Why do I seem to remember that Honda distributors are subject to oil leak issues?
Ok, this is weird…there’s a loud snapping and popping sound coming from the distributor now when they ignition key is in the “on” position. If I turn the car off, it goes away, comes right back as soon as I turn the car back on. (If it’s relevant, I left the key on for awhile with a remote started hooked up.)
I can upload a sound sample if it’s helpful.
Here’s the sound. This is brand new, never heard it before.
Yes they do tend to develop leaks round the base of the distributor. Its not the distributor itself per say…it is the o-ring round the base that goes into the cylinder head that lets go, its a common enough occurrence. Talk about an easy fix tho…
Blackbird
Is there a good auto electric shop nearby? They could probably diagnose and fix your distributor if you take it in to them. I tend to prefer this route to buying unknown online. Might be worth a phone call or two.
You may have luckily stopped the engine in just the right spot that tells the coil and ignition module to fire.
if not and it does it at a different engine position…you just found your issue…
Buy new distributor…Install…Start car…Do Irish Jig…Drive down the road feeling empowered.
If you have a good spark at the coil and a poor spark at the spark plug, I would start with a new rotor and distributor cap. Since one cylinder is worse than another, that indicates a bad cap, but a poor signal on all cylinders indicates a bad rotor.
The spark plug wires could also be the issue but IIRC somewhere in the last 9 pages, you said you replaced them. If you didn’t, then you should at least check them with an ohmmeter. Each wire should have about 4k of resistance and the coil wire should have about 1k ohms.
I once had a rotor do this to me. It was a long time ago and it only happened once, I nearly forgot it. It was actually a new rotor, I put the old one back in to get the engine running again. Not something you see very often.
Agreed… Boy that new distributor with new ignition module…hall sensors, distributor cap and rotor is lookin better and better all the time. Why pay 25-30 for new cap n rotor when the whole shebang is 80?
Yep, and the oil leak is the internal o ring, which is a pain to get to. But even if I did replace that, there’s a possibility of damage to the internals because of the oil.
When the o ring leaks, oil does not get into the distributor, it drips onto the engine, particularly on the heater hose just below the distributor, causing it to swell, weaken, start to leak and eventually just letting go. The danger is that the engine overheats and that is not good for a Honda.
I would be very leery of an $80 distributor. The ignitor alone is well over a $100. A new distributor normally doesn’t come with a cap and rotor.
There are 2 o rings. You’re describing the external one that fits into the top of the engine. There’s a second one inside the distributor itself, which from what I’ve read is the one that’s failed if you have oil inside the distributor itself.
I’m a little leery as well…but it’s a top seller, has sold 100s of them, and says its a Mitsubishi, which is the OEM manufacturer for this part.
I’m with Honda Blackbird on this one. My 99 Accord four cylinder died and I knew it was something in the distributor. I bought a new distributor, cap and rotor on the internet for about $75 and installed it in about 20 minutes. That car ran great until my son sold it with almost 250,000 miles.
Oh yes…of course the rotor shaft also has an O-Ring… I dont think I ever saw one fail tho however for certain it can…
You mean we have been discussing this all this time and you didnt mention the inside of your distributor was soaked with oil ? Or did I miss that post…certainly possible. LOL
I think you have this issue handled tho… let us know when you get the new parts.
Blackbird
Mentioned the oil soon as I found it. 
It really wasn’t much though, just a little at the bottom.
Got the new distributor in. Installed it and…no spark. Checked at the distributor itself. Double checked the electrical connection, checked all the fuses, changed out ECUs…nothing. No spark.
Obviously this is different from before, when I had good spark from 2 towers. Now there’s nothing.
Possible faulty distributor. I haven’t taken the cover off to test at the coil, trying to make sure I don’t miss anything obvious before I do that.
Re-installed old distributor. Same old spark. New one must be bad.
Not so rare, is what I hear. Is there a local auto electric shop? More expertise and craftsmanship at those places, in my experience.
Never looked for one. You mean to refurbish my old distributor?
Question is to just send this one back for a refund, or request the ebay company send me a new one?
The ebay seller may have its own policy about refund vs send another one.
Yeah, local auto electric shop can probably diagnose and repair yours. I’d look into that, then make a decision about the ebay one. .
Well you proved that out quick… If you have spark with the old distributor then you know the sensors are OK… what this points to is indeed a faulty new part.
Get another one ASAP. The OEM unit is NOT Cheap…so you are definitely treading into aftermarket land… Thats OK…many do this and it works just fine.
Cant really suggest anything other than a re-replacement to be honest.
Blackbird
These days it’s super easy to get a refund on ebay.
I’ll bet the seller doesn’t want it back. She/he doesn’t want to bother fixing and reselling.
But still, you get what you pay for…maybe.