I recently replaced my timing belt last night, and made sure that everything was TDC and that the cam was timed correctly. After a few starts with the car starting up with a loping idle, I go back to correct the timing. After doing so, It comes to show that I am not getting any spark whatsoever. Im thinking it could be either that my dizzy got fried, or that i just have bad wires (didnt replace wires when I replaced the spark plugs). It was odd when I opened up the cap on the distributor only to find that there was a puddle of oil inside the cap.

Can anyone explain the meaning of why there would be oil in my cap, and if this would pose as a problem? Maybe if I buy a new dizzy this should solve my problem?

 

There's supposed to be a rubber O ring that seals around the dizzy where it goes into the head. If it's worn out, it'll leak oil there.

I dunno, I suppose if it's enough oil, it could cause the rotor to not make good contact with the points in the cap. Are you sure it's getting no spark at all?

 

Yeah, replace the O-ring on the distributor. Did you crank the engine without one or more plug wires attached? That will sometimes blow the coil.

 

Seal in the end of the distributor housing is bad allowing oil into the distributor.

I suspect it will cause a problem, the only time i've ever personally seen oil come in contact with ignition components was on Briggs & Stratton lawn mower engines with breaker points, and in that case at least it caused a no spark condition. A new distributor will fix the problem, but its about $100 for an OEM housing. You could just buy a seal from a place that specializes in bearings and seals, should be less than $10, install it yourself and clean the oil out and you should be ok.

If the O-ring is bad it will just leak oil externally.

 

Wouldn't both distributor seals have to be bad for oil to enter the distributor, unless of course the source of the oil is from the valve cover or VTEC solenoid?

 

Not neccessarily, the 2 pronged distributor cam/drive doesn't fit particularly tightly on the shaft its attached to (the one that goes through the oil seal in the distributor housing) I figure you could get some oil through there. Although if the O-ring was bad oil could go around it and then through the seal as well. Bottom line the seal must be bad to have oil enter the distributor housing, but if the O-ring was bad it would certainly allow more oil to the seal to leak in. Replacing both would be an excellent idea.

 

Thanks for the explanation. I'll have to take a closer look at my distributor the next time I have it off. How do you access the internal distributor seal? Or do you have to replace the entire distributor assembly?

 

You have to take the distributor apart to get at it. Pic below, I'm not sure where the pic came from anymore or i'd give credit to someone.

 

Nice. So that's what the inside of the distributor housing looks like when the coil, igniter, etc. are removed. After the distributor has been removed, is accessing the seal fairly straightforward?

 

Yeah, D and B-series distributors are pretty much like Lego, everything just unscrews and everything really only fits one way. The one big exception is that 2 pronged cam/drive on the engine of the distributor, you can 180 that out if you don't mark it.

 

I didn't mind asking a lot of questions as the OP is also likely to benefit.

 

Okay, i just opted to pick up a used distributor from J&R for $40 bucks. I was buying it for a JDM D15b sohc vtec, and as I was going to install it, IT DIDNT FIT :\ Both of the distributors look alike, but when I go to bolt them up, none of the holes on the dizzy that I just bought lined up.

Maybe I should buy a dizzy for a d16z6? or maybe even a JDM D16A?? Im reeally confused at this point because the plugs and everything are the same, but the mounting points are only off by a few centimeters. Any ideas?? Maybe I picked up a D15b NON VTEC??

Thanks for all the posts guys, they really helped a lot.

 

What engine? There are 3 different bolt patterns for OBD1 D-series distributors:

Vtec/Vtec-e
Non vtec
DOHC ZC

 

JDM D15b SOHC VTEC. So yeah im looking for the vtec/vtec-e bolt patterns. Kinda pissed off that it didnt fit initally, but now I know right? The guy at the shop didnt even do a test to see if there was spark to show signs that it works because I went there right when they closed.

 

bought a new dizzy, and it still doesnt get spark.... WTF!

 

Do you measure battery voltage at the distributor connector?

Is the critical ground wire on the thermostat housing loose, corroded, or disconnected?

Does the CEL remain ON when you turn the key to ON(II)?

 

no i did not measure the voltage at the distributor connector. What issue does this pose???

I will check the ground wire on the thermostat tomorrow, i didnt really look at that at all

the CEL does remain on I believe. But that can be because I have my o2 sensor disconnected (using y8 headers) and i do not have vtec wired. But it ran fine right before I started the timing belt, and also it started twice when we were trying to test out the timing, but after the 2nd time it stopped getting spark. Me and my friend are totally stumped about what the problem could be. I even changed main relays thinking that would solve the problem, but to no avail. I really have to sit and trouble shoot and browse h-t and online or talk to a tech to figure out what the problem could be.