Anyone rebuilt a distributor?

[meathead]

Has anyone ever taken apart a 2.6 distributor? I was hunting a massive oil leak and found oil running from the distributor cap! It's an internal leak so got to be a seal bad inside the shaft. The epoxy they cover the screws with on the electronic parts is a bear to get off though. Anyone got one of these apart before? I swapped it out with a another 220,000 mile unit for now. I see several have replaced theres, but at $200 thats not happinen anytime soon! Search hasn't turned up much.
Thanks

[shooter]

The service manual states the distributor isn't rebuildable. The oil is probably due to the rubber O-ring being defective.

[govno90]

shooter;
everything is rebuildable, just maybe not to factory specs. look at all of those cars in Cuba that were built in the late 40s and early 50s. they have no access to new parts, but they obviously make them work somehow.
cheers, john

[shooter]

shooter;
everything is rebuildable, just maybe not to factory specs. look at all of those cars in Cuba that were built in the late 40s and early 50s. they have no access to new parts, but they obviously make them work somehow.
cheers, john

That's cool; how you do it?

[meathead]

Well, aside from the electronics, I don't see why they can't be serviced. A handfull of screws and a punch for the rollpin and they come right apart. One sealed bearing in there and one tiny oil seal. Will be stopping by NAPA on way home to see if they can measure it and find one. That is the smallest oil seal I've ever seen.

[Selahdoor]

Caveman has rebuilt one. Sort of.

Look a few posts down on this page. Then pm him, if you want to ask him some questions.

viewtopic.php?p=388487

[meathead]

Thanks. After driving with the spare dizzy in there, I have another oil leak from somewhere else. It's leaking ALOT, but it's at the rear, right side of engine. I put a repair sleave and new rear main in last summer. Back to hosing it off again. Trying to avoid pulling the trans, but can't find any other source of the leak.

[kg4miq]

EDIT: updated with link to seals

https://www.bestpartsonline.com/index.p ... ct_id=1803

Sorry to resurrect the old thread, but I'm in the process of doing this today and thought I'd share.

For the 4ZE1 distributor (and possibly for the 4ZD1 as well, I'll have to check), the internal oil seal in the distributor is a KOK 3286, dimensions are: 12.45mm x 22mm x 6mm. This is the same seal Honda Accords used on the F22B1, F23A1, F23A4, and F23A7 engines, FYI.

Rebuilding these distributors does NOT require disassembly of the crank position sensor (with the potted screws) as someone had mentioned on one of these threads. A bench vise makes rebuilding these distributors so much easier. Clamp the lower shaft gear in the vise to hold the distributor vertically and disassemble from the top down. When you get the cap off, you'll see the thin wafer-like crank position sensor disk. Simply remove the large phillips-head screw in the center of the distributor shaft, and be very careful to not damage or bend the wafer disk as you remove it from the distributor. Underneath the disk you'll see the retainer cover with two screws holding the bearing in place. Under the bearing is the shaft oil seal mentioned above. Turn the distributor on its side and reclamp the cam gear in the vise (below the worm gear teeth - on the smooth portion of the cam gear) with the rolled pin facing up. Now use a punch or allen wrench of about the same size to push the rolled pin out of the cam gear. Once that's done, the cam gear should come off the distributor shaft fairly easily and the shaft should come out of the housing. Reassemble in the reverse order. I'll try and post some pics soon.

[wesharris]

i would love to see those pic.s of this proceedure im gonna have to do something with my dis. and like the OP i cant afford to buy a new one

[wesharris]

Anyone???

[kg4miq]

Sorry, Wes, for the delay. Just now saw this. I'll try to get those pics updated here soon.

[Fox]

Please do, as I am having massive oil leaks out this as well...

Where did you end up getting that NOK 3286? NAPA carry it by chance?

Thanks for the trouble.

[kg4miq]

Ebay. Bought a pack of 6. Search for the Honda engines listed above, or NOK 3286. Pics are on another camera, so I'll try to get those uploaded tonight or tomorrow.

[kg4miq]

Sorry it took so long, but here are the pics, as promised. Had to locate the correct memory card from the right camera. Hope this helps!

all_parts_sm.JPG

gear_removal1.JPG

gear_removal4.JPG

housing2_sm.JPG

inside_full_assembly2.JPG

[kg4miq]

Continued...

screw_detail.JPG

inside_sensor_with_stop.JPG

In addition, under the wavy washer is also an indexed washer with two tangs which face upward. It sits atop a T-shaped sleeve on the distributor shaft, which can be easily pulled upward prior to removing the distributor electronic sensor module.

inside_sensor.JPG

The module itself is not rebuildable, but hardly ever goes bad. The lens might get dirty, or the cable might develop a problem, but there is not a lot of trouble with these, ordinarily. If you suspect the module IS defective, try to source a good used one at a junk yard or pick-n-pull.

underside.JPG

upper_inside_bearing_washer.JPG

Do not forget to place the washer here before you reinstall the electronic module.

