will do and report. I am picking up a O-ring tomorrow at the dealership? Should I also get a distributor cap seal?

Although, one tricky question is, how do I keep the rotor from not moving when switching from existing to new?

In this video, I show a notch on the housing, a wedge on the ear-like thingy that sticks or is attached to the cam shaft. Finally, when I turn it, as it makes a full circle, I can feel the shaft almost "locking" into a position. Not sure what all the three mean?

 

The carbon button (I called it a brush) is actually visible in your photo. It presses against the center of the rotor. It has it's own spring. I once got a distributor cap from the store where that one is missing.

The spring visible at the top of your photos makes connection to the coil, which doesn't spin so it doesn't need a carbon button.

The shaft of the distributor has a blade that fits into a slot on the end of the camshaft. You will notice that the blade & the slot are a bit off-center. Pay attention to that off-center direction and spin the distributor around to match it properly. If you get it 180-degrees out, it IS possible to install but you'll have to hammer it into place. You would think the need for hammering would be a clue, but it has been done.

 

I will confess to having mis-installed a distributor and I didn't "hammer" into place. It merely needs installation 180 deg off and tightening the bolts. It will be cocked at a slight angle, but will mate and turn over w/ starter. Mercifully it won't start in this configuration.

The problem is the key is almost symmetrical. It is nearly impossible to detect the slight asymmetry by visual cues.

The best clue to improper installation is the slightly cocked position and gap on one side of the distributor. If anything "doesn't feel right", stop and take a close look.

good luck

 

OK, my experience with that was a 1995 Integra. Maybe the blade & slot for that car were a bit more off-center. It was visible if you knew about it and looked for it. Not obvious from a casual glance.

 

Thanks Poorman/Jim and TexasHonda.

Contacts on the cap were badly burnt and scored. The rotor pad also had been badly scored/serrated. So, I Replaced the cap/rotor on the Stock distributor.

Took a picture of the Rotor pad position before removal and ensured the new rotor pad was in the same position as in the picture. I put the cap back on and gave it a whirl!

the car started just fine and took her for a spin(1.5 miles only) and it really felt good, why would I feel that the car shifted very well?

I just did not have the courage to drive all the way back home.

I will perform a road test tomorrow and report. I am not even sure what is a good distance or test to ensure that the problem has been fixed. The intermittent crank/no start came back after a week of driving.

 

Hello Poorman/Jim and Texashonda,
I have been complaining about how the car just did not feel like old self where it would do hard-shifts when I cut speed or was making turns. I cannot believe it...the car is running like it has been all these years except for this past 1 year. The car purrs during idle and the feel during slow accelerations is just awesome...For the life of me, I can't tell why changing the distributor+new cap + new rotor may make this difference.

I drove the car home from work and everything seems perfect. I am going to do some highway driving tomorrow.

Last year, I had an auto-transmission fluid leak and was forced to change fluids. My mechanic picked up non-Honda fluid and I started to observe this even more acutely. However, I dont understand why the car feels so good now (maybe, its my mind playing tricks on me )

 

As I have mentioned already, the car felt awesome right after the distributor replacement job and I took a chance and put the car up on craigslist. gone in 24 hours! I feel extremely proud of all the education and work ($$$ expense not so much) I put in over the last year.

To think all of my problems last summer were precipitated by the after-market distributor is disturbing to say the least. It has been a fun and a hell ride at times.

You guys are phenomenal. Thank you.

 

rotor or cap may have had a fine crack. Crack will fill w/ carbon dust and cause a path to ground. However, this should have caused a dead miss which was not the case. Guess we'll never know.

good luck

 

Happy and sad.

Happy you got it going and it was running good.

Sad that you parted with it

But we all have to do what we feel is the right thing.....Thanks for keeping us/everyone up to date on the progress and the final "answer", too many time we never know the end of the story.

Best of luck in whatever you decide to do from here.

 

For the benefit of others who find this thread...

Even without a crack, you can get an arc across the surface of the distributor cap; maybe it was dirty or whatever reason. That in turn "etches" the smooth surface of the plastic cap making it MUCH easier to arc in the future - when that happens you need a new cap. Sometimes this is real difficult to see without magnification.