this might be stupid but here we go anyway. i have a burned out distributor for 90 accord ex. i was wondering if i can fix it. has anyone done this before. what can u guys tell me about this.

 

What's "burned out"? Standard tuneup is to replace cap and rotor, so I assume you've already done that.

Anyway, other than cap and rotor, I would NOT try and fix it, especially if the gears are worn. By a new one or a good used one. Try Ebay. Make sure the seller has lots of satisfied customers (good reputation), and try and see if you can get one from an engine with low miles.

 

lol i have two distributors. one not working and one working( in the car) since i have burned like two till now i just wanted to know how to fix it. i opened it once while i had it in the car(broken ofcourse) i went half way and stoped. there were some small black boxes etc. so i have the old one and hopenig if i can fix it. it cost like $150 to buy it rebuild from the factori here in philly,,,,,$200 to buy it from auto zone or pep boys,,,, and $100 in a junk jard. so looking at this prices i was wondering if i can fix the old one that i got laying around. so if u guys have done it before please give me an idea.

 

was it squealing(bad bearing)? or was it throwing a code. You can find out which piece(pickup, ignitor, coil) is bad and replace it with a piece from a trashed one. I've done it quite a few times.

And about "gears", there are none in a honda distributor. it's a straight shaft with a cam key on one side, and a rotor on the other. in between, there are 2 cams on the shaft: one cam for the two sensor pick-ups on top, and one more(that looks like a teethed wheel) down below. But there are no "gears". And i've never seen the cams damaged under normal use. they don't wear out. In fact, it's one of the parts they reuse in the remanufactued AutoZone distributors.

 

the "teethed wheel" = gear

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by John Gordon &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">the "teethed wheel" = gear</TD></TR></TABLE>

Agreed, all gears have teeth, but not all round things with teeth are gears...
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Webster's Dictionary &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
1. a. A toothed machine part, such as a wheel or cylinder, that meshes with another toothed part to transmit motion or to change speed or direction.</TD></TR></TABLE>

It doesn't mesh with anything-- well, it shouldn't if it's functioning as designed. It's sole purpose is to spin in synch with the shaft so the electromagnetic pickup can read the number of teeth that have passed and send the info to the ECM...

So how can it wear out if it never touches anything except the shaft it's attached to..


Modified by nuc79 at 7:32 AM 3/19/2004

 

on many cars the distributor shaft is driven by a gear at the bottom that meshes with the drive train. is how it gets power to rotate, and is how it stays in perfect synch with the drive train. on the Honda, you're right, it doesn't look like a gear, but the principle is the same. never had one apart myself but it looks like (in the diagram) the shaft end meshes with the end of the overhead cam shaft.

on most cars, if the "teeth" get worn and sloppy, you will get drift in the timing, and this can kick up codes. happens on older Suburbans (I own one). So you're saying this type of failure never happens in a Honda? good to know.

by the way, you can get into all the mech engineering principles you want. no problem. you'd be surprised what "qualifications" people have around here.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by John Gordon &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> never had one apart myself but it looks like (in the diagram) the shaft end meshes with the end of the overhead cam shaft.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Take one <U>completely</U> apart and you'll see what I'm talking about. It's impossible to see with the dist. on the car, but there's actually a keyed gear(only one tooth) at the end of the dist shaft, and it fits into the keyway(only one way it will fit) on the end of the camshaft. Here's a pic:


It's hard to see, but you get the point. Anyway, I thought you were referring not to this, but the toothed cam inside the dist. housing that rotates to provide data to the sensor. It's impossible to see without taking the dizzy apart.

But either way, I'm saying that these parts don't wear out on honda distributors. And even if the drive key on the end got a little worn, the ECU would compensate the timing. The parts that always go bad are the main bearing, the coil, the ignitors, and the cap&/or rotor(like all distributors).

But good looking out for potential causes .

And i understand what you're saying about your Suburban. My old points-type distributor on my '65 Nova 327 did the same thing. I replaced it with a newer HEI unit, and hopefully it lasts a while.

 

heyyyy everyone whats a distributer?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by H0nda Acc0rd &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">heyyyy everyone whats a distributer? </TD></TR></TABLE>

haha, you mean you haven't figured it out by reading this post gone waaayyy off-topic?... (aka, "how a honda distribut<U>o</U>r works"). I think we've beat it to death now...

