76 CJ-5 questions.......

Congrats!

The Haynes CJ manual isn't expensive and is a very good manual for most things.

Your issue with the oil could be a PCV issue. Does it have a good (rattles free when shaken) PCV valve and is the elbow at the back of the PCV line where it turns to the carb still an elbow or has it collapsed yet?

Is there a second line either off the top of the PCV valve or on a T in the PCV line that goes to the charcoal canister? If so, pinch this line to the canister closed at idle. If the idle changes, the canister purge valve is bad or plumbed wrong and the PCV is effectively shut down causing oil pressure in the wrong places.

Does it spit some oil into the air filter too?

The sputter could be the above or maybe an EGR valve that opens too easy or isn't closed all the way due to carbon. You can unplug the EGR and block the line for a quick test.

One other strange one I have seen a bunch of lately and read here is a mis matched rotor and distributor cap. Some rotors are made about 1/8" too short so at low rpm it misses.

How many miles are on it?

When you did the compression did you have the throttle held wide open?

You also can put a tablespoon of oil into each cylinder and do a second compression test to see if the rings are weak or the valves are weak. If the compression comes up, the rings are leaky, if it stays the same, the top is leaky.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

Steve G wrote:

Mike does he need to drill out the idle tubes, etc?

The EGR valve has what looks like a vacum line running from it to the distributor..is this right? ]

This might help, it has embedded links to 1970s-era vacuum routing diagrams for the 258.

And this site has more links to technical info for you:

Including this link to mid-1970s vacuum plumbing:

And, just for giggles, an exploded view of your engine. Sooner or later you will want to know the Engine Day Build Code, this view shows you where to find it:

Steve G wrote:

Well.... Yes and no. It should be running to a CTO valve somewhere in the water jacket so it only works when the engine is warmed up. Working EGR cold makes for crappie acceleration. It will sputter. You can pull this line off the EGR and block the line with a bolt to see if the sputter goes away.

The line from the carb base goes to the distributor and the EGR? I didn't see the T fitting in the photo....

You should have manifold vacuum running to a T and a from there one goes to the distributor and the other goes to the CTO valve that then feeds the EGR and the charcoal canister purge valve.

I am not sure where the CTO valve is on yours. Mine has it on the intake manifold, it is a fitting with two nipples. There also is one that fits in some air filters.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

Steve G wrote:

PMFJI, on some '76s, all 232s and some 258s, the EGR port is blocked off with a 1/4" metal plate.

I dont see the CTO valve thingy...im guessing this has been tossed. After closer inspection the "manifold vacum" does run to the distributor only and the EGR valve it seems has nothing attatched to it.

I did have the gas tank vent hose loose in that picture.. its now back on.

The PCV valve is connected with a hose to a fitting right between the EGR valve and the manifold..Im assuming pulling the gasses out of the valve cover..as the rear of the valve cover has a hose from it running to the air cleaner.

The fuel filter is out of sight on the other side where the fuel line comes from the frame.

Does this sound any better? I now have a Haynes manual.. im trying to catch up!!

I had a brain fart on the vacuum lines yesterday. The EGR if hooked up needs a ported vacuum signal, so does the canister.

'I' personally find a ported vacuum signal on my distributor gives me an instant punch when I hit the gas, but stock most distributors came with a manifold vacuum or a dual vacuum. The manifold vacuum on them makes the emissions different at idle. You might want to play with that to see which one makes it run best. The ported vacuum nipple is usually up high on the valve cover side and only gets vacuum when the gas pedal opens.

Can you explain where the line that was off at the top of the carb runs to?

The line from the rear of the valve cover to the air intake is the intake for the PCV system. Filtered air is sucked into the engine at the back as needed and pulled out the front via the PCV valve that is hooked up below the carb. That is also the same vacuum port the brakes would use if you had power brakes.

How is the distributor cap and rotor?

If the EGR isn't hooked up, it isn't likely the cause of the sputter, but as someone else mentioned it can be plated off. Actually is it even hooked up to anything at the bottom??? You have headers and lots of those don't make any provision for the exhaust part of the EGR valve so it could just be in limbo.

If the EGR is indeed not connected into the exhaust, then it should be removed and a metal plate put under it or in place of it. If it is leaky, it can cause sputtering issues.

Do you have any vacuum lines or parts in the air filter?

Mike

Steve G wrote:

Yes, I am guessing that is why there is no vacuum line going to it.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

Just in case you aren't quite sure what you are looking for: The EGR CTO should be low on the driver's side of the block, between cyl 2 and cyl

1. It looks like a brass pipe fitting with a plastic piece moulded into it. The plastic piece should have three vacuum ports set at right angles. Originally there should probably have been a second CTO for the ignition vacuum system located between cyl 4 and cyl 5.

Mike Romain wrote: [snip]

If the headers don't connect to the bottom of the intake manifold, wouldn't that be a honkin' huge vacuum leak every time the EGR opened?

Nope, i took it completly out of its bracket.. only 3 ports on it.. Tank...Carb Bowl...Purge

about 6" worth of hose open to fresh air

Looks clean on the edge of the button and the inside of the cap

Ok, stock I believe there should be a nipple on the bottom of the air filter intake snorkel. The venturi effect there sucks the fumes out of the activated charcoal that is in the canister.

The canister has a $2.00 air filter on the bottom that is usually just called an emissions filter. The old filter is a bugger to dig out and then the new one just tucks in.

How are the wires? I had a miss and a sputter at idle the other day and one of my plug wires had vibrated loose. Plugged it back and it purrs again.

Mike

Steve G wrote:

PMFJI on this again. I looked at the evap system on my resto '76 CJ5 this afternoon and dug out the original Carter carb, which was replaced with a Weber.

There are 3 hoses from the canister. (Later years 4 hoses, with a vacuum control for the purge.) One small hose vents the tank (mine has a green plastic hose that runs along the from from the tank vent valve) and another small hose purges the canister (on a stocker runs it to a venturi port at the very end of the air horn on the air cleaner. I run the purge line on mine to a port on the side of the Weber.) These should be marked on the canister itself.

Finally, there's a big bowl vent hose, which is the large one that should run from the carb to the big port on the canister.

What I've noticed on a lot of these old rigs is that the air cleaners are replaced with either an aftermarket unit, or one from a later year Jeep, and the purge line is left open, like on his. This allows the canister to get saturated, but even worse lets moisture & crap to get drawn into the canister, if not all the way back into the tank.

FWIW, I tried to get a replacement canister a few years ago and never did find one. I did replace the little gauze filter at the bottom of the thing, which is a simple Fram part.