# Do I need to replace the distributor when rebuilding Carburetors? **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Tags:** coupe, volvo\ **Created:** [May 20, 2010, 10:01pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/do-i-need-to-replace-the-distributor-when-rebuilding-carburetors/49126 "2010-05-20T22:01:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jimmyrichardson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee7513/32.png) [@jimmyrichardson](https://community.cartalk.com/u/jimmyrichardson)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 10:01pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/do-i-need-to-replace-the-distributor-when-rebuilding-carburetors/49126/1 "2010-05-20T22:01:11Z")
I took my car to the shop. They said I need to have both carburetors rebuilt (I agree with that) They also said, “you should always put a new Distributor on after a Carb rebuild.” Is this true? ---
**Author:** ![Goldwing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@Goldwing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Goldwing)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 10:10pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/do-i-need-to-replace-the-distributor-when-rebuilding-carburetors/49126/2 "2010-05-20T22:10:03Z")
I don’t see the connection. What year & model car? How does the mechanic explain a link between the carbs and the distributor? Ignition distributor or does it have some other kind of part like a fuel distributor? ---
**Author:** ![the\_same\_mountainbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@the\_same\_mountainbike](https://community.cartalk.com/u/the_same_mountainbike)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 10:25pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/do-i-need-to-replace-the-distributor-when-rebuilding-carburetors/49126/3 "2010-05-20T22:25:20Z")
He may be referring to the fuel distributor [http://specialtauto.com/fuel-distributors.html](http://specialtauto.com/fuel-distributors.html) I’ve not worked on Volvos, so I cannot specifically answer your question as to whether it’s advisable. ---
**Author:** ![texases](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/texases/32/862_2.png) [@texases](https://community.cartalk.com/u/texases)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 10:31pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/do-i-need-to-replace-the-distributor-when-rebuilding-carburetors/49126/4 "2010-05-20T22:31:05Z")
But…carburetors??? ---
**Author:** ![jimmyrichardson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee7513/32.png) [@jimmyrichardson](https://community.cartalk.com/u/jimmyrichardson)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 10:31pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/do-i-need-to-replace-the-distributor-when-rebuilding-carburetors/49126/5 "2010-05-20T22:31:36Z")
It’s a 1969 Volvo 164. It is the Ignition distributor. They told me that when rebuilding the carbs after they put them back on that they would have to replace the Ignition distributor because of some technical talk I didn’t understand. I didn’t think there was a connection between the two, hence the post… I guess you agree that there is not a connection? ---
**Author:** ![texases](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/texases/32/862_2.png) [@texases](https://community.cartalk.com/u/texases)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 10:50pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/do-i-need-to-replace-the-distributor-when-rebuilding-carburetors/49126/6 "2010-05-20T22:50:13Z")
Yes, no direct connection. However, if this is an old distributor (might be 41 years old), then it might need some work. Has this 164 had ignition problems? See if you can write down what they tell you for a reason and let us know. Also, would you give us some more info on this interesting project? ---
**Author:** ![the\_same\_mountainbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@the\_same\_mountainbike](https://community.cartalk.com/u/the_same_mountainbike)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 10:53pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/do-i-need-to-replace-the-distributor-when-rebuilding-carburetors/49126/7 "2010-05-20T22:53:50Z")
Hey, they were using fuel distributors back in the '70s and he said they were rebuilding the carb, so I figured he must be having fuel system problems. It seemed logical. But I see from his follow up post that I was wrong. Again. Sigh. ---
**Author:** ![Caddyman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/caddyman/32/23_2.png) [@Caddyman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Caddyman)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2010, 2:27am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/do-i-need-to-replace-the-distributor-when-rebuilding-carburetors/49126/8 "2010-05-21T02:27:14Z")
You may indeed need a new distributor (good luck finding one) but it’s not related to the carbs…