HOW TO: Replace Distributor O Ring

[azTony]

I just put mine back in after MAJOR cleaning. The damn thing looked like it was one big cylinder and no step down. All the vent holes were covered with grease and grime because the leak was so bad.

I got the oil pump cover gasket replaced and trying to get two tools to connect up to finish my job...

 

[arndog123]

I just finished doing both 80's and it took me less than 20 min. In fact most of the time was spent cleaning. I didn't even need a 30mm socket to turn the crank to 0* because I marked where the rotor was before pulling the distributor.

The tools I ordered for the doing the crank seal just showed up too. I'll probably do that either tomorrow or next weekend.

 

[PoorHouse]

Got my seal here, going to change it out this week.

I am thinking of doing the same thing as arndog. I don't see any reason to get the engine to TDC if you can just mark the rotor.

 

[azTony]

I did the same, mark it, pull it, replace it and pop her back in. DONE!

 

[concretejungle]

yea, that was what i was going to do until my retard butt decided to use brake cleaner to clean the distributor up and the head mating surface...... next thing i know the marks are gone and i dont remember which way the rotor was pointing!!!

 

[PoorHouse]

Did you clean inside the dizzy?

Did mine this afternoon, and sort of did the same thing. I marked the rotor inside the dizzy so those marks were good. Inside of the dizzy was spotless clean. I got overzealous cleaning the outside of the dizzy and the front of the head and wiped off those marks. I had done a second set of marks by the 12mm bolt so all was well.

15 minute job and well worth doing. Looks like mine was really leaking. The seal was in one piece but was flattened out and hard.

 

[concretejungle]

yep, cleaned inside and out of the dizzy.

I have found it always helps to search mud, have the FSM in hand and don't ASSume i know what i'm doing!

 

[concretejungle]

yep, cleaned inside and out of the dizzy.

I have found it always helps to search mud, have the FSM in hand and don't ASSume i know what i'm doing!

 

[Roxx]

I finally got my of. It was stuck in there. I took tha apron and the fender out got some plyers and start moving it around. After some work it cema out. I guess the oring was glued to the block or somebody use some kind of glue in it. It gave me hard time.

 

[Bluetribal]

OK, so I am going to tackle this tomorrow afternoon, just wait until you see how fuilthy the front of my engine is from this O-Ring leak!

So I just want to get a couple things clear from those of you who didn't use the 30mm socket to crank the shaft pully to 0. Did it not matter what direction the rotor rip was pointing when you took off the distributor cap?

And since mine is really filthy I am concerned about where to mark things so that I don't clen off my marks. PoorHouse mentioned he had a second set of marks near the 12 mm bolt but I am not understanding what you are marking to line-up? Are these marks just to line-up the direction of the rotor rip since the drive gear gets rotated and aligned with the protrusion on the distributor housing.

Thanks

 

[kidglove13]

Mark where the bolts are on the bracket using something sharp so that you do not wipe off the marks.
And yes you need to note the orientation of the rotor tip so that you have no problems when you put it back.
If you do not turn the motor to top dead center and you remove the dizzy the rotor tip must go back exactly where it was or else you could have quite a few issues on your hands.
When you remove the dizzy cap just make a note or take a close up picture with a digital camera of the orientation of the tip.
It really is not that hard.
You just need to make sure the tip is where it was before you removed the dizzy, line the bolts up to your marks on the bracket and you should be all good.

 

[Bluetribal]

line the bolts up to your marks on the bracket and you should be all good.

This will probably make complete sense when I am doing the job but right now you have me confused. What bolts? What bracket? The only bolts I know of are the one that attach the unit to the engine. The unit can only go back on one way right? All I have to verify is the rotor tip direction.

 

[kidglove13]

One of the 12mm bolts that hold the dizzy to the engine mount is used for adjusting the dizzy, ie timimg.
If you look at the bolt on the right of the dizzy you will see that there is a chanel? in the bracket that the bolt goes through to allow for adjustment of the entire dizzy assembly for timimg.
You need to mark where that bolt is on that bracket channel to insure that it goes back to where it was or it will affect your timing.
Does this make sense to you?
Also when you pull out the dizzy completely it will rotate out of the hole into the motor.
When you go to re install it again you will have to put it back in the same way, and lining up the tip to where it was orinigally is a little bit of a pain but not difficult you will probaly have to pull it in and out a couple of times to get the tip in the right spot.
When I did this I dreaded doing it as well but it is really not that hard, you just have to make sure it goes back the way it was.
Once you pull it apart you will see what is going on.
Good luck.

