Anybody used a Richporter distributor?

[Karynne]

Hey all, I'm thinking of buying a Richporter TD01N distributor off ebay for my '87 LXi and I just wanted to see if any members have used one before. If so, would you recommend them? My car is in need of a new dizzy and my mother offered to buy this one for me (did I mention how awesome my mother is?) so I figured I might as well give it a try. Just curious what other people's experience has been with these...

[ShyBoyCA6]

Got a link to this dizzy?

[Karynne]

Here's the link. (http://www.ebay.com/itm/86-87-88-89-Honda-Accord-2-0-NEW-TEC-Distributor-TD01N-/300545267658?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr&hash=item45f9e4d7ca) I found an older thread that Dr. Snooz had started asking pretty much the same question where one person ended up buying it and was happy with the results. Just wanted to see if more members have tried them since and what their experience was. It sounds like the Richporters are a solid aftermarket option for those with dizzy trouble who have struck out at the junkyard (as was the case for me), so I'm excited to try this one out.

[Vanilla Sky]

I certainly think I'd try that over a remanufactured distributor.

[Dr_Snooz]

I'd take a flyer on it if I was in the market.

[Karynne]

Alright, well I ordered one yesterday so it should get here in a few days. Since I've only found one other member on here that has used one I guess I'll let everyone know how it turns out. The seller offers a 30 day money back guarantee and the part comes with a lifetime warranty, so I figure I don't have much to lose. I had looked at the remanufactured distributors but had heard very mixed reviews, plus most places wanted $300-$400 for them. While there wasn't much info on the Richporters being used in a 3gee there were a lot of other Honda owners that seemed pretty happy with them.

The $250 price tag did seem a bit harsh, but this (*fingers crossed*) should be the last piece of the puzzle in getting my hatch running smoothly. I've been lucky in that most of the problems I inherited with my car have been solved with a good thorough tune up and replacing some common wear items. Now that there is frost on the ground I'm certainly not relishing the idea of standing out in the cold working on my car but on the plus side I get to meet lots of interesting characters. Anytime I'm out tinkering on my car there are at least three guys (who clearly know nothing of the subject) that stop to offer their help. Whoever said chivalry was dead? The last guy that approached me looked at what I was doing (unscrewing the distributor cap) and asked me "Oh, you're changing your oil. Do you need any help?". Um, something tells me he hasn't done too many oil changes but I appreciated the sentiment none the less. :lol:

[ShyBoyCA6]

I could of got you a low mileage dizzy from the yard here. But I posted to late... anyways the dizzy looks good from the link. Let us know how it goes.

[Karynne]

Thanks for offering though! If it were my money I would definitely take you up on that offer (that would be the only option I could afford), but seeing as how my mother offered to treat me to a new distributor I wasn't about to pass up the opportunity to get a brand new one for free. It looks like it won't be getting here until Monday at the earliest so I'll give you guys an update once I swap it in. I love it, two months ago I barely knew how to change a tire and now I'm absolutely giddy about getting a new distributor...

[Dr_Snooz]

The Richporters started out at about $180. I would say it's a good sign that a couple years later they are still around and have gone up in price. The reman units tend not to be very thoroughly remanned. Even Beck Arnley reuses the old crank sensor and I suspect some of the delicate internal parts, like the advance plate and mechanical advance weights, are not reconditioned either. It's not often, but the crank sensors do go out occasionally and the advance mechanisms get very notchy.

I created a lazy rebuild guide some time ago: http://www.3geez.com/forum/technical/66468-lazy-mans-distributor-overhaul-tec-distributor.html. It's not a rebuild really, just a way of heading off a lot of issues by lubing the advance mechanisms. You're obviously past that point now but it's worth mentioning for others.

[Karynne]

Yeah, from what I've read about them Richporters seem to have a pretty good reputation for building quality distributors. Thank you for that write up by the way, that was my first stop when I started suspecting my dizzy was the culprit behind all my recent car issues.

[Dr_Snooz]

OMG! This newb searches. LOL

[Karynne]

omg! This newb searches. Lol

LOL!:lol:

[Karynne]

Well, I installed the new distributor yesterday and I'm happy to report my car is running like a champ now! There was a pretty noticeable power increase and I'm hoping I'll see an increase in fuel economy as well (I had been averaging 20 mpg with 50% freeway/50% city). The idle smoothed out a lot, although it's still not perfect since my valves are chattering pretty loudly (today's project is a valve adjustment) but there aren't anymore misfires so that's good. I also discovered that my O-ring was shot so the new dizzy has eliminated that oil leak.

All in all, very pleased with it. Obviously, only time will tell whether or not it's really a quality part, but so far so good. If I ever run into problems with this distributor you guys will be the first to know, but I'd recommend this brand in a heartbeat to anyone who's in the market. The only thing that differed from the original was the vacuum advance ports are facing the opposite direction so make sure you pick up new vacuum tubing otherwise it won't reach.

[Karynne]

Oh, and another pleasant surprise was that the cap and rotor on the new distributor are exactly the same as the stock TEC ones. Someone on another forum (a Chevy forum I believe)
mentioned that they had to special order their caps and rotors through Richporter because the stock ones wouldn't fit, but the distributor they manufacture to fit our cars uses the same design as the original so no special ordering for us.