L-134 6 volt to 12 volt

[Sadler5]

I have purchased a 1956 CJ5 with what I believe has a military L-134 engine in it. It is converted to 12 volt. It runs good with good oil pressure but appears to burn up the condenser (capacitor) on the breaker point system. I thought maybe it had a 6 volt coil or a coil that needed an external resistor. Does anyone have any suggestions? I am on my third capacitor in less than 200 miles. I changed the coil to a new 12 volt one on the last capacitor change.
Thanks for your input.
Bob

[wesk]

Does the new coil have the statement "Use with external resistor" on it?
_________________
Wes K
45 MB, 51 M38, 54 M37, 66 M101A1, 60 CJ5, 76 DJ5D, 47Bantam T3-C & 5? M100

Mjeeps photo album: http://www.willysmjeeps.com/v2/modules.php?set_albumName=Wes-Knettle&op=modload&name=gallery&file=index&include=view_album.php

[Sadler5]

I saw no markings on the new coil I installed. It has been running about 3 hours with no problem. The coil I took out had a part number and was made by Autolite but I don't know if it was a 12 volt or a 6 volt.
Thanks,
Bob

[wesk]

The I'll bet your old coil should have had an external resistor.For all practical purposes the 6 and 12 volt vehicles built all these years all use a 6 volt coil. The 12 volt unit you now have actually contains a 6 volt coil and a series resistance to reduce the 12 volts from your electrical system to the 7-9 volt area. The 12 volt coils that say "Use an external resistor" are actually a 6 volt coil and will work just fine in a 6 volt car without a resistor. A 6 volt coil is exactly what it says. 6 volt but it is designed to function nicely at the 6 volt car's operating voltage of 7.5.

I find it odd a CJ5 owner would pull out his 72 HP F134 and install a 60 HP L134. He must have been desperate.
_________________
Wes K
45 MB, 51 M38, 54 M37, 66 M101A1, 60 CJ5, 76 DJ5D, 47Bantam T3-C & 5? M100

Mjeeps photo album: http://www.willysmjeeps.com/v2/modules.php?set_albumName=Wes-Knettle&op=modload&name=gallery&file=index&include=view_album.php

[Sadler5]

Thanks Wes for the detail about the resistor being internal. I knew from the instruction with the new coil that the resistor was important. Also being an old Dodge man I remember seeing those mounted on the firewall. I could not find any markings on either coil so for now I will assume it is fixed. I am going to carry an extra capacitor for a while though.

I can't take the blame for changing the F-134 to the L-134 and do not know the owner as it was back a couple of people from me. I do dearly love the L-134. You pointed me to a by-pass oil filter on Ebay which I installed this summer. The previous owner had taken it out and ported it directly into the timing cover. I believe installing the by-pass filter put my oil pressure back to specs. That coupled with the valve job I gave it have makes it purr like a kitten. To your point I may be even more impressed with the F-134 but have not had the opportunity or need to pursue one.

The markings on the L-134 are below. Would you mind pointing me in the direction of deciphering them?


L-134
11-6
63632 - W4
N1-CP * 2

Again, thanks for your help.

Bob

[wesk]

Hello Bob,

The extra 12 HP is very noticable. I have owned many of both.

[Sadler5]

Wes,
You were correct. I copied the casting number but had a typo in the email. The correct number is 638632. The number on the cylinder head is 639660C. The number on the distributor is lAD 4008. The distributor then has a number on the same tag as 11Y W. The W is not really a W. It looks like a 3 on its side. The number on the block is 4J - 123931.

Let me know what you think.
Thanks,
Bob