Sorry I took so long - work/ uncle died/ daughter's birthday/ etc. Just got in. Mr. Jeep's rear pinion seal has sprung a leak, looks like they'd last more than 38 years (at this pace, i'll never get time to replace it)
prestolite was a very crappily designed system
the wires entering the distributor are basically solid copper telephone wires (like about the size of what plugs into your house phone's body)
if this is not anchored well, it will shake around and break the wire(s)
i've seen this many times, especially w/ 6 cylinders, wires sorta just dangle, a 304 ain't as bad, the wires lay on the intake
if you disconnect the plug, you can run a continuity test thru it to see if the wires complete the circuit
i upgraded to a motorcraft system (which was standard in '79 on up cjs)
pic 1) this is my motorcraft distributor, it has 3 stranded wires into the distributor. Test your 2 pins like I show for continuity (lost? I can explain that too)
pic 2) you can have your ign module tested at a parts store, this happens to be advance auto parts' machine. I laid out 2 pigtails for this pic, the one next to the machine is to test a motorcraft module, the one to the left is for prestolite. Run the test at least 5 time in a row, to insure the module is good, do the same for a new one, should it be needed, before you leave the store.
Pic 3) key on, what do you have at the positive side of the coil?
If this ain't cutting it, i'll run you thru installation of the distributor again.
Should you want to upgrade later to motorcraft, I can talk you thru it. As far as all of this "high speed" and "high dollar" ignition stuff, I have not seen any advantage over stock stuff and "regular jeepin", that stuff may do something special if you are racing.
The medic
Images (Click to make bigger)
Saturday, July 13th, 2019 AT 11:45 AM
(Merged)
