CJ7 issues...

Hi, Im new to the jeep world and I am at my wits end (that has probably been said a lot here). Last year a bought a '80 cj7, a bit of a beater but looked clean under the hood. It ran great for about 4 months...then, out on the highway, it started to stall, sputter, then die. It would start again, go for a few and then do it again. This problem got worse as I got closer to home - barely made it without a tow but had to restart a bunch. So, i made a list of things that could be wrong. I started with the fuel system (I don't know why). Replaced the fuel filter (duh), nope. I noticed that the carb (an aftermarked EMPI EPC 32/36X progressive) had loosened off of it's studs and trashed the gaskets between the adapter plates - So i replaced the gaskets...nope. Switched out the auto choke with a manual one...nope. Replaced the fuel pump and the fuel pressure regulator, nope. So I switched to the ignition system.... Replaced all plugs and wires...nope. Replaced the ICM...nope. Replaced the coil, the distributor (whole thing), and checked timing...nope.
After all of the replacements, it seems to run a little better. It idles fine but it will stall out at about 2200 rpm (ish) - i cant even get up to highway speeds and it seems to worsen going up hills....
What am i missing???? Help please!

 

Another possibility would be a bad distributor pick up coil. By this time it wouldn't hurt to replace the distributor with an aftermarket one purchased through one of the big box 4WD outfits. The symptoms are the same as a bad icm also, which is an excessive engine miss. You should get between 400 and 800 ohms between the violet and orange wires coming from the distributor.

 

Thanks for the reply Jim!

I replaced both of those things.... No dice.
...so you're thinking ignition system, huh?

What would be the symptoms of a bad fuel sender?

I'm really reaching at this point...

Could there be something up with the carb???

 

You might want to try a fuel pressure gauge at the carb inlet, look for a steady 4 psi, this will also check how good the fuel pump is. There could be cracks in the fuel line where it comes out of the tank as it is a soft line from there. A bad icm will be warm to the touch if bad, sometimes they can be bad right out of the box. The best one I have seen was made by Echlin from N.A.P.A. auto parts. Yes it could be the carb, look down the throat while it is running for a steady spray.

 

Will do! Thanks!

 

Hey Jim!
So, the carb is a progressive empi epc 32/36 x - i only see fuel spray on one side (passenger) and nothing on the other even at high rpm (about 3.5k is all i get before she stalls out). My gut tells me to replace the carb... those are around 250$...no big deal, those seem to perform fine.
Do you recommend one that would work better? I have the 258 6 engine and i live at 7000ft.

Thanks for your input!

 

I would suggest cleaning the carb first and try that before shelling out the loot for another one. I have heard that Empi carb is a good one.

 

Let's see forty year old Jeep. Probably a forty year old gas tank. Think there might be some crud in there?

Drop the tank and flush it out, or just replace it and be done with it.

 

Good Idea Jeepnik! Along with changing the fuel pickup sock. Although you could remove the pickup sock and install an external fuel filter.