 

well we know how it works but we need how to fix it. lol
anyway. my dad was backing up and the car shot down. he tryed to start it but wouldn't work. so what i did is put a screw driver in and checked if there was any spark. since there wasn't any i came to the conclusion that it was the distributor. so i buy a used one from a junk jard and try it&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt; and it worked fine. by the way the car was working only with 3 cilinders since my exaust vavle on #1 piston was broken. so now i have a distributor that don't work and i am trying to fix it. if i can anyway.

 

ok then, since the problem stemmed from the dist, and there's no spark = the ignitor or the coil is bad, parts #1 and 11:


you can get used replacements from any OBD-1 honda dist.
I know these parts are the same in 90-95 accord, and 92-95 preludes, civics, and integras.

Also, I had the same problem (no spark from the dist.) in my 90 accord, and it was just a carbon buildup on the center button of the rotor. I wiped it off, and it started right up. This was after a $60 tow bill



Modified by nuc79 at 8:59 PM 3/21/2004

 

i'm replacing my distributor tomorrow
got it new with a 1 yr warranty from streetimports.com for $150
check them out

i'll be posting about how to do the timing tonight

 

the distributor that i got is a spare one. it means that i already have one that WORKS and i have another one that don't work. since i got someone who works in a car parts factory in north east philly &gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt; he said that he might fix my distributor at his place free of charge. hopefully u keeps his word and fix it. today i am giong to give it to him and probably get it in a week or so. hey i am takng my time because i already got a distributor that works.

YO SOUTHPHILLY. come to cb7turner.com there are a couple of philly guys in there. i think there would be a honda/acura day near philly but i don't know the address.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by nuc79 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">ok then, since the problem stemmed from the dist, and there's no spark = the ignitor or the coil is bad, parts #1 and 13:
Modified by nuc79 at 3:21 PM 3/19/2004</TD></TR></TABLE>

The coil is actually part 11 on your little diagram. My coil went bad once and it was about 80 bucks to get a new coil at kragen. Its a really easy job that almost anyone can do. The other slight posibility is that part 13, I think is the control unit if my memory serves me, has stopped working. If you have a book for your car it will tell you a test for the coil (cant remeber right now).

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by cyberneo344ib &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

The coil is actually part 11... </TD></TR></TABLE>

Sorry, yeah, it's fixed now. Part #1 (13 is the screw that holds it to the heat sink) is the control unit, or ignitor. It will be either a Hitachi or NEC unit, but they're interchangeable. I believe it's function is to take ECU input and send the spark signal to the coil.

 

ok guys i am reading about you guys changing distributor parts for about $80. i mean that is creazy. for me that i am in a tight budged that is creazy. my dad works at this company called "Cordone industry" they rebuild all kind of parts. 4 years ago i bought a distributor for about $110. that is where i am going to rebuild this burned distributor. after i fix it i will post pic of what was fixed.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by alb_accord &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">my dad works at this company called "Cordone industry" they rebuild all kind of parts. 4 years ago i bought a distributor for about $110. that is where i am going to rebuild this burned distributor. after i fix it i will post pic of what was fixed.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah, I bought an A1-Cordone remanufactured distributor from AdvanceAuto Parts back in 1999 for my Accord. Biggest piece of **** in the world. The replacement aftermarket ignitor they used was junk. I bolted on the "new" distributor and got 4 miles, when the car and it's electrical system shut down, leaving my wife, daughter, and I stranded 1 mile from our house in 20 degree weather. The ignitor's RPM signal flipped my tach needle all the way around, pointing straight down at the pedals. Luckily the core distributor was still in the trunk. But i still had to walk a mile back to the house to get my truck to come jump-start it, because that Cardone dist f--ked up my perfectly good battery.

Well, I bolted on the old one and limped home with the same pre-existing TDC code. The guys at the auto parts store tried to tell me that it was my car's fault, until they tested "their" quality part. Then they had to pay for my new battery, and the tach to be fixed.

I never buy remanufactured non-OEM Honda electrical parts now. I'd trust a used part that's OEM before a reman part. That goes for alternators, starters, and distributors....

Worst part was, found out a new dist, from the dealer was $150 (minus coil, which I re-used). The A-1 Cardone part that left us stranded was $165

Maybe you should try getting a good used one this time. It'll probably last longer.