Dizzy rebuild and a couple other questions

[cbolyard]

Been having some issues with the car lately... it started coughing and backfiring pretty regular a few weeks ago. My plan was to give it a quick tune-up and if that didn't solve the problem, look into the carb to see if something was amiss. Well the other night I was driving home and it was backfiring something awful and started to lose power, I also noticed quite a bit of steam coming from under the hood. Got home and popped the hood and there was coolant everywhere and a blown coolant hose. The in-dash gauge was showing normal temps and everything else looked OK but the car was still running poorly. I have had an oil leak at the dizzy since I bought the car, so I decided to go ahead and pull it off to replace the o-ring. After popping the cap off, it looks like I'll be needing the internal seal as well, but I wanted to get some other opinions first. This is the TEC distributor, I believe...

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e239/cowboyona426/Das%20Hoopty/dizzy_3_zps868a8503.jpg

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e239/cowboyona426/Das%20Hoopty/dizzy_2_zpse62bcbc0.jpg

Also noticed that one of the wires inside the dizzy is in bad shape... is there an aftermarket replacement option for this part? It's the brownish colored wire in the pic, the green portions are corrosion in the wire.

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e239/cowboyona426/Das%20Hoopty/dizzy_1_zpse978ca07.jpg

At this point I'm not even sure I want to invest any money in the car... its not in the greatest of shape and rather than put money into a tune-up and replacing parts, I may be better off selling the car for what I can and picking up something a little newer and nicer. It also needs brakes, ball joints, tires, and a CV axle, and has a plethora of wiring issues.
Anyhow... seeing the condition of the dizzy and knowing that the plugs and wires are quite old and tired, does it seem reasonable that some plugs, wires, cap and rotor would probably cure the coughing and backfiring? Or should I be putting up a Craigslist ad for parts?

[ecogabriel]

Take a look at the thread below. It is for an EFI distributor, but some parts would possibly apply to your case like how to treat the wiring and such. There are even sources to get the bearing (it is an odd metric size) and the shaft seal (also an odd metric size)

http://www.3geez.com/forum/efi-tech/76806-efi-distributor-teardown.html

I noticed today that someone has even saved the photos somewhere else.

I have rebuilt the 96 camry distributor and to be honest, it is a blessing that seals and bearing are common to find anyplace.

The bearing may cost 6-8 plus shipping if you buy the replacement I suggested in the post. 5G Civic shaft seals work in the TEG EFI distributor (they run from 8 to 15 on ebay) and I would bet yours is the same as the top half in mine.

EDIT: here it is the link to the shaft bearing

6201-ZZ-012 Special Size Ball Bearing 12.5x32x10 (http://bearingsdirect.com/6201-ZZ-012-Special-Size-Ball-Bearing-12.5x32x10.html)

[cbolyard]

Thanks. I guess I should be more descript. Based on the pics I posted does it appear the seal in the dizzy has failed and needs replaced? And are worn ignition parts the likely cause of the cough/backfire?

[greentee76]

If it were me... I'd clean it up, replace the cap and rotor and the o ring and see where you stand. You could probably do that for 10-15$ in parts and I would think that it would answer the question on the backfiring.
I would never rule out some malfunction in the stock carb, but this should help you see how much is ignition related.
Good luck!

[Dr_Snooz]

Your distributor looks pretty good, really. There's no red dust and no oil sloshing around inside. The outside is dirty, but that's either the external dizzie seal or a bad valve cover gasket. I'm not really seeing the bad wires you're talking about, but they connect to the pickup coil, which should be available pretty cheap from most auto parts stores. Check the mechanisms inside the distributor to make sure they work smoothly. The shaft should rotate freely. The vacuum advance should not feel notchy and the weights on the mechanical advance (below the vacuum advance plate) should swing out easily. Also make sure that the vacuum advance diaphragm holds vacuum. Honestly, the car will still run even if none of those things is working well, but they will indicate that it's getting time to replace/rebuild the dizzy.

Anyway, I'd recommend a lazy rebuild (http://www.3geez.com/forum/technical/66468-lazy-mans-distributor-overhaul-tec-distributor.html) but I don't see anything in your pics that makes me think you need a full rebuild or to replace a lot of parts. If your plugs and wires are tired, do a full tune up and see where that gets you.

[ecogabriel]

Thanks. I guess I should be more descript. Based on the pics I posted does it appear the seal in the dizzy has failed and needs replaced? And are worn ignition parts the likely cause of the cough/backfire?
If you take the distributor out after driving the car for a while and oil drips from the inside out - a telling sign would be finding clean oil on the part of the dizzy that sits lower - then the seal may be worn. After 20+ y ears it is a pretty sure bet it may need replacement

Anyway, replacing spark plugs, wires, cap and rotor should solve most of your problems. My distributors both leaked oil for a long time and there was no missing or backfiring. Even a more involving rebuild like the one I documented is not that complicated provided you get the parts beforehand and keep track of the disassemble.

[cbolyard]

Your distributor looks pretty good, really. There's no red dust and no oil sloshing around inside. The outside is dirty, but that's either the external dizzie seal or a bad valve cover gasket.

The oil on the outside is from the external o-ring, it's definitely past its prime. It has had a healthy leak since I bought the car about a year ago.


I'm not really seeing the bad wires you're talking about, but they connect to the pickup coil, which should be available pretty cheap from most auto parts stores.

If you look at the pics closely, the 3rd wire from the left... the sheathing is a brown color, but right near the 4 wire connector there's a strip of green color and right where it makes a bend toward the distributor shaft end is green as well- the jacketing on the wire has split and/or melted and there is a fair bit of corrosion in the wire. Not awful, but not ideal either.


