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Distributor wires all off by one spot going clockwis?

T

thanasi85

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Sacramento, CA
Just bought a new rig 1988 4.0. Doing a tune up today I discovered that all the plug wires are off by one spot going clockwise. The jeep runs so was wondering if anyone had insight as to why this would have been done and if I should move them all back one spot.
 
joejeep92 said:
If they stabbed the distributor a couple teeth off they could have put the wires on wrong to compensate.
Click to expand...

If they stabbed the distributor "a couple of teeth off" it would run like total crap. Switching the wires back would not compensate for that. If that was the case you could install the distributor however, and just switch wires around until it ran good.

How do you know the wires were one slot forward?

Before you pull the distributor, post a picture of the errant wires and we'll see what's up.
 
I had this issue after having my 304 rebuilt for my CJ5. I could only get it to run with the wires all moved one place over (even after upgrading to a full MSD ignition). I found out later why when I rebuilt the engine about 30k miles later when oil pressure dropped and a piston seized. The original timing chain was installed wrong. IIRC, the 304 is supposed to have 20 links between marks, but the original chain was installed with 21 links. After I rebuilt it myself, the wires were able to be connected in correct locations.
 
ParadiseXJ said:
If they stabbed the distributor "a couple of teeth off" it would run like total crap. Switching the wires back would not compensate for that. If that was the case you could install the distributor however, and just switch wires around until it ran good.

How do you know the wires were one slot forward?

Before you pull the distributor, post a picture of the errant wires and we'll see what's up.
Click to expand...

Actually yes...this is possible. You can even install it 180 out and install the wires so that they fire at the proper times. Case in point I had a Dodge come in and the student put the wires on as the book said but wouldn't run worth a crap. Had him check it several times before I took a look. Distributor was 180 degrees out so the previous technician had simply moved the wires. It's an old time lazy trick...
 
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So I did put the wires in the correct order and the jeep wouldn't even turn over. I'm going to be redoing it tonight and remove the spark plug in #1 and turn the motor to TDC and then reseat the distributer and see what happens. The motor has been replaced by the PO at a shop and I'm not sure if anything was done to the timing chain so I'm hoping they didn't install it off a tooth and they did this to compensate and IM going to make things worse.. here are some pics of how it looks
IMG_4967_zps99cc124c.jpg

IMG_4974_zpsbb325605.jpg

IMG_4973_zpsbd7a412b.jpg


The numbers on the inside of the circle are how its wires now and the numbers below them are what it should be.
IMG_4970_zps84d1a3b6.jpg
 
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G50B04621


this pic represents where the rotor should be at the beginning of install. Once seated, the rotor should point @ 5 O'clock
 
Digger87xj said:
the inside circle of that drawing is correct. That is how it should be
Click to expand...

The drawing shows the firing order starting with 1 that is marked on the cap which should be 1-5-3-6-2-4 but on mine represented by the numbers in the center of the circle the wire that goes to the one spot on the cap is going to cyl 5, what should be going to 5 is going to 3 and so on...
 
Every 4.0 cap I've dealt with has the number one cylinder marked on it. Mark that point on your distributor body and set TDC. Once TDC is set pull your distributor and turn the rotor to the mark you made. Check the bottom of distributor shaft and adjust the oil pump with a flathead screwdriver to match. Keep in mind that the drive gear will cause the rotor to turn slightly, it might take a few tries to get it set correctly.
 
Here you go...my coffee just kicked in.




I was chiming in because I was trying to save the OP from going through the process of pulling and re-stabbing the dizzy.
 
Last edited:
So here is the pic of how mine is again but I labeled it this time. My number one spot on the distributor is labeled with the yellow number 1 but it has the #5 spark plug wire going to it which isn't right. I did move the wires to the correct location according to the diagram you guys posted but that caused the motor to not fire. Just trying to understand why all the wires would have been installed one spot off from their correct location? The motor does feel like it has a miss but it still drives well when on the throttle, its just something I can feel at idle. I have replaced the cap and rotor and plugs and still feel the miss? I have two timing marks on the crank for some reason so I moved each one to TDC and neither time was the rotor pointed in the correct spot when lined up with either mark. My though is that the PO had the harmonic balancer replaced and it was just slapped back on. Not sure what to do at this point.
IMG_4967_zpsddc459d0.jpg
 
joejeep92 said:
Harmonic balancer should be keyed on so it would take more than a slap to get that wrong.
Click to expand...

Not sure what's going on then.. The balancer has two distinct factory looking notches on the backside and I marked each one with chalk and then manually turned the engine to each mark pointed at TDC with the cap off and one mark had the rotor pointed in some random direction and the other mark had the rotor pointed to just about where my #2 plug is labeled in my pic.
 
The distributor is installed one tooth off.

The PO replaced it with a reman ( I can see the reman stamp in previous pic) and installed it wrong.
 
Digger87xj said:
The distributor is installed one tooth off.

The PO replaced it with a reman ( I can see the reman stamp in previous pic) and installed it wrong.
Click to expand...

Ok, so with it being one tooth off it would still run but would explain the feeling of a miss and the wiring configuration? So I should be able to set it to TDC by removing the plug in #1 and looking for the piston to come up to the top of its compression stroke and then remove the dizzy and reinstall it and place the wires in the correct firing order and be good to go?
 
yup.
Position the oil pump drive (inside the distributor hole) to 11/5 oclock. then set the distributor so it looks like the pic I posted above and drop it in. The rotor should then sit pointing at correct #1 position.
 
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