Oil leak from inside distributor - ED Civic

[EDCivic]

Have had this problem for quite sometime (and judging by other engine pics on the forum it must be a common problem), but as it is slowly getting worse what is the best way to getting it fixed i.e. buy a whole dizzy from a wreck or strip it down and replace the bearing/seals ???

[bennjamin]

inside the dizzy are tou sure ? Or simply from the shaft itself ? There is a small rubber O ring that seals the dizzy shaft to the camshaft - wont cost much from honda.

[EDCivic]

I serviced the Civic today and thought I'd clean up the rotor button and the poles inside the cap. When I removed it I was surprised at how much oil was in the cap. From what I was told some time ago I thought I'd be having to press out the shaft and replace the seal/bearing ? If its just an O ring then I'm :)

[bennjamin]

sorry i misread ~ there is a bearing on the inside ( look for red/brown dust all thru the cap and rotor housing , and the dizzy should make a squeeking noise too since the bearing is gone)
Usually mechs wont replace this and ask you to buy a reco'd or a new one - but my local mech acutally pressed out the shaft and did replace the bearing that you speak of. Never noticed any oil on the inside tho.
Still Try replacing the small O ring on the bottom camshaft plug end and see if that prevents any more oil loss(it should be very cheap)

[EDCivic]

Appreciate the help. It may just be the O ring as the inside of the cap is pretty clean and there is no sound coming from it when the engine is running. Do you know what size the O ring is ?

[EDCivic]

Spoke to a Honda shop today and they said that if the O ring was worn the oil would be coming out from in-between the dizzy and head. They said that it's the seal and that Honda do not make a repair kit for it i.e. buy a brand new one arghhhhhhh !
So back to square one. Does anyone have a solution to this ?

[jazcivic]

....
..
Still Try replacing the small O ring on the bottom camshaft plug end and
see if that prevents any more oil loss(it should be very cheap)

Yes.. try what Bennjamin suggested first.
Next alternative is check out 3 of your local Honda Wrecking yard
for your distributor (>$100+). Yellow pages are a great help.
Recently I purchased a 1994 Accord distributor(containing igniter & coil)
for $175(+$25 postage) delivered to the door from a Melbourne Wrecker.
Two of our local SA wrecking yards wanted $280 & $300.
Some of them want to get rich too quickly.

[EDCivic]

Not wrong there. I was quoted $200 for the indicator/wiper switch assembly that was from a wreck (when we turn left our's won't cancel) ! I can cope with turning it off myself. I have bought some bits from a guy in Sydney who offers reasonable prices.

[ECU-MAN]

sounds like the seal in the dizzy after the bearing is leaking, the shaft will probably be worn as well so just changing the seal ( if you can find one ) may not fix it. thats why they quote a complete dizzy.

[EDCivic]

Can this seal and bearing be purchased from SKF or the like. Surely they must be of a size that would be in their catalogue ?

[Jazzle]

you should be able to buy the seals from any auto shops for probably a few dollars if you know the size..

i had a corolla seca with the 4age and dizzy leak is quite common with that engine,, most ppl just buy the seals themselves and get their mechanics to change it as toyota doesn't sell the repair kit (which is very similar to your case) so i think maybe you can try that.

i am not 100% sure whether this will work but try ask a few mechanics, pretty sure someone can fix it for ya.

[ECU-MAN]

honda came up with a brilliant idea ( not ) and put a paitent on the bearing in the dizzy.

some people have found a source for them but you never know you might get lucky.

[16CTEG]

pull your distributor off and check the O ring on the end, this seals the oil in from the top of the engine

[TheGoodDeal]

Can this seal and bearing be purchased from SKF or the like. Surely they must be of a size that would be in their catalogue ?

I bought dizzy O rings at Peter Warren (Warwick Farm) for Toyota Camry 89 (3SFE) and Toyota Starlet 98 (4EFE) only around $4 each. Both of them have problem with oil leak from dizzy. It's easy DIY to change dizzy O ring. Just Before you take out the dizzy remember to mark the position of the dizzy and the engine block (use ruler or some thing sharp to mark the line) otherwise you have to adjust timing. Also note the position of rotor.