Check the mechanisms inside the distributor to make sure they work smoothly. The shaft should rotate freely. The vacuum advance should not feel notchy and the weights on the mechanical advance (below the vacuum advance plate) should swing out easily. Also make sure that the vacuum advance diaphragm holds vacuum. Honestly, the car will still run even if none of those things is working well, but they will indicate that it's getting time to replace/rebuild the dizzy.

Everything feels smooth inside. I'll put my Mityvac on the diaphragm tonight when I get home to see if its still good or not- thanks for that suggestion!

On a side note- I've worked on a variety of vehicles over the years but I have never seen anything with the amount of vacuum lines this car has.

[ecogabriel]

Everything feels smooth inside. I'll put my Mityvac on the diaphragm tonight when I get home to see if its still good or not- thanks for that suggestion!

On a side note- I've worked on a variety of vehicles over the years but I have never seen anything with the amount of vacuum lines this car has.

Before doing that, try getting a measure of how much vacuum the distributor lines get. If you do that, you will know how much vacuum to use in the "vac"

The carbed cars are a nightmare of hoses. I suspect that people get sick of dealing with the problems when the systems age and end up in jy.
EFIs are a little better because they have most of them stuck together, but they have a bit of hoses too.

[cbolyard]

Update- finally had time to work on the car. I replaced plugs, wires, cap and rotor and now it runs much, much better. The plugs that I removed were probably the most worn out spark plugs I've ever seen, its a wonder the car even ran at all! It looks like I still have an oil leak at the dizzy/head interface but the o-ring I bought was a parts store special and wasn't nearly as wide as the groove in the dizzy, so I'll track down the proper o-ring and see if that stops the bleeding.

[Dr_Snooz]

I don't think the dealer even has the right orings anymore. I just bought one a couple weeks ago and it looked suspiciously similar to what's in my Chinese oring kit. Nor did it come in the Honda bad that they always do. I'm not optimistic that it's going to seal. Let us know what you are able to find.

[HLW]

I don't think the dealer even has the right orings anymore. I just bought one a couple weeks ago and it looked suspiciously similar to what's in my Chinese oring kit. Nor did it come in the Honda bad that they always do. I'm not optimistic that it's going to seal. Let us know what you are able to find.

Snooz, the dealers may not have it but I have them, but I have gotten and used the seal and o-ring kit from a vendor on Ebay that is in Stockton,CA. they are the correct o-ring and seal.

Honda Acura Distributor Seal O Ring 2 PC Set Made in Japan | eBay (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Honda-Acura-Distributor-Seal-O-Ring-2-pc-Set-Made-in-Japan-/160967925032?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item257a6f9d28&vxp=mtr)

I used it on my 86 DX. still haven't had a chance yet to change teh seal and o-ring on the 89 LX-i...maybe this weekend.

[cbolyard]

My plan was to order one of the o-rings off Ebay, there are quite a few sellers offering them. I might pop the dizzy back out and measure the groove first then go from there.
I know the dizzy o-ring is the common problem, but is there somewhere else the oil leak could be coming from? Quite a bit of oil under the distributor and it drips on the exhaust. Valve cover and head gaskets appear to be fine.

[HLW]

My plan was to order one of the o-rings off Ebay, there are quite a few sellers offering them. I might pop the dizzy back out and measure the groove first then go from there.
I know the dizzy o-ring is the common problem, but is there somewhere else the oil leak could be coming from? Quite a bit of oil under the distributor and it drips on the exhaust. Valve cover and head gaskets appear to be fine.

There are only 2 places the dizzy will leak engine oil, the o-ring and the seal. The link I posted before is for both together.



Honda Acura Distributor Seal O Ring 2 PC Set Made in Japan | eBay (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Honda-Acura-Distributor-Seal-O-Ring-2-pc-Set-Made-in-Japan-/160967925032?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item257a6f9d28&vxp=mtr)

The same company also sells the o-ring on its own.

https://support.toshiba.com/support/acclaim/welcome

And the seal on its own.

Honda Civic Acura Integra Tec Distributor Seal Made in Japan Fast Shipping | eBay (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Honda-Civic-Acura-Integra-TEC-Distributor-Seal-Made-Japan-Fast-Shipping-/161004703410?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr&hash=item257ca0ceb2)

Personally, I would change both even if the seal isn't leaking yet because it will probably start leaking soon if ti is not already and then you have to remove the dizzy again and every time you pull the dizzy you should, but don't always have to, replace the o-ring.

[Dr_Snooz]

Thanks for the info, HLW. Be aware that the internal seal requires quite a bit of tear down to access.

The valve cover gasket can also leak and look like a distributor leak. If it's leaking onto the exhaust manifold, then I would definitely be looking more at the VC gasket than the distributor oring.

[ecogabriel]

There are only 2 places the dizzy will leak engine oil, the o-ring and the seal. The link I posted before is for both together.



The same company also sells the o-ring on its own.

https://support.toshiba.com/support/acclaim/welcome

And the seal on its own.

Honda Civic Acura Integra Tec Distributor Seal Made in Japan Fast Shipping | eBay (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Honda-Civic-Acura-Integra-TEC-Distributor-Seal-Made-Japan-Fast-Shipping-/161004703410?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr&hash=item257ca0ceb2)

Personally, I would change both even if the seal isn't leaking yet because it will probably start leaking soon if ti is not already and then you have to remove the dizzy again and every time you pull the dizzy you should, but don't always have to, replace the o-ring.

http://www.3geez.com/forum/efi-tech/76806-efi-distributor-teardown.html

If you read the thread carefully, you will find the steps to replace the shaft seal only