Distributor rebuild

[import racer]

Isn't there a post on how to rebuild dissy on here somewhere,I can't seem to find it.I have several dissy's in my parts I got with car and I want to put one together to try on my car to see if that helps my rough idle.

[Bluntman]

I found this tear down thread.http://www.3geez.com/forum/showthread.php?t=76806&highlight=distributor+rebuild

[Pico]

If I remember Dr_Snooz did a write up also
Here it is Lazy Mans Dist Overhaul (http://www.3geez.com/forum/showthread.php?t=66468)

[import racer]

Thanks guys,do you think my dizzy could cause a rough idle?

[ecogabriel]

search "EFI distributor teardown"; I took mine apart to replace bearings

STUPID name I chose for a thread (I had thought "rebuilt" was too pretentious)... anyway

[import racer]

Yeah I got 4 old ones with the parts I got,but 2 of them have the inside by the weights all chewed up.I guess something left go at some point,one is full of red dust so I took the other one and did the lazy rebuild,gonna try it and see if it help the idle or not.

[ecogabriel]

Yeah I got 4 old ones with the parts I got,but 2 of them have the inside by the weights all chewed up.I guess something left go at some point,one is full of red dust so I took the other one and did the lazy rebuild,gonna try it and see if it help the idle or not.

red dust=bearing on its way out. Look up my thread, you may get a replacement bearing for about $7 plus shipping (the OE type is $20)

[import racer]

Well I'm hoping one of the other ones will be useful.

[ecogabriel]

In case you do not get a decent bearing, check it out here,

http://bearingsdirect.com/store/index.php?l=product_detail&p=4667

I found it shortly after posting my rebuilt thread, but the same bearing was also pointed out in Snooz's lazy rebuilt (I think LX-incredible did)

[lostforawhile]

do they have the carb dizzy bearing also? I have a few around, and I thought about rebuilding a couple of them for spares, if someone knows the bearing part number bearings and drives might be able to get one

[DBMaster]

The interesting thing about the advance weights is that from the factory they rotate on plastic bushings. In the rebuilt ones I bought (I went through two before deciding to rebuild my own) the bushings were a mess and the rebuilder just left them to flop around on the metal posts. I sourced bronze bushings from Purvis Bearing Supply. There was no exact fit on the OD to go inside the weights so I had to drill them out a bit. I don't know what they're made of, but they wore out two drill bits in the process. Interesting note: the plastic bushing in my car's original distributor were in near-perfect condition. Go figure.

Ultimately, I lucked out and found a new one in a dusty box on eBay. You can buy a new aftermarket diz on eBay for about $150. The best rebuilt unit is only going to be so good.

BTW, what ultimately led to replacing the diz was oil inside from a leaky shaft bushing. And, red dust does not mean the end of the thing. Mine had red dust in it for ten years. I just attributed it to wear. If the bearing has grease in it I doubt the dust came from that. I am willing to bet that the dust is pretty innocuous and will be present at a lot earlier age than most people on this forum think.

[lostforawhile]

The interesting thing about the advance weights is that from the factory they rotate on plastic bushings. In the rebuilt ones I bought (I went through two before deciding to rebuild my own) the bushings were a mess and the rebuilder just left them to flop around on the metal posts. I sourced bronze bushings from Purvis Bearing Supply. There was no exact fit on the OD to go inside the weights so I had to drill them out a bit. I don't know what they're made of, but they wore out two drill bits in the process. Interesting note: the plastic bushing in my car's original distributor were in near-perfect condition. Go figure.

Ultimately, I lucked out and found a new one in a dusty box on eBay. You can buy a new aftermarket diz on eBay for about $150. The best rebuilt unit is only going to be so good.

BTW, what ultimately led to replacing the diz was oil inside from a leaky shaft bushing. And, red dust does not mean the end if the thing. Mine had red dust in it for ten years. I just attributed it to wear. If the bearing has grease in it I doubt the dust came from that. I am willing to bet that the dust is pretty innocuous and will be present at a lot earlier age than most people on this forum think.
the dust is from the wear on the cap and the rotor button, it just builds up over time is all

[ecogabriel]

the dust is from the wear on the cap and the rotor button, it just builds up over time is all

In my case, I believe the red dust came from the bearing. When I got the car I replaced dist. ca & rotor. Red dust was inside.
First distributor teardown (to repair oil leak from shaft seal): there was red dust again. Bearing felt a little rough when rotating it, cleaned it up, re-greased it (seals were broken) and re-installed old bearing.
Second distributor removal (to replace bearing, the one I documented for the forum), I found no red dust. Old bearing still have some grease but most was gone (broken seals) And no more oil leaks!!!! :rockon:

I have to conclude that the dust came from the bearing; the cap is the same I installed the first time, so dust might not have come from there Anyway, I agree; do some research before assuming the bearing is the problem. Now we have fresh info on sourcing the bearings for the EFI distributor. I am still willing to take on a carbed distributor teardown, so if someone in the ATL area has a spare that wants to rebuild PM me and we'll see how to do it; a how-to would follow.

[DBMaster]

I am going with Lost on this one. Why would the dust be red? As I said, I started seeing such dust when my car was quite "young." I have had it since 1989. I do not think it is indicative of any need to rebuild, though, at these cars' ages any that haven't been replaced, probably need to be unless they have less than 150,000 miles on them.

