Any suggestions for the best way to do this? One person said use electronic contact cleaner, another said to spray WD40 in there. Have you actually tried it? Thanks.

Either one should work with some ‘elbow grease’. I prefer to replace them when they get that bad.

I thought new ones were very expensive. This one I am aiming to replace the o-ring/s and tap out a distributor cap screw piece that broke off. I didn’t know you could really scrub the parts. I just though if you sprayed the correct substance, that the crud would hopefully just drip out. Thanks.

What kind of car are we talking about? Make, model, year would be very helpful. That ‘Rust Dust’ comes from somewhere, and is probably from the bushings, springs, or weights. I’ve had the mechanical advance weights rust in place, and prevent the mechanical advance from working at all. I’ve seen spr…

Don’t use wd 40, a little emory paper is my choice, and clean the inside afterwards being careful not to leave any oily finger smudges.

89 honda accord lxi. lately has gotten moist from dist cap hanging open on one side cause cannot currently screw it down. i have been cruising the junkyards but have not come across a distributor. those always seem to be out before i get to them. it’s leaking oil from that area. it is old - 482K mil…

I would definitely at least change the cap and rotor since they’re cheap. Just gently wipe off the rust dust with a clean rag or paper towel. I personally wouldn’t add any gunk-- the contact cleaner shouldn’t be necessary because you just changed the cap and rotor and the WD40 shouldn’t be necessary…

Cleaning "Rust Dust" from a Distributor

Maintenance/Repairs

love-car-talk August 30, 2009, 8:40pm 7

thanks. if it is not supposed to be oily at all in there, sounds like electronic contact cleaner would be most helpful cause it degreases and evaporates. i have not seen the inside of it lately. it could be ugly when i get it off next week.

Topic		Replies	Views
Will spraying WD-40 on my distributor help? Maintenance/Repairs	19	49409	March 22, 2008
Reasons for distributor replacement? Maintenance/Repairs	21	1287	November 24, 2019
Waterproofing distributor Maintenance/Repairs gmc , jimmy	6	2609	January 1, 2010
Are the Cap/Rotor still good? Maintenance/Repairs acura , integra	65	4388	April 18, 2021
Distributor Moisture Repellent? Maintenance/Repairs	12	25186	July 2, 2014

Cleaning "Rust Dust" from a Distributor

Related topics