my 1983 CJ 8 (scrambler) wont start

That little brain box is the only thing you have left to buy! And the twenty dollar item usually is the problem:

God Bless America, Bill O|||||||Omailto: snipped-for-privacy@aol.com

First I would verify the body still has a ground. The mesh strap from the rear of the head to the firewall rots easy. You can check this with a battery booster cable by running from the battery negative to the body with the cables.

I would then unplug the alternator small plug to see what happens. The excite wire is tagged to the coil power and if a distributor diode shorts, it can suck the coil to ground.

There are a couple ideas,

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's - Gone to the rust pile... Canadian Off Road Trips Photos: Non members can still view! Jan/06 (More Off Road album links at bottom of the view page)

If the 4-banger ignition is anything like the Ford system used on the

232/258, I'd cast a curious eye towards the starter relay and the wiring to the coil. The relay (in the Ford system) is supposed to feed battery voltage to the coil during cranking.

That he gets a spark when he cycles the key is interesting. There's a clue there someplace, I just can't quite grasp it.

Oh, and Bateric -- if the shop you used gave your Jeep back to you still broken, never, ever go back there again.

His 'is' the 258 or 4.2L engine he says, but good point. He could jumper the coil positive to the battery to see if it them starts. It then won't shut down until you unhook it.

Mike

we did try that and got nothing (the guy that helped me try that happened to have an old ford van and that was his idea too)

Google Groups now, eh?

Another step down the ladder.

Booted from Teranews!

I love it!