On a 93 Honda Accord LX, the ears on the distributor broke off and are inside the engine. A new distributor was purchased and put in and it ran and drove good when tested, but the ears from the other one are still in the engine. Can they screw up something inside the engine if it's driven or will they just cycle through and land/stay in the oil pan?
Thanks in advance!

 

Where is the distributor located on a 93 engine? Just asking as I own newer Accords and am not familiar with the older models. If it attaches to the end of the head like the later ones do, then the pieces might still be up in the head. You could try taking the valve cover off and see if you can get them out.

 

Yes, I believe it is. Is the valve cover and gasket fairly simple to remove and replace? Thanks!

 

Which ears broke off? The ears on the key that connects to the camshaft, or the ears where the distributor cap bolts to the distributor?

 

The bottom ones that stick inside the engine.

 

Yes, I believe it's 5 nuts to remove (10mm wrench size). Make sure you use a piece of tape on each plug wire from right to left, numbering the tape 1,2,3,4. This way each plug wire goes back where it was, so the car will run.

 

Yeah he did it earlier today, but the area where the distributor goes in is separated by a wall of metal so even tho he looked inside the valve cover, he couldn't see directly beneath to where the ears might have dropped. He searched as good as he could and didn't see them so we're hoping that when I was testing the power steering and brakes, (weaving back and forth and then going forward and back fast and hitting the brakes)maybe it fell and ended up in the oil pan.

 

If memory serves me right, there is a "groove" of sorts to the inside where the dist goes into the head. If the dist is out, take a pick - bend a paperclip into a "L" shape - and run it in that "groove" just to be sure the old ears didn't get lodged in there.

I'm just trying to figure out how - why - they broke in the first place , that worries me more than anything else.

 

We think it may have been because he inserted it wrong the first time - it may have weakened them. If that isn't it then I dunno.