I have the common oil leak coming from my distibutor as well as the lower spark plug o-ring leak on my 97 accord lx. i have replaced the o-ring on my distibutor, but i did not replace the internal seal of the distributor (i have a brand new seal for it). i wanted to take the distributor apart to change the seal, but my dad who is a mechanic advised me to not mess with the distributor since my car has 200,000 + miles on it and because distributors are sensitve esp if taken apart. my question is, should i buy a new distributor? (my current distibutor works fine, i just want to stop the oil leak) new distrtibutors at autozon are $280-$300... i do not want to take a chance on a used distributor since i dont know how the seals are... i have a shop i go to regularly, if i bring them the seal how much should i expect to be charged to have a shop replace my distrubtor seal? i know it is not a hard job to do, but i dont feel confident in doing it myself... I am going to attempt to change the lower tube seal o-rings myself and i am a little nervous about it. i watched the video posted on here that shows how to do it and i am mechanically capable of doing it, but i have never done internal engine work so this is new territory for me. after the lower o-rings are replaced i am going to get a vale adjustment / timing adjusted on my engine (just had timing belt and water pump replace and just changed all tune up related parts plugs, wires, rotor cap etc.) and thats when i want to have my distributor seal replaced as well. Any advice or recomendations would be a huge help as i only have one day to figure out my plan of attack for my honda.

 

Do the distributor seal swap... just be careful of the wires and other plastic components. They can be pretty brittle at this age!

If you are not comfortable, or do not have all of the recommended tools, I would not suggest tackling the lower tube seals. it's easy to remove everything, it takes more time and valve adjustment tools to put it all back together.