my youngest son has a 83 245 with the white cap chrysler ignition. Often if the car is not running right it is related to the distributor, either the coil in the distrib or a strange piece of aluminum foil from the plate to the body of the distrib that is pinched under the cap. Can a person esily change to the bosch distributor or is the harness and computer different too.

Find a Bosch distributor from a late '83 or '84 B23, with a round connector. It's strictly plug & play.

That foil is the crappiest feature of the Chrysler distributor, and has caused many a mysterious problem...

I've got an '82 with the Chrysler set up. Still plug and play to go to a Bosch distributor? Just grab one off an '81 or '82 B21?

I'm not sure if the 81-82 dist. would work, but the late '83-'84 (same as I mentioned for the B23) would.

The '82 B21-MPG models were just B21s with the B23 engine management systems, so the same fix for the B23 should work for the B21.

But, like others have said, if it ain't broke... you can wait till it does.

Glad to hear that replacing with the Bosch Dist. is so simple.My Volvo has the Chrysler Igition but at 135K+ is still running good.If it is not broke why fix it?But good to have the info.BTW I notice that the parts(Cap+rotor for ex.) are made in Italy.Could this originally be a Magneti Marreli/FIAT product?

oh my gosh. Even more reason to get rid of the chrylser ignition the next time I have a problem, made in italy, oh no please no more electrical nightmares from my early years as a mechanic, and some people complain about lucas, I'd take lucas over italina anytime, but of course bosch over them all.

Yes, I agree with the others - if it ain't broke, don't fix it. But if you've traced the problem there, toss that puppy.

I must admit, I never really had too many problems with the Chrysler distributor - but when my wife's late '83 (w/Bosch distributor) died of rust, I took the opportunity.

Josh --

Over the years I've had the Chrysler ignition on three cars -- two '82s and an '83 -- and I've never had ignition trouble with any of them.

However, I always performed several simple maintenance items. First, I always made sure the caps, rotors, and wires were clean and dry. (I toss that stuff in the dishwasher once or twice each year.)

I also ALWAYS lubed the threads on the cap screws with a touch of never-seize.

I also tightened and crimped the female sleeves in the harness connector at the ignition module. At one time Volvo sold tiny sleeves for the module pins, used to increase connector tension. If you can find some, get 'em and use 'em.

I also cleaned the coil tower and confirmed that the push-on connectors were clean, tight, solid, and greased.

My advice is —— "Don't fix it if it ain't broke."

Be aware that pulling your distributor from the block can be a massive, royal pita nightmare.

Don - my problem not necessarily related to this string - I just saw your name and wanted your take on my current project. I aquired an 82 244GL MPG from a friend. It wasn't running and had been sitting for 3+ years. It had a broken distributor (Aluminum base in two peices). First I found a used distributor and after I FINALLY . . (I think), got it into the block the right position - I got the car cranked and it ran, but it was in need of TLC. I removed the entire fuel system from tank to injector and cleaned everything. The most obvious problems were a cruddy tank and a VERY sluggish fuel distributor "plunger". I slapped it all back together along with a re-wire job, new rotor, cap, plug wires, gaskets, injector seals, fuel distributor seal, cleaned up throttle body and idle valve, new vacuum hoses. I'm sure I need a new CPR, but I thought I'd do that later. Now - it cranked and ran on 3 cylinders, with #2 not firing. Finally, after checking the injector to be spraying a good pattern and swapping everything on the firing side, it worked when I put the old rotor back in. Now - it runs smooth, and it will rev up to 5K+, but has absolutely no power. I've messed around with the fuel/air mixture and it makes a small difference, but not much. Can you give me a basic set-up procedure for the fuel/air mixture?

The following are things I've observed. The timing does advance when I rev it up. The distributor base is just barely out of "range" for the bolt to fit in the slot when the timing is right, and I plan to re-insert it into the block to change the relationship. I run the fuel pump and lift the air plate and all the injectors "buzz". I checked #2 cylinder compression when it wouldn't fire and it was 120+ PSI, haven't checked them all yet, but will do that this afternoon. I'd appreciate your help -

Stan --

If you didn't pull the distributor gear, then I'd bet a cold one the timing belt slipped a tooth. Depending on where it slipped, this can upset the timing of both the cam AND the ignition -- forcing you to turn the distributor considerably to reset ignition timing.

A cam that's off by one tooth will make the car run a dog, though it'll start and run OK at low speeds (why do I know that?).

Providing that the timing belt's slightly loose, a piece of foreign material floating around near the crank sprocket can cause the belt to jump a tooth (seen it happen).

"...found a used distributor and..."

Just gave one away.

"Can you give me a basic set-up procedure for the fuel/air mixture?"

You obviously know where 'n how to set the mixture.... The only way to do it is with an exhaust gas analyzer, before the cat.

Note that if the fuel pressure is amiss, or if the fuel pressure regulator is plugged (NOT the cpr), or if the fuel return line is plugged.... you'll get the wrong mixture. Ironically, low fuel pressure results in a rich mixture at the distributor, and vice versa. Thus, you may want to get the Bosch pressure gauge and certify that you have correct fuel pressure before you dive into the mixture.