So I just replaced my entire distributor with one from O'Reilly Auto TD52U-1. The factory one had 140,000 miles on it. Would it be possible to do an overhaul on the factory distributor using the coil or igniter from the new one? I was thinking either the igniter OR coil (dont know for sure) went out on me in traffic. Replacing 1 out of the 2 will only get me so far until the other goes right? Im sure it will only be a matter of time, leaving me stranded yet again. I was thinking of buying and installing either a Honda Igniter or coil(whatever it takes) to get my factory dizzy operating. Then taking either the coil or igniter from the aftermarket distributor and put it into my old distributor just so I dont have to worry about another thing going out. Ill be getting a OE replacement cap and rotor too. Will this method allow my old dizzy to outlast the current aftermarket one i have installed?

 

Yes you can, all you need are the ignition coil and the igniter. Do this at your own risk though.

 

No doubt oe is prefered but from the looks of it theirs red rust or dust on all the sensors inside, plus oil was getting into the cap before it took a crap on me, and I had previously replaced the inner seal and o ring. What would an expert Honda guy do in my situation?

 

the distributor you got from O'R what brand was it? most likely Duralast. if i were you i'd just search local craigslist for a good OEM one and return the O'R. make sure it matches yours. the way u explain sounds like an internal coil dizzy but i could be wrong

 

Duralast comes from Autozone not Oreilly.

OP, on your car the coil is not inside the distributor. Only the ignitor is.

 

if you are seeing red dust, you need to replace the whole thing. the bearing going bad causes that dust. ive had to replace a few of them and the only one that held up was a reman from a/1 cardone. the new ones would leak around the center shaft and the ignitor would burn up.

 

There is ALOT going on in one of these distributors. The clearances are vital to generating stabil signals for the ECM. When the bearing begins to fail you will get eratic idle issues, poor acceleration sometimes and jumpy tach issues.
I was experiencing all of the above for a while but the car still never had a CEL. When the light finally came on I dug into the distrubutor to diagnose and found this.
The rotor shaft seal was leaking a little oil into the unit. The red dust indicated a bearing on the upper shaft was going out and the clearances that are needed on the coils and reluctors was diminished to ZERO that caused a rapid failure from contact.
I had alot of distributor parts around and replaced the shaft, seal and coils. It's been running great for months and no more idle issues either.

 

Great info.

So with my bearing going out around 140k searching a junkyard for a replacement would yield the same results right? Junkyard=worn out junky **** parts right? Not to mention I have NEVER seen a dizzy that was untouched on a honda at a junkyard..

 

Don't discount a distributor off of a junked Honda. I took one from a junked Prelude because my original distributor started leaking oil inside after about 440,000. At least, I discovered it then. Not much leakage from what I could tell so I infer the failure of the seal was relatively recent. Can't say for sure, of course. Could have been a minor leak that was ongoing for a long time. I doubt it though.

Replacement distributor working fine.