Hey guys,

I noticed my car starts to burn off oil under the hood and it starts smoking. I opened the hood and noticed oil under my distributor. Seems like it is dripping out and landing on the engine.

What would make the distributor leak oil, and what do I need to do to fix it?

Thanks

 

There's 2 oil seals at the distributor.

Internal shaft seal. If this is leaking, the oil appears from inside the distributor cap. Honda's official line is that you buy a new distributor, but some people have replaced the seal. Probably depends on what year/model?

External seal O-ring. If this is leaking, the oil appears around where the distributor is bolted to the head, & it generally runs down the head rather than dripping from the distributor. This one's easy, just an O-ring around the distributor base.

 

If you go for the o-ring first.......since the 94 still had timing adjustment in/on the dist. Do yourself a favor and draw a line in the body of the dist to the head and also note where the dist rotor is pointing. When you re-install the dist with the new o-ring (put a light cost of engine oil on the new o-ring) line up the mark on the body of the dist to the head - this way you don't have to worry about re-timing it.

 

I have more appreciation for gaskets and O-rings after my experience with oil leaks.


I have what is likely a distributor o-ring leak, with all the oil beneath it. I also have a simultaneous vtec solenoid leak. Some UV dye, blacklight, and UV goggles can help trace and it was helpful for me, as gravity can confuse tracing the source. Anywho, pics.


The first shot shows oil at the base of the distributor. The second and third shots show what was causing the leak. Aged O-rings/gaskets harden and eventually allow oil to seep past where they used to fill in. That means they have to be broken off (carefully).


I was lucky the distributor internal shaft seal was still in usable condition. There's a presence of some oil at the shaft, but the inside is pretty much dry. (not shown)


The fourth shot shows the block with the distributor removed and all the oil degreased off the lower hose and switches. Before, it was full of dirty oil. When I first removed the distributor, I had to plug up the hole as oil seeped out.


Like poorman said, taking the distributor off requires aligning the rotor and housing, meaning TDC and the cylinder mount respectively. The 5th shot shows where the rotor and TDC for sparkplug terminal #1 align. Before the distributor housing is taken off though, guidance says to mark the body with the cylinder mount. I would assume if that wasn't followed, it would affect timing. But that's a whole other post.

 

Well this is over a year ago, but that's good information for people who find this thread by searching.

I'd like to add one more thing to check. In your 4th photo you can see the split line between the head and the cam-bearing-cap. That basically forms the bottom & top halves of the hole for the distributor. That bearing cap is installed with sealant, and if the sealant is not sufficient oil can leak out through that split line.

 

Knock on wood ... but prepare yourself for this to go at some point! I would suggest purchasing the $6 NOK seal in advance so you can deal with it when the time comes ...

 

Thanks. Nice write-up on that jk. I'll deal with it when it comes. I'll be re-checking it periodically and update. Still messing with other maintenance and I am by far the slowest dude out there. Why it's only a hobby and not a job, unfortunately.

 

Feel fortunate -- if it was a job, you probably wouldn't enjoy it as much