 

[concretejungle]

Use a camera or a camera phone. Take pics as you disassemble so there is no question which way the rotor was pointing.

 

[nuclearlemon]

i used a chisel and a hammer on the top to score a line that went from the dizzy bracket across to the engine and i matched the dizzy to that. you'd also need to note where your rotor is in addition to this if you're not going to center the engine.

 

[Bluetribal]

One of the 12mm bolts that hold the dizzy to the engine mount is used for adjusting the dizzy, ie timimg.
If you look at the bolt on the right of the dizzy you will see that there is a chanel? in the bracket that the bolt goes through to allow for adjustment of the entire dizzy assembly for timimg.
You need to mark where that bolt is on that bracket channel to insure that it goes back to where it was or it will affect your timing.
Does this make sense to you?

Yes, thank you.. Will be starting this shortly.

 

[wakesetter]

Crank pulley to "0" mark, remove and reinstall distributor. Make sure rotor points to #1 position after install.

If the engine doesn't run smooth or start, remove the distributor cap, crank the pulley to "0" mark by watching the rotor position, you want to stop at the "0" mark where the rotor is not pointing at #1 position. Remove and reinstall distributor. Make sure rotor points to #1 position after install.

slight confusion here. There is a "1" marking on the dist cap oring (not the one we are replacing) this is NOT what you are lining up with right? this marking is against the dist cap bolt at 2oclock. so is the rotor supposed to be lined up with the #1 plug wire, 10clock or the little rubber #1 stamped in the gasket? I am thinking the #1 plug wire, but it doesnt want to cooperate

 

[Bluetribal]

OK, so this went good Friday took me longer than 20 minutes but that's besides the point.
I have some things to add to the process and some photos of course.

I don't know about the rest of you but I could not get that lower screw for the distributor cap without removing the battery and tray. This was not a big deal for me since I was putting a new aftermarket battery bracket on and I needed to remove the tray to drill some holes.

Here is a link to all the photos as I will only post a couple in this thread.
As promised here is the photo of my really dirty engine from this long over due maintenance issue:

I tried to use a gasket scraper and hammer to mark the bolt location but since mine was so filthy it was obvious even after removing the bold so I took a utility knife to it while it was out and on the cleaning towels.

And here is a shot of the tip direction before removal:

And the tip direction when I put it back in not perfect but I didn't notice it was off until I downloaded the photos.

So I started it up and it felt and sounded just as it always had. I took it for a 2 min spin around the neighborhood and just as I was patting myself on the back I pulled into the driveway and the RPM went down and she almost stalled. I didn't freak out, just left her to idle while I loaded up the tools into the truck. After taking the tools around back to the ally garage she felt fine again. It wasn't until I brought it back to the front driveway when I shifted to reverse the idle dropped again.
After sitting all day Sat I drove her about 4 miles today and she feels good as new. So my assessment is that I was a little off putting the dizzy back in but with driving it around and idling the computer will get things back in order as long as you are close. I will update if things change throughout the week as this is my daily driver.

 

[Bluetribal]

Oh, I forgot to mention one thing. The gasket that goes between the distributor housing and the distributor cap was way stretched out and worn out on mine. I would like to replace it but the gasket is connected to the electrical plug that slides into the housing. So maybe C-Dan can chime in with if it's possible and what it will cost to replace the gasket and the plug that screws into the inner workings of the dizzy.

 

[wakesetter]

I had a bitch of a time at first with that bottom dizzy bolt too, but then used a deep socket with a 2-3" extension and it worked great even with the battery box in. The wrench pushed right up against it, but cleared it well enough. Funny, I have the exact same color rig as yours and did a dizzy oring on friday too (I even used to live in the Dirty Waffle)