'88 Accord oil in distributor

Hello everyone.
I have a 1988 Accord DX (carbureted). For quite some time I have had the
presence of oil in the distributor. Now there is so much that everything
under the area of the distributor is wet. I once looked at an Accord like
mine that was for sale and had the same problem. So I am hoping that maybe
someone here has also had the same problem and can help me out with some
advice.


Aron

 

For starters--

Many reports of oil in the distributor have occurred here. Read some of them at
http://tinyurl.com/29vxt . (You can narrow this groups.google search to your 88
Accord, if you wish.)

Then take a look at the exploded view of a distributor for your car at the
Majestic online parts site:
http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/auto/jsp/mws/catdisplay.jsp . Note
especially the O-ring in the drawing. Replacement of the O-ring may or may not
fix the leak, by my reading.

I had some oil in my 1991 Civic LX's distributor cap last year. For other
reasons, an independent shop replaced the entire distributor housing. That fixed
the leak, but from my reading here it's the expensive route to go just for an
oil leak.

 

Why not replace the 'O' ring in the shaft of the distributor, and see
if that fixes it? bob

 

I did this years ago and there was little or no effect on oil leaking into
the distributor. I believe the O-ring prevents leaks to the outside of the
housing. The problem that has gotten much worse lately and is concerning me
is that oil is leaking into the inner workings of the distributor. It has
gotten bad enough that oil is coming out of the distributor and getting all
over everything under it. From following the link that Caroline posted, it
looks like the problem is probably the bearing seal. But maybe I should
replace that O-ring too. I last replaced it maybe 8 years ago. Thanks for
the post.

Aron

 

Thanks for your post. I am getting a lot of good information from the
link. I had replaced the O-ring a long time ago and it had no real effect
on the internal leak. It looks like the problem is that bearing seal that
is elusive because it doesn't appear in the diagrams and isn't sold
separately from the dealer.

Aron

 

Here's one possible solution. Buy a used distributor from a wrecking yard.
Make sure that there's neither oil nor rust in the distributor. If
necessary transfer your components over to the used distributor housing,
e.g., ignitor, magnet, advance plate, vacuum advance. Lastly, make sure
that the used distributor's mechanical advance moves freely. You should be
able to turn the top of the distributor about 10-15° and have it smoothly
spring back to position. It it doesn't move freely, then the top shaft of
the distributor will need to removed, cleaned up, and relubed (the top shaft
can be reinstalled in one of two positions, if you get it wrong you will not
be able to time your car so use hash marks to mark its original
orientation). Note that a functioning mechanical advance is important.
Your engine may ping if the distributor is locked down. Pinging can destroy
the piston ring lands over time. One final note, as you may be aware, the
distributors for these cars came in two flavors, either Hitachi or Tek.
Make sure that you get the right one for your car.

Eric