red dust in the distributor cap???

i have an 87 acccord and it has this red stuff in the distributor cap, the
car runs fine but what is t hat stuff and what is it a sign of?

 

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Very common failure of the sealed bearing inside the distributor. There
was a recall at one time for early '90's, I think. If you drive it like
that, you'll rip the teeth off your timing belt (again)

You've solved the mystery.

'Curly'

 

can i change the bearing? is it pressed in or does it just come out? or , do
i need to buy a whole distributor?

 

I tried to disassemble one for the heck of it, wasn't pretty. Best bet is
replacing it. If you have fuel injection, then you technically replace every
part controlling the fuel and spark; not that there is a guarantee the new
one will be work.
As well as possibly tearing up a belt, you can also break the camshaft
Good eye noticing that, you may have to spend a few hundred dollars, but you
saved your car

 

THE LOCAL JUNK YARD SAID THEY WANT $80 FOR ONE. BUT I KNOW A GUY WHO HAS A
JUNK YARD AND HE SAID I COULD HAVE IT FOR FREE BUT ALL HE HAS IN HIS LOT ARE
PRELUDES. IM TRYING TO FIND OUT WHAT YEAR PRELUDE HAS THE SAME DISTRIBUTOR.
I KNOW THAT THE 87 ACCORD CAN USE EITHER A TEC OR HITACHI DISTRIBUTOR, THE
HITACHI PART NUMBER IS D4R84-58. DO YOU KNOW WHERE I CAN FIND A PART CROSS
REFERENCE LIST FOR THIS DISTRIBUTOR AND THIS CAR.?

 

I have a dist. from an 89 LX-i that you can have for the postage. bob