hi, so you have an 84! count yourself either lucky or cursed, you decide. Me too. Is your car still basically stock? ie not too badly "hacked"? This was AMC s last series of motors, and the technology involved was/is pretty impressive, if a bit of a PITA to understand. OK, heres the short version. What you have is a very early attempt at computer control of the engine. It works very well IF, big IF!, you have all the sensors working and still in place. In 84+ Eagles, the distributor does NOT send a spark to the motor. The computer does. The distributor just sends a signal to the computer, which then does it's thing. (btw, the computer is behind the pass. side kick panel, and is still available for about $105. from anywhere) Essentially the distributor acts like a "crank trigger" in more modern motors. The computer also controls the carb, telling it to lean/enrich the mixture, again, depending on inputs from about 8 sensors. The good news is, believe it or not, most of these sensors are still available. I just brought my 84 back to life, and the only sensor I could not find is the knock sensor. The red one just under and in front of the carb on the intake. But that is basically a small microphone, and is still OK. You also MUST have the wiring and the vacuum system hooked up and functioning. THERE IS NO OTHER WAY!! Its a computer!, and computers are "stupid", ie, they only know what they are told, and react accordingly. It took me roughly a year to bring my 84 back, more reading and research than I care to remember, but man, does it run smooth now! New computer as well. Runs like it just left the showroom! You can put a glass of Pinot on the valve cover and it will not shake it off! Smooth! AMC engineers really knew what they were doing. Since they are no longer around to help us, we need to know and understand our cars.
good luck, gz