Expert: Kevin Pilotte - 9/20/2006

Question
I have a 1979 Jeep CJ 7, V-8 304.  I run a dual battery system and yesterday drove to lunch and forgot to turn the switch to off.  When I came back an hour later, the jeep would not start and the coil was to hot to touch.  I tried to replace the coil, but it still will not start.  The vehicle will try to turn over but just never fire up.  No fire to the coil if I take the cable out of the center of the distributor and hold it to metal.  I took the positive lead off the coil and accidentally touched it to metal and got a spark.  What gives?  Did I possible burn up the ignition module?  Black, orange and purple from the module run to the distributor, dark green to ignition coil (what side though?) and white to the starter solenoid, which becomes light blue there) (what side does it hook to on the solenoid?)  Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Mark


Answer
Mark,
Sorry,I do not have a wiring diagram for your Jeep to help you with your ignition wiring. However, it does sound like you might have smoked the ignition module. The voltage at the positive lead to your coil should measure close to battery voltage. The negative terminal is controled by the module. If the module is bad, there will be no spark.
Are your batteries hooked in series or parallel?
Kevin