1983 Accord - Coolant vapors inside the distributer (8^(

I'm getting coolant vapors under the distributer cap.
The inside is coated w/a rust colored film. Where
does this come from and how do I stop it. Is there
an O-ring on the distributer shaft that acts as
a seal?

roger

 

Your distributor bearing is corroded. It has nothing to do with the
coolant. It has most likely to do with the ozone naturally occurring inside
the distributor, combined with a bearing seal that has gone bad.

You need a new or remanufactured distributor body and shaft.

 

OH, and Oooooooh.

Can I not replace the bearing and seal?

 

---------------------------

BTW, don't drive the car in the meantime. If the bearing gets seized up
enough, your timing belt will strip teeth and your engine will be
destroyed. Take a look at this, and read the part about "Do I have to
change my Timing belt?"

www.tegger.com/hondafaq/

'Curly'

 

Yeah, you can. It's a bit involved though. (And the bearing
and the seal are one-and-the-same.)

Click here:
http://groups.google.com/groups?as_q=distributor+bearing+replace&num=10&scoring=r&hl=en&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_ugroup=*honda*&as_usubject=&as_uauthors=&lr=&as_drrb=q&as_qdr=&as_mind=1&as_minm=1&as_miny=1981&as_maxd=20&as_maxm=10&as_maxy=2005&safe=off

Adjust the search terms as needed.

Been a while since we've seen this issue come up.
Almost all the "red dust" distributors have been
fixed by now.