how rarely does...

So your mechanic is now contributing to err, Internet umm, wisdom... by
proxy??

It's the seal! This has been discussed here umpteen times dating back
nearly a decade by R. Morella et.al. R.M. was the one who found the
bearing source and replaced just that... saving the cost of a new housing:
http://techauto.tripod.com/distributorexploded.htm.

I have direct experience here and the red dust can be present for months
before you get even any audible signs. In my case I had no noises at all
and just decided it would be a good idea to change the cap/rotor and found
red dust everywhere - took me another week to get the new housing and get
it installed - still no noises or MIL.

I think you'd better take a closer look at the distributor drive mechanism
- it's pretty sturdy and an instant bearing lock is going to get
transmitted to the timing belt, which will likely try to jump a
tooth/teeth.... which can result in belt breakage and valve damage.

It's rust from the bearing which has a compromised seal. Ozone, damp air,
whatever... oxygen and damp is fine as an oxidising agent for steel - ozone
could accelerate it I suppose... the point is the bearing is not sealed off
as it should be.

Rgds, George Macdonald

"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??

 

While I'm a pretty cool chick, I'm not as cool as you, Caroline. How do
you keep your finger nails white and not black?!

 

ravelation wrote
SoCalMike wrote
Caroline wrote

Hey there. I knew there were other chicks here. Anyone who works on cars with
enthusiasm is way cool.

Ha ha... I am definitely paying more attention to my hands these days. I think
"PB Blaster" and radiator coolant in particular are doing a number on them.

For minor jobs, preferentially I wear (powdered) latex gloves. Wal-Mart
sells a large box of them for around $4. For major jobs I've found the latex
gloves tear quickly and there's not much point in bothering with them. Sometimes
I wear cloth work gloves, like when rotating the tires.

After working on my car, I now use Gojo Creme Hand Cleaner first, sometimes
followed by "Fast Orange" hand cleaner. Both are inexpensive and well worth it.

Gojo cleans well and seems to moisturize better, but it smells like petroleum
distillates (wonder why ). "Fast Orange" cleans well and smells good, but it
also seems to dry out my hands.

Then I go at my nails with the proper nail files. Lastly, I use expensive hand
lotion (currently Gold Bond Body Lotion). The cheap stuff does not do the trick.

If I'm lucky in three days my nails are thoroughly clean.

What kind of Honda do you have? What sort of work do you do on it?

 

It's my son who has a '99 Honda Civic EX coupe.

I pay insurance and believe me, that's work for *that* car with a 17
year old driver!! Seriously, I don't do maintenance any more. I've
always had a love of cars that I got from my dad. I'm far more
superficial than you about my car knowledge. I'm more of the 'know a lot
about nothing' kind of chicks.

Rock on, Caroline!

 

lol. I bet.

I remember you now from the other month.

Anymore, huh...

;-)

I noticed the Car Talk guys are getting more calls from women doing their own
oil changes these days.

But you're lurking here just because, eh... ;-)

I am a kitten for most anything outside the engine. Constant velocity joints,
clutches, struts, turning rotors... wha? where?

Think I'm gonna take a comm. college class next year in one of these topics.

You too!

 

Good information from you and from Tegger in the following post (my
dealership mechanic described similar failure symptoms as outlined).

Perhaps posted many times, but for the thread starter there was a
general recall for the distributor part described above for all '90 to
'92 Accords and most early '93 which was extended for six years from
the date of sale. (I inquired about it at the dealership and
apparently the recall was effective for all such cars in southern U.S.
regions but only for those which showed signs of failure in the
nothern regions--supposedly the wear is exacerbated by heat and
humidity.)

In checking the Technical Service Bulletins, there was no such recall
for any model of the '95 Civic.

 

||For minor jobs, preferentially I wear (powdered) latex gloves. Wal-Mart
||sells a large box of them for around $4. For major jobs I've found the latex
||gloves tear quickly and there's not much point in bothering with them.
Sometimes

Try the blue nitrile gloves. they last longer, don't tear as easily.
Also, Permatex and probably others make a ticker latex glove.
There are also some good knock-offs of the Mechanix Wear gloves out there for
under $10. Permatex among others.

||After working on my car, I now use Gojo Creme Hand Cleaner first, sometimes
||followed by "Fast Orange" hand cleaner. Both are inexpensive and well worth
it.

If it's available in your area, try some Joe's Hand Cleaner. Works great, smells
nice.
Texas Parts Guy

 

The thicker gloves last longer, but I presume I will pay more. Seems like I'm
about as well off with the thin, inexpensive gloves, changing often.

If the price is right, I'll give it a whirl. Thanks, Rex.

 

I recall lots of postings here about distributors going bad over the
years. Maybe you can google them up. Things like bearings going bad,
etc. Spit, sputter, knock like you describe is more often the sign of
a fuel problem. Electrical problems tend to be all or nothing. Of
course, that's a generalization that is not always true, but it's a
first cut at diagnosis.

 

With the 92-97, maybe later engines I don't know, the coil is inside
the distributor cap, which raises the price of it to $50. What happens
is that when the cap cracks, it becomes even more sensitive to
moisture than when a normal cap cracks, and won't start on wet days
because the moisture is actually getting into the coil as well as the
distributor. So whereas in the past you'd have bought a new cap for
$5, now you end up buying a new coil when the cap cracks.

 

Sure it can be any one of the previously listed items in the
distrubutor. But in the shops defense here was my experience:

I went through the preliminary diagnostics to determine it was
something in the distributor (power to it but not through it). Then
took the distributor off. Rotor was frozen on the shaft, cracked
coming off so new rotor required. Then the shield between the rotor
and the workings of the distributor (plastic) cracked coming off.
Then, when removing the coil terminals to do the resistance test, the
plastic insulators on the coil crumbled so new coil required, even
though it tested electrically OK. Turned out to be the igniter,
(process of elimination) but I bought the whole distributor for about
$90 with another $50 for the coil (sold separately).

I would have been better off (in time savings) to just rip the whole
thing off and replace the distributor. When it is that old and subject
to that much thermal cycling, those plastic elements just don't hold
up to remove/test/replace. The shop you used probably feels the same
way (although $400 seems high for the parts and the 30-40 minutes it
takes to diagnose, replace the whole thing and reset the timing).