According to the comments, posted on this guide, igniting/starting up the engine for brief moment, to get the Philips head screw to align, risks damaging coil.

Therefore to minimize the risk of coil damage, one should turn the crankshaft bolt that's in the wheel well, to get the distributor rotor in the desired position to remove its Philip heads screw.

Is the the bottom bolt in the image, the crank bolt that needs to turned counter-clockwise? Is its socket size 19mm?


Also what device would one suggest to remove the hard to remove rotor screw, easily, without flattening it?

I also have a floor jack.

Also would one recommend I use a magnetized 5/8 socket to remove old spark plugs? Cheapest one I've found costs $15, as opposed to $6.
I'm concerned I might apply too much force to removing the spark plugs, casing the seals on the engine bay, to be damaged.

 

Easiest way is to change it while car is on 4 wheels.

If you cant see the screw , just push car forward a little ( this rotates motor, which rotates the distributor dizzy) . You will then see the screw, put the car in gear and handbrake and remove rotor.

remember to put some blue loctite on the screw, helps.

 

if your car is already jacked up, then take a 19mm ? socket and turn the motor by the track pulley. this will also turn the distributor rotor and get you to the screw.

 

Sorry, I don't know what you're referring to.

I was thinking of putting anti-seize lubricant on the screw, when I'm done, since it's supposedely hard to remove.

I'm more interested in the "safe way" not the "easiest way", to not risk damaging the coil and having the car refuse to turn and stay on.

In your first post, are you saying, I can put the car in neutral, and rotate the front wheels with my hands, while the front of the car is jacked up? If so, that seems desirable.
Something like that was vaguely mentioned in this video, at the 3:40 mark.

Anyone know how I can prevent youtube video thumbnails from showing up in my post?

1st edit:
It seems this was over before I even started it. The philips headscrew won't come off the distrbutor cap. May someone recommend and affordable tool to remove the screw with little risk of flattening it? I already tried WD40, and it's already a bit flattened.

2nd edit:
I was able to remove the screw, using pliers.

I found a fourth hole to the right of the bottom one.



It seems I should keep the distributor cap (image).

I coincidentally came across this thread, showing why to use Loctite.

I'd like to inspect the distritbutor rotor up close, I couldn't get a good picture/look at the fin, since it was facing the ground, instead of the sky. If one knows an answer to my first question, it would be appreciated.

 

WTF are you guys serious... take off the distributor and then do it, ffs it's 3 12mm bolts vs this huge hassle you're proposing. Where on earth did the notion come that you had to jack the car up to merely change rotors, take it off and press on the screwdriver while you're undoing it.

 

In order to remove the distributor (dizzy?) rotor, I have to align the Philips head screw, by "rotating" the rotor to a certain position, so I can remove it with a screw driver.

 

I was thinking the same even more on how does priming the dizzy hurt the rotor? i give it one turn with the ing. key and then check to see if the screw is exposed. That would be like saying every time you start the engine your hurting the rotor.. like he said just remove the distributor if your that scared! 3 12mm bolts, mark the center of the dizzy on the top where the top bolt is attached to align it back to its original spot so its timing isn't changed. why remove the wheel then the spark plugs to turn the engine buy hand? I also use a small bolt to replace the screw that is notoriously stripped.

 

Or you can like we were saying pull out the distributor itself by removing the 3 bolts then pull off the rotor. first scribe a line on top of the distributor from the metal part of the distributor housing and the top of the cam cap tower so when you put it back on you can just align the line you made to bring it right back to where it was so timing isn't changed.

 

It seems the crankshaft bolt is the one not visible in the picture; it's inside the plastic hole.

 

Are my ignition coils damaged? Car can’t turn on.

My car tries to turn on (similar to someone coughing repeatedly), when I turn the key clockwise and hold it at that position, even after 15 seconds. I hear the repetitive ignition sound, but the car can’t come on and stay on.

Earlier I was in the process of trying to replace the distributor rotor, cap, spark wires and plugs.
Once I disconnected the distributor from my vehicle, I took it straight to a mechanic to have the rotor Philip’s head screw removed, free of charge.

Distributor before I took it to the mechanic: Image 1
Distributor after taking it to the mechanic: Image 2

As one may see in Image 2, the mechanic removed the secondary black plastic casing (or cap) and I forgot to take it back from him. To remove the screw, he used a black hammer to fasten the screw driver to screw, possibly damaging the distributor.

