Jeep dies a "pointless" death

Now that I have your attention, it isn't as bad as the title sounds.

The other day my wife and I decided to take one more Jeep ride before the weather got really cold. Of late the Jeep has been hard starting and hasn't run as well as I'd like but I figured she had another trip or two in her. We loaded up our two dogs and set out, only to have the Jeep die about a mile from home. Fortunately a neighbor came along and gave me a ride so I could pick up my S10 Blazer and a tow strap to bring the Jeep home.

It was a few days before I could delve into the problem and when I did, I discovered there was no spark! Investigating further I discovered that the points had broken and were lying under the distributor cap in two pieces (see photo.)

Checking around, the only place that has points for my Jeep is NAPA. Has anybody had any experience with their Echlin branded points? The alternative would be to order something online.

All advice and suggestions appreciated.

Tim

 

Echlin parts are usually good.

 

Echlin is probably what you would get if you were to order them online. Been around for decades.

 

I've always been happy with any/all parts i've gotten at Napa.

 

I would go with NAPA. When I have ordered online, points showed up that didn't fit and distributor button that did fit, broke later, causing your aforementioned tow strap scenario.

 

I had the copper strap break on a set of points from them once.

Ken

 

Buy three sets, they are cheap and take up very little space along with a test light in the glove box.
I plan to put a covered electrical box under the hood that could be padlocked for such items.
Walking is good exercise, like it better when I get to choose when, where and how far.

 

is it fixed yet?

 

agreed about NAPA... and the walk... plus you had great company!

Echelin makes good stuff

 

Sold them years ago when I worked at NAPA. Haven't used anythiing else since. Quality seem about the same as 25 years ago.

 

A Pertronix Conversion means never having to worry about points again.

 

++ to Corveeper's statement.

 

I replaced the points with an Echlin CS725A from NAPA. Fortunately I was able to fish out all the pieces of sheared rivets. Now the Jeep starts and runs much better than it did in the days before the failure. I've included a photo showing the differences between old and new. If you have points like the ones on the right, I suggest you change them out pronto.

I'm also adding a spare set of points (and the tools to change them) to my carry-along tool kit. I was fortunate when it let go I was only a mile from home, not in the middle of some woods in remote northern Michigan

Tim

 

Does your distributor shaft have a lot of play? Up & down or side to side? Unless the other points were just flat out defective, I can't picture the normal loading doing that sort of damage. I have used that style for years without ever hearing of failure of that sort.
Did have some points rust together on a vehicle that set for awhile out in the damp. That one just tore the contact off the arm making a hard starting rough runner. Putting some wax paper between the contacts when I parked it, might have saved some struggle trouble.
I like points, certainly cheaper & easier to change than a crank sensor or inductive pick-up coil.

 

Points are adequate for igniting the fuel/air mixture but that’s about it.
Granted this is an SBC I’m talking about but when I converted my stock distributor from points to a Pertronix Igniter I first marked the distributor housing and intake manifold thinking I could line it right back up and wouldn’t have to fiddle much with timing. Problem with that theory was once the conversion was completed and reinstalled the dizzy, in the exact same position it came out of, the start wouldn’t spin the motor over enough to start it. It would start to spin the motor but then hit ignition point and stop right there. I had to retard the timing in order to get the motor to spin with the starter. Once I did it ran like a dream with much better power, throttle response and I ended up running far less timing advance than I had been with points. That right there tells me you’re just not going to get the kind of spark energy from points as what you can get with electronic.
Now electronic has its issues also, mostly to do with heat, so I’m not trashing anyone else’s ignition choices just trying to explain how I’ve come to my choices.

 

I had this problem a couple years ago and was stranded at a FLAPS that only sold Borg Warner products. If you get into this predicament, do not buy anything except the Borg Premium line. Their standard line uses a slip-on terminal that I could not get to last more than 5 miles up the road before it would slip-off and the engine would die. The premium line uses a screw-on terminal.

 

"Does your distributor shaft have a lot of play? Up & down or side to side? ". I checked it out and the shaft itself was solid although the cam on the end of it can be moved in and out a mm or two. Is that normal or do I need to do something about it?
Tim