The best method of removing the inner seal is to flip the housing over and use a long flat-bladed screwdriver inserted down the shaft hole to push the seal out by tapping the screwdriver with a small mallet. This will most likely destroy the seal, so ensure you have a replacement prior to attempting this. NOK 3286 is the part number. Check eBay for the Honda engines listed above ("F22B1 distributor seal").

Once the seal has been replaced, put a light film of grease inside the inner seal before inserting the shaft into the housing during reassembly. The bearing can be replaced at this time, as well, but sadly, I forgot to get a part number for it. Can anyone assist with this?

In order, from top to bottom on the distributor shaft, inside the housing, under the metal plate cover:
1) rotor button sleeve
2) slotted optical disk
3) wavy washer
4) two-tanged index washer (to align the disk)
5) T-sleeve
6) electronic module with three screws
7) small washer sitting atop the inner bearing (two screws hold the bearing in place)
8 ) inner bearing
9) inner seal

Hope this helps!

[kg4miq]

Could/should this be added to the wiki?

[Selahdoor]

Could/should this be added to the wiki?

I HOPE so!!

[wesharris]

Thank you, very much for taking the time to make this repair I hope to complete this on my distributor . thanks again

[mustanger999]

This is a very good write-up.

[Fox]

I just did mine yesterday. Its a easy process... and the pictures aren't necessary by any means. But its a nice guide to have!

Thanks.

[DSUZU]

Thanks for taking the time to post this. While I don't have any problems with my dizzy right now, I appreciate your efforts to help others. Dennis

[MarkB.NV]

Thanks for taking the time to post this. While I don't have any problems with my dizzy right now, I appreciate your efforts to help others. Dennis

Ditto - heckuva job schooling your Planet friends on the service steps for the dizzy. Great pics too!!!

[Jay]

Late to the party as usual and just came upon this thread. Wow. Excellent. Great stuff! I say sticky and wiki.
Jay

Sorry to resurrect the old thread, but I'm in the process of doing this today and thought I'd share.

For the 4ZE1 distributor (and possibly for the 4ZD1 as well, I'll have to check), the internal oil seal in the distributor is a NOK 3286, dimensions are: 12.45mm x 22mm x 6mm. This is the same seal Honda Accords used on the F22B1, F23A1, F23A4, and F23A7 engines, FYI.

Rebuilding these distributors does NOT require disassembly of the crank position sensor (with the potted screws) as someone had mentioned on one of these threads. A bench vise makes rebuilding these distributors so much easier. Clamp the lower shaft gear in the vise to hold the distributor vertically and disassemble from the top down. When you get the cap off, you'll see the thin wafer-like crank position sensor disk. Simply remove the large phillips-head screw in the center of the distributor shaft, and be very careful to not damage or bend the wafer disk as you remove it from the distributor. Underneath the disk you'll see the retainer cover with two screws holding the bearing in place. Under the bearing is the shaft oil seal mentioned above. Turn the distributor on its side and reclamp the cam gear in the vise (below the worm gear teeth - on the smooth portion of the cam gear) with the rolled pin facing up. Now use a punch or allen wrench of about the same size to push the rolled pin out of the cam gear. Once that's done, the cam gear should come off the distributor shaft fairly easily and the shaft should come out of the housing. Reassemble in the reverse order. I'll try and post some pics soon.

[kg4miq]

Thanks for all the kind words of support! I just noticed I had not followed up on whether or not the inner seal on the 4ZE1 was the same as the 4ZD1, and it is, so that makes it much easier when rebuilding these.

Hope this helps!

[T89]

Excellent write up. I just rebuilt my distributor. It's easy with a bench vise but I did have a folly, I hadn't seated the seal all the way so when I put it back together the shaft wouldn't spin. The disc in there was bound up in the sensor as it wasn't aligned. I took it apart and pressed the seal the rest of the way down (I was afraid to damage it and thought it was seated all the way the first time). I had to use another disc from a spare distributor I had because I bent the other one when the seal wasn't seated and I had put it back together that way. It is so thin you don't even feel it getting mashed. If you put it together and the shaft doesn't turn don't force it; just take it apart and drive the seal all the way down.