[lostforawhile]

take an old cap and sand some material off of it and you'll see what I mean, the cap material breaks down over time from the high voltage arcing inside of it, mostly the rotor button though, I've never seen red dust come from a metal bearing. most of the materials in the cap and rotor are a phenolic plastic, which naturally has a reddish brown color,think bakelite plastic

[DBMaster]

I've never seen red dust come from a metal bearing.

Same here. Plus, as I mentioned, the grease in the bearing would hold most wear particles and if there were that many mixed into the grease the bearing would seize in short order. What I have noticed that goes South are the following.

#1 - O-ring: This does not require distributor replacement.
#2 - The advance plate, which uses tiny ball bearings, becomes hard to move and eventually locks in place.
#3 - Shaft bushing allows slop in the lower end of the distributor.
#4 - Advance weight bushings disintegrate.
#5 - Vacuum advance module won't hold vacuum: This only requires replacement of the advance module.
#6 - Main bearing wears out allowing too much slop in the top end of the distributor.

Maybe a few of you have even more to add, but this pretty much tells me that these units are not that great as rebuilds. But, if you do choose that route you will probably do better rebuilding it yourself than overpaying for a half-assed rebuilt unit. The rebuilders out there just seem to reuse too many of the parts, which makes sense, given how expensive they are and how hard to find they are becoming.

[lostforawhile]

is there a list of the rebuild parts available? the advance bushings I can make myself and possibly some other parts

[Dr_Snooz]

Same here. Plus, as I mentioned, the grease in the bearing would hold most wear particles and if there were that many mixed into the grease the bearing would seize in short order. What I have noticed that goes South are the following.

#1 - O-ring: This does not require distributor replacement.
#2 - The advance plate, which uses tiny ball bearings, becomes hard to move and eventually locks in place.
#3 - Shaft bushing allows slop in the lower end of the distributor.
#4 - Advance weight bushings disintegrate.
#5 - Vacuum advance module won't hold vacuum: This only requires replacement of the advance module.
#6 - Main bearing wears out allowing too much slop in the top end of the distributor.

Maybe a few of you have even more to add, but this pretty much tells me that these units are not that great as rebuilds. But, if you do choose that route you will probably do better rebuilding it yourself than overpaying for a half-assed rebuilt unit. The rebuilders out there just seem to reuse too many of the parts, which makes sense, given how expensive they are and how hard to find they are becoming.

I'm going to second DB when he says these aren't really rebuildable units. I have found the advance plates in most of these to be notchy and unreliable from bad ball bearings. In some cases, the spacer rings keeping the bearings in position are broken or gone. The bearings go out of position, making the vacuum advance malfunction. The spacer is not available, so it's not reapairable. Most of the parts inside these units are not available. The crank angle sensor usually gets oil saturated when the seal goes and it's not available either.

My overhaul attempt was not successful (http://www.3geez.com/forum/showthread.php?t=64421), which is why I came up with the lazy overhaul. Basically, you put together the best parts you can find, then keep it all lubed up very well and hope for the best. If it came down to an overhaul for me, I would buy this distributor (http://www.ebay.com/itm/88-89-Accord-w-EFI-Engine-Ignition-Distributor-NEW-/130635713976?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Year%3A1989%7CModel%3AAccord&hash=item1e6a7ecdb8&vxp=mtr#ht_1636wt_949) or this one (http://www.ebay.com/itm/RICH-PORTER-TECH-TD01N-Distributor-/290691479314?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Year%3A1989%7CModel%3AAccord&hash=item43ae8ff712&vxp=mtr#ht_1373wt_932) from eBay. They are genuinely new distributors from top to bottom. I haven't tried either, so if you pick one up, let us all know how it works out.

[DBMaster]

I forgot about the bottom end seal that keeps oil out of the distributor. That was why I replaced mine in the first place. Every time the vacuum advance would kick in I could also hear a slight "squeak" indicative of the advance plate bearings getting ready to seize.

I could have sworn that when these new distributors started showing up on eBay that they were $150. Still, they really cost no more than one of the rebuilts on Rock Auto. I would take my chances with the new one. Save the igniter from your old one, just in case.

[ecogabriel]

Add to the list of parts:

Distributor bearing (original and replacement)
Shaft bushing (at the bottom) are also available (rockauto.com).
Shaft seals can be sourced from ebay or online vendors.

[ecogabriel]

If it came down to an overhaul for me, I would buy this distributor (http://www.ebay.com/itm/88-89-Accord-w-EFI-Engine-Ignition-Distributor-NEW-/130635713976?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Year%3A1989%7CModel%3AAccord&hash=item1e6a7ecdb8&vxp=mtr#ht_1636wt_949) or this one (http://www.ebay.com/itm/RICH-PORTER-TECH-TD01N-Distributor-/290691479314?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Year%3A1989%7CModel%3AAccord&hash=item43ae8ff712&vxp=mtr#ht_1373wt_932) from eBay. They are genuinely new distributors from top to bottom. I haven't tried either, so if you pick one up, let us all know how it works out.

They look fine except for a little detail. The ports in the vacuum advance point AWAY from the vacuum lines. In the OE, they point towards the driver side. In fact, the vacuum units look like the ones in the carbed cars.

Other than that -solvable with longer vacuum hoses - they may be the best option for when our distributors die.

[DBMaster]

It may be the best option. I did notice in the photo that it looked like the nipples were on the wrong side, but as you say, not a big deal. I am actually a bit surprised that it's only been in the past year or so that there is an aftermarket NEW distributor out there. When I was looking for a new one in early 2008 there was only ONE new OEM distributor in the Honda U.S. network and it was $600.