Was diagnosing a friend's 2.0 car that didn't seem to have much power.
Timing looks good, but then if I take off either plug wire #1 or #4, the
idle doesn't change.
Seems like this must be the trigger points or wires going to it. Is there
really anything else to try? Back when I had my 4-cyl, I never needed to
mess with the trigger points. Do they ever wear out? Distributor is not
out of the car yet.
Thanks

I just had a similar issue with my '74 2.0. Misfire on 1,4 or on 2,3 indicates a trigger point issue. I pulled the disty and removed the trigger points and cleaned them with contact cleaner, and the problem has gone away, at least for now. The trigger points are low power so according to some they can last 100K miles.

Thanks will need to take them out and inspect.

I guess it's also possible the output transistor or whatever
from the computer on 1-4 is bad.

The trigger points are super easy to check. Mine were oily and dirty and cleaning them helped a lot. At the same time, you'll have the disty out where you can see it and can check for shaft wobble and to make sure the mechanical advance mechanism is turning smoothly.