Well it turned out to be the vacuum advance module inside the distributor. $25 It was aftermarket and was too short, and the wires were being nicked by the teeth on the gear. Replaced the module and the jeep ran with no problems but noticed a lack of power. Set the timing with a light but that didn't seem to help. Adjusted the carb and everything was set right. Adjusting the dist. by hand smoothed it out some, but still not right. Pulled the dist out and noticed the gears at the bottom were worn out to the point of almost nonexistant. Will be next week before I can get a replacement dist.
Also noticed some slack in the timing chain, and will replace that also.
that gear at the bottom is replaceable...and for the reason that you noticed. Since it meashes with the cam they make them out of a little softer metal so the cam gear doesn't ever wear out. You should be able to order it from Quadratech or somewhere if not from the parts houses.
Well I just went to Napa because I didn't want to wait for parts. Ended up getting a full distributor and didn't realize it. Installed it, set the timing, replaced my plug wires and she is purring like a kitten.
Glad to have her back up and running. Now to start saving again
UPDATE:
Destroyed another distributor gear several weeks back, so was thinking it was the camshaft. Bought all my parts, new timing set, new camshaft, new bearings, lifters, pushrods. Got set to get it all replaced and due to life, kept pushing it back and pushing it back.
Well last night I went over to Tra's house and me, Rich, Tra and Wes were going to replace the camshaft and other things. Tater showed up later but only for moral support. I tell y'all what, the bolt holding the harmonic balancer on is a pain in the jeep to break over and remove!!!
Removed the timing cover (finally!) and immediately spotted 2 problems. I don't know if these are the root causes or not, but its a good start: The timing chain had ALOT of slack in it, and the Camshaft Distributor Drive Gear was chewed up! Called Auto Zone and they said it was a dealer part only. Called Summit Racing and they said it was a junkyard part. We were baffled that we could not find the part besides the stealership, so Google here I come.
After a few minutes of searching I was able to find it here. So now I get to call them today and see how much overnight shipping will be, so I can TRY to be up and running for WWGTD, but it doesn't look like its going to happen.
I truly hope this will solve my problem, along with a new timing set, but only time will tell!!