[hillside250]

I got a 89 4.2 with 120K on it, the team rush mod has been done to it and it has run good for a couple of months. The jeep runs great but it only wants to start when you crank it and then let off the key so menaing only wants to start/spark when they key is in the run position. I looked inside the distributor and there were metal shavings on the starwheel that looked to be coming from the magnetic pick up coil. I cleaned all that off and it seems to run a little better but still only starts when you let off the key. I guess I will replace the pickup coil in the distributor and see of the dist shaft has a bunch of play in it. Any idea what the air gap is? Should I also replace the starter relay on the firewall? When i got the jeep the fuseable link wire was burnt and it wasn't charging so I had to replace that and the starter relay looked a little ruff.
Thanks for any help

[ctm]

There are two separate circuits for power to the coil....full 12V when cranking, and 6-9v running (uses the resistor wire to knock down the voltage). so it sounds like your 12V circuit is not working. It goes back to the starter relay on the firewall.

SO, trace the coil "+" from the coil back to the first splice. that is where the two circuits come together. The one that goes through the resistor wire is the Run circuit. the other one is the start circuit. Trace back to the "I" terminal on the relay and see if you are getting 12V during cranking.

also those starter relay terminals are known to corrode. If you have the three way plastic connector on the relay like I have on my 90 that is also bad, it does not provide solid connections.