Dauntless V6 dead cylinder, Who can solve the mystery?

Here's the deal. Got the CJ together. Original stock 225, definately OF. Installed the new HEI (also definately OF). First try was 180* out. Read all the tutorials and old posts. Tried again and got it right. Fired right up. I timed it a 5* BTDC. Runs smooth but was missing on #6.

I swapped plugs to make sure it wasn't the plug. Nope (but plug was fouled from fuel, I cleaned it and re installed)

I swapped wires (new 8mm) between cylinders. Nope

I pulled plug wires off the dist cap one at a time, all shot a 1/2 inch spark except #6. So there's awesome HEI spark happening at the distributor an all but #6.

Pull off #6 and nothing, no change in engine rpm or anything. Dead cylinder.

Pulled the valve cover. Intake and Exhaust valves opening and closing normally. Valve springs appear OK. No tapping from lifters so I'm assuming that the valve train is OK.

Checked the vacuumn. Steady 16ish @ 700rpm. 20ish @ 2500rpm. A bit low but steady. Checked compression on all cylinders. All were within spec (within 75% of one another at an avg of 150).

Fiddled with the dist again. Tried moving wires one pole over in sequence. Backfired and horrible advance so not a Primary/Secondary ignition problem. Definately not 180* out.

Looked inside the cap. All cylinder contacts had a slight discoloration where the rotor had been transferring spark EXCEPT.....you guessed it on #6. I cleaned the inside of the cap (it wasn't dirty) and checked the #6 pole for continuity from inside the cap to the outer contact. Perfect.

The motor will crank right up. It idles smooth. No backfires etc. Pulls well, drives right down the road. It's the best running 5 cylinder I've ever seen.

By the way, I'm not sure if #6 was firing with the original distributor or not. Unfortunately I don't have all of the stock ignition parts to check.

Let the troubleshooting begin.

Thanks in advance and sory for the long post!

 

Good compression on that cylinder, your getting fuel to that cylinder.... sounds like fire issue to me. Not sure why on #6 though. There isn't a problem with the magnetic pickup in the bottom of the distributor is there? If it were me, I'd rotate the wires around 2 places and twist the distributor to correct for difference in timing. If your dead cylinder moves to another cylinder, then you have isolated it to the distributor. I would then check the mag pickup in the bottom of the distributor and make sure all is well. ( IE, one of the contacts not broken off or bent) If that is all well, then I would suspect the module. hope this helps

 

Fortgot to mention it but I did clock it to another cyl. It was the same offending cap terminal but a different cylinder (#1).

AhhhhhSoooooo........It must be in the dist.

It's a brand new CRT Performance (formerly Cape Conversions) OF HEI. What would you guys suggest I look for in the dist. or do ya'll think that I should contact CRT?

 

:iagree:

what Sparky said
if it's a new unit or a unit still under warranty, make the call and let them tell you what to do
assuming your ground is good, and you have 12 volts to the input
you haven't mentioned the rotor
nothing out of the ordinary to be seen inspecting it ?

 

Rotor looks OK.....It's brand new like the rest of it. B+ is a good 12V, unit is grounded good. It's wild...I mean the other 5 cyls run beautiful. It's weird. I just emailed CRT with a link to this thread. Maybe they'll have some suggestions. They were real cool when I ordered it and it got to me in record time.

 

sounds like a pickup/stator problem. they should take care of it.

 

Maybe a tiny crack in the cap?

 

Yep and yep. It appears to be a dist. problem as there isn't any spark at the #6 terminal on the cap.

 

the shaft could be bent which would not allow it to reach the cap, or cracked cap. sounds like a pick up problem to me. if you were close, i would let ya stick in my HEI since i am not using it yet. 0=)

 

You all need a spare point and coil dist to check out and trouble shoot such misfire/dead/ missing cylinder problems--- even the HEI dists are now antique units-- hard to find parts--- and just plain old. Hold on to the old original dauntless dist.

We need an on-line pictorial job aid for setting up both point driven original and HEI dists on an Odd Fire.

 

Talked with Glenn at CRT. He listened to the troubleshooting process and thought t was probably the cap since all of other cyls were firing big time sparks when the plug wire is pulled of the terminal. He's sending me a new one today. He said to let him know either way how it goes. If there are any other issues he'll just replace the entire unit.

Thumbs up for CRT. These guys will stand behind their products and are real cool. We'll see how the fix goes....I'll keep you posted!

 

$250

 

Fixed! CRT sent me a new HEI. Glenn was super cool. Fired right up all cylinders! Woo hoo.....Pics tonight! Dave

 

v-nice bud...congratzzzz