'83 CJ 7 Stalls

[Torxhead]

Either way will work. When AMC wired the icm ground wire to the distributor, it was a poor design as paint or grease on the distributor body where it meets the block can create a poor ground circut and ruin the icm. a loose distributor hold down can be a bad thing also. The other two wires are for the distributor pick up coil to the icm and should have a 600-800 ohm resistance between the two. when it goes bad the engine will run pretty crappy or not at all similar to a bad icm. I just snipped the wire and ran it to a grounding post that is wired to the battery negative post. On this grounding post that I have mounted to the firewall there are connections going to the head and taillights, fuel gauge sender, alternator, head, dash board, wiper motor, and starter relay. I am sure many CJ owners have similar setups since AMC has grounded much of its electrical systems to sheet metal and cast iron which provides a poor connection.

 

[Comandercody]

Thanks Torx. I Took her out today and on the way home it stalled like 5 times. :-(. I thought I was making progress. I installed a brass grounding post and ground the batt neg, alternator, Distro and ICM by splicing into the black wire that goes to the distro with lots of dielectric grease. Cleaned plug connection that is coming off the distro, was a little green. Started her up and 30 seconds later, stall.

Turned key off, tried to start again and turned key all the way and nothing. Turned again, nothing. Turned key all the way back to off, turned to start again and she started. Played around with ignition switch, held it forward, revved engine several times, all good. Turned key back slightly, not to full off, gunned engine and she stalled. Started again, rotated key forward to the point of re-starting but not quite and it idled for 5 minutes. Took it around the block with no issues.

Parked in the driveway, turned her off. Tried to start again and got nothing. Turned key all the way back, then tried to start and it started again and stalled in less than 30 seconds.

 

[mtnwhlr]

I brought up something that could cause this and got no response.

 

[Comandercody]

Here is something you might want to check. On my 5 I was out camping for the week and one day we were doing this trail and it would just quit without warning and then just fire right back up and what I found was the wires going to the coil fit in a plastic plug that said Ford on it and it wasn't getting a good contact. So to check it when it was running I would move the wires around and it died.

I pulled that plastic plug apart and found a lot of green stuff. WD 40'ed it with a wire brush, cleaned it good, hit it with some dielectric grease and pluged it back in..........

Started back up, then i experienced the problems above.....

 

[mtnwhlr]

The best thing I did was get rid of it altoghter, I bought a MSD Masterblaster coil that has threaded terminals and put new ends on the wires and have never had another problem. And mine was the same year as yours, that plasiic plug just plan sucks. I would be surprised if it didn't fix you problem. I will post a pic of what I did I need to down load it.

 

[mtnwhlr]

This is the setup that fixed it for me

 

[Comandercody]

The best thing I did was get rid of it altoghter, I bought a MSD Masterblaster coil that has threaded terminals and put new ends on the wires and have never had another problem. And mine was the same year as yours, that plasiic plug just plan sucks. I would be surprised if it didn't fix you problem. I will post a pic of what I did I need to down load it.

Are you talking about the plastic wiring harness that connects the red and green wires to the top of the coil?

 

[mtnwhlr]

Yes Busadave9 has a pic if it it is let me see if I can post it for you.

 

[Comandercody]

Yes Busadave9 has a pic if it it is let me see if I can post it for you.

I bought a new harness and connected it to the old wires.

At this point i think the issue may be with the ignition switch in the steering column........

 

[mtnwhlr]

I think you are wrong but good luck with it.

 

[Comandercody]

View attachment 16356

 

[Torxhead]

The ignition switch is a possible issue, but is that coil warm when it stalls out?

 

[Comandercody]

The ignition switch is a possible issue, but is that coil warm when it stalls out?

I have a laser temperature gun, its about 125-130 when it stalls. But its right next to the block, not sure if thats high or not.....

 

[Torxhead]

Did you ever verify that you are not stalling out due to lack of fuel? That would be a good thing to verify prior to thinking this is an electrical issue. Like do you have enough fuel pressure and is getting into the engine.

 

[Comandercody]

Did you ever verify that you are not stalling out due to lack of fuel? That would be a good thing to verify prior to thinking this is an electrical issue. Like do you have enough fuel pressure and is getting into the engine.

Mechanic says fuel pressure is fine, I dont have a way to check it yet.

 

[Torxhead]

If there is a weak electrical connection, sometimes jiggling wires while it is runnung like in the coil, alternator, and starter relay area might detect something. If you have a mechanic working with you on this, it must be quite a hidden problem. Looking back at post #22 it does sound like a possible ignition switch problem.

 

[Comandercody]

If there is a weak electrical connection, sometimes jiggling wires while it is running like in the coil, alternator, and starter relay area might detect something. If you have a mechanic working with you on this, it must be quite a hidden problem. Looking back at post #22 it does sound like a possible ignition switch problem.

Ignition Switch fixed, the plastic gear piece was rubbed smooth almost, sometimes preventing the other lever from pushing the rod down to start.

Got her home. Tried to take her out on Saturday, idled for 2 minutes, cut off. Same thing over and over, start, die 30 seconds later.

Took it out on the road, would stall/cut off consistently.

Took carb butterfly valve assembly off, removed venturi(spelling), blew out spray holes with air compressor, put it back, no help.

Depressed.

 

[Torxhead]

I guess you would be depressed, refer back to post 34. I see you have put a lot of parts into that thing also. About all I can suggest at this point is the idle circut in the carb, as it does sound like it starts up right after a stall. Does it stall at speed or only during idle?

 

[Comandercody]

Stalls at speed, stalls while slowing down, stalls while idling. Looking closer at the carb it has motorcraft stamped on the top of it. Maybe a 2100?? It matches 2100 pictures. While I had the top of it off, the gasket looked in good condition. But I don't have any experience with carbs. Mechanic wants $200 to rebuild it.

 

[Torxhead]

Maybe its time to get some experience. I would think there is a lot of online info and repair manuals to get you going and answer any questions. It still hasn't been verified that the carb is even the issue though, but the carb is a good start. Looking back at post #18 the coil could be at issue due to a wiring problem. You should get 6 volts with the ignition on from the coil positive terminal and the ground, and full battery voltage when you crank the starter. There should also be about 1.35 ohms between the positive and negative posts on the coil.