Hey guys,

Just noticed that there is an oil leak from the distributor.

It is not severe (no oil under the car after parking) but it has gone all the way down the engine.

My questions:
1. I have poor idle, could this be a culprit?

2. How difficult is this to DIY?

3. Is Part number MD619990 (o -ring) the only thing needed to fix this?


Thanks

1, Very doubtful.

2, Not difficult at all if you have basic tools and skills.

3, I replaced mine with a Viton (think that's the name) O ring. They are green and not affected by oil or fuel like the standard rubber O ring can be.

Does the water pipe or anything need to come out to take out the distributor, or just the airbox is in the way?

Any suggestions as to where can I buy this viton rubber o seal? And what makes you suggest that the Mitsubishi seals would not be made of viton rubber?

Nothing else to remove, just whatever's in the way (snorkel) and two bolts and take note of the rotor position and lead locations before removing it. They are often a tight fit and can be a bugger to remove and refit, a lot of wiggling and patience is usually in order (and maybe careful levering if it's really tight, just do both flanges evenly and don't force anything). Once it's out, there's often a layer of oil varnish over the body of the dizzy where it fits into the motor, giving this a cleanup with some fine wet&dry paper or a soft wire brush and smearing a layer of clean engine oil over it helps a lot when re-fitting.

Although the dizzy can technically only go in one way, if things are a bit worn it is possible to have the shaft 180 degrees out (the offset flange that locates the shaft is not offset by a whole lot), which is why I suggested checking the button position first. You can use the bolts to pull the dizzy back in if it's still tight, just turn both evenly or each a little bit a time. I used the standard O-ring that Mal supplied with a 2nd hand dizzy (can't remember the colour...black presumably), no leaks after a couple of years.

I buy the viton O rings from the local spare parts supplier. Just an independent parts shop, not SCA or Repco, although they can probably also order them in.

I wasn't saying the plain rubber O rings are inferior. It's your choice which O ring you buy. That was my choice.

I've done 3 or 4 of them over the years and none have leaked again.

Is there a negative side effect to this leak in terms of engine running?

Is there a negative side effect to this leak in terms of engine running?

Unlikely to affect the running of the engine.... unless all your oil leaks out of course! Oil in the distributor wouldn't be good but I wouldn't think it very likely to get in from the outside. Presumably there's an internal seal around the shaft, dunno if it's replaceable or likely to leak. If the inside of your dizzy is clean and dry, and the coil, rotor and cap (including the carbon contact) are in good shape, your bad idle isn't likely to be distributor related. Most common cause is a dirty throttle body.

Thanks Ensoniq,

The throttle body was cleaned out with no affect on idle. Idle speed didn't change.