Before I removed the distributor from the vehicle, to take it to the mechanic, I noticed what looked like a melting yellow candle wax, as showing in Image 2, but here is another image, with a much more up close shot: Image 3.

After going to the mechanic and having the screw removed, I went to Home Depot to buy an Everbilt 10-32 x ½ in brass, which matched the rotor screw. Although it was 1mm longer, it fit perfectly in the distributor. I also used loctite. I used a new and .

From here I did things one step at time. I connected the distributor cap and the old spark wire (with old spark plugs), the car couldn’t ‘turn on’. As mentioned before, there was black plastic piece, between the rotor and the main distributor, and I accidently left it at the mechanics shop.

I tried the new spark plug, same thing. I replaced all 4 old spark wire plug with brand new ones, same thing. I also tried the old distributor cap, same thing. The old distributor rotor, has black oil tar on the terminal section, so I didn’t try it.

Right now it seems by best course of action, would be to go the car mechanic and have them replace it.

Any suggestions as to how I can overcome this problem would be appreciated.

Edit 1:

Yeah, I think I broke my distributor, trying to remove the rotor screw... and flatenning the brand new one. I went ahead an forced out the ignition coil.

May someone suggest a durable distributor?

This seems interesting: . Or can ask my mechanic to buy me one, at much steeper price. Will I have worry about setting the distribution timing, in order for the car to start up? I'd rather not buy extra tools.

I'll just toss the old one on eBay. Also someone suggested "set the timing", without specifying timing of "what" that should be set. Where can I read up on this.

It would have been nice, to advise, that reconnecting, the distributor would require positional adjustment, and that I shouldn't panic if the car refuses to turn on...

Anyway I take full responsibility , for possibly having to buy a new distributor..

In case anyone's wondering, the bolt behind the plastic on the driver's side of the wheel well, indeed rotates the belt on the left side of the engine, which in turn rotates the dizzy rotor. If you don't have experience dealing with the removal of tight screws, that are possibly super glued, consider taking the vehicle to a mechanic...

50,000+ miles old spark plugs; NGK PZF5RF.


When putting on the new NGK iridiums, I tightened with just the extension bar and my hands. Then used a non-torque 1/2" drive wrench to tighten about 1/2 of full rotation. An 'Advanced Auto Parts' sales associate recommended a 16mm socket, since they didn't have 5/8" for 1/2" drive (individual not bundles).

 

Here is an up close shot of the ignition coil + heatsink: Image 4.

Unfortunately I had to clip off half of the rotor, to access the ignition coil + heatsink: Image 5.

Does anyone know if the dizzy rotor would be usable in its current condition, if so, for how long?

 

If you JUST replaced the screw/rotor why didn't you unscrew it?

You need to replace the rotor.

You should test your ignition system before you start replacing parts as well. This video will walk you through that.



Replace the rotor, put your cap back on, confirm your firing order is correct, and then diagnose from there.

 

Thanks for the useful response Caoboy. I tried to remove, the screw, but I ended up flattening it. I unforunately used loctite, which was foolish of me. Now it seems my best option is to buy a brand new distributor altogether.

I'd like to start the car temporarily and park it in a different location, until the new one arrives. Is that possible with the current condition the rotor is in, without causing serious damage? I'm think of going to various mechanic shop to see if it can be removed.

Also, how do I know if I should advance (pull towards me) or retard (push or rotate away) the distributor?

I already triple checked the spark wire location, 1 3 4 2.

 

If you don't have a timing gun, Just set the top leg in the 'middle' of the range of the adjustment. It will be in spec enough that the ECU will alter timing accordingly and it should drive fine enough.


Did you check the firing order at the cap?

Did you make sure the distributor 'key' (the rotating teeth on the part of the distributor that goes into the head/cam) was the correct orientation?

You should still be able to diagnose your spark issue with the way your distributor is.

Don't waste money buying a new one if you don't need to.

 

I placed the dizzy in the middle, with the top right screw loosely holding it in place. The car wouldn't turn on. I rechecked spark wires. I miplaced 1 in the "4th" wire position (top right). I corrected this and the car started.

I have the old distributor cap in place (after testing with new one). I'll try and see if the mechanic or a store like Advanced Auto Parts, will remove screw, and in return I'll buy a new rotor from them as thankful gesture.

Also, is the plastic piece/casing between the rotor and main distributor platform, not important to have?

As one may see in the image, the Dizzy seems to be in more "advanced" position, instead of "retard".



Thanks for the assistance.

1st edit:
Soldering iron couldn't loosen the Loctite rotor screw.