You have many choices for an ignition upgrade.

 

personally I think an electronic ignition is worlds better than a points type.. Just gotta decide which one is best for you.. And how much you wanna spend

 

It only takes 15 minutes to install and adjust set of points. Seems very few people today want to learn that skill, but it is not hard.

 

I got 4 years out of my pertronix and then it suddenly stopped working. I went back to points triggering a MSD 6 digital unit

 

I don't know. I installed the petrinix about 8 years ago on the 3B with a v6 and other than having to pull the thing out to deal with the spacers on the bottom to minamize the vertical space on the shaft it was pretty much over with other than knowing how to stab the thing back in at the correct place. I did the tuneup on my Commando about 6 years ago. It uses points and I haven't had to mess with it at all. I did strange things like using distributor cam lube on the cam and bought the best set of points I could

 

You said you are going to try the electronic ignition first. What do you do if it still won't run?

Everything is there for it to run. Just fix it - don't throw money at it, hoping that you will fix the problem without having to understand it.

 

Don't know anything bout points. Just goin off what friends r telling me. But I would love to get it working. . I'm very willing to learn. I'll give it a shot.

 

Just a thought. Have you set the gap on the points??

 

I have the skill as that's all that was available when I started driving.. After installing an electronic ignition in my dirt bike I forgot about adjusting points and all their other problems.

 

Rodney, electronic ignition is an excellent upgrade. There are many, many different combinations of junkyard, new production and aftermarket parts that will work on the 232. Points ignition (a "Kettering trigger") is much simpler, although the points wear out after a few 10,000 miles.

First thing I would do is make sure I got a good strong blue-white spark when I open the points. You can put the coil wire next to the engine block and turn the engine so that the points are closed. Key on. Then if you open and close the points with a well-insulated (!) screwdriver or a stick of some kind, you should get a blue-white spark that jumps a 1/4" gap with a snap. Try that.

 

I was riding my Harley home and it srarted to run like poop but I got it home and then thought about iit. Oh yeah this thing still has points. It took longer to pulll the covers off than to reset the points. In the age of all of all the electronic stuff. A set of points doesn't seem to be the first thing that comes to my mind

 

No sir. Have not

 

Clean accurately gapped points are one of the very first steps in a basic tuning - which is where you should start. It may well cure your problem too.
No diagnosis on a vehicle is valid unless the basics are put "in spec" first.

A factory service manual will save you many hours, and hundreds of bucks, and a lot of aggravation. Or at least just google about setting points.

 

And it got you home. Not so easy when electronics go dark.