Honda Distributor - Bearing change

[ChristianReske]

I need a little bit of help. The distributor in my Honda failed, it start to made the squeeky noise of a failing ball bearing.

Hondas are famous for this issue, so i dissasembled the distributor.
But after i have removed the main shaft i am puzzled how to change the Bearing.

Problems:

- The Bearing is fixed in place with a shield, but the screws are not accessible, a sensor is in front.
- The shaft is fixed axial, its obviously press fitted into the bearing
- at the single top sensor i noticed a "Spring Pin" (dont now the english word..) that secures the sensor on the sahft. The other two sensors are press fitted to the shaft.

Soooo i guesss....

1. Step: Pull the single upper sensor from the shaft.
2. Step: Press the whole shaft down through the bearing.
3. Step: Unscrew the shield and change the bearing..
4. Step: Assemble the other way round...

Could somebody that has allready done this job confirm my thoughts? Any tips and tricks are welcome.

Thank you.

 

[OneEyeJack]

Do you have a machine shop in your area, one that takes on small jobs?

Replacement distributors and a gamble.

 

[ChristianReske]

Yes, i have connections to milling / lathe shops, and a good car shop.
Why you ask?

Yes, replacemant distributors have a very bad reputation. Thats the reason why i want to rebuild the original one.

 

[PandaBear]

Why replacement distributors have bad reputations? Do you mean aftermarket ones?

 

[mk378]

The reluctors that have a spring pin in an axial slot are designed to be forced on and off. On mine, all three were that way.

Are you also going to replace the sleeve bearing at the bottom end?

Be careful as there are several ways to put this together wrong, and then your engine will run poorly if at all.

 

[ChristianReske]

@ Pandabear: Yes, i mean the no-name aftermarket ones from E**y and so.

@ mk378: On mine, only the reluctor (I learned a new word!

) on top have a spring pin. No, i dont want to replace the sleeve bearing at the bottom, it is fine.

 

[iluvhonda]

https://sites.google.com/site/hondalioness/distributorbearing

 

[iluvhonda]

http://www.e-hatch.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=110

 

[Gito]

In case you decide to purchase a distributor

http://www.aipelectronics.com/index.php/find-parts/

All of the aftermarket distributors that I tried would fail within 2 years.
I got tired of the lifetime warranty on a part that would constantly fail.

I purchased one from AIP and it has been running strong for years now.
AIP also sells the distributors on Ebay.
In my case, I found AIP distributors on Ebay that were being sold for less than their website.

I called them directly and they matched the eBay price and free shipping.
Pretty solid distributors and withstand the San Fernando Valley Heat which is consistently over 100 deg F in the summer.

Hope you fix it yourself and you save some money

Good luck

 

[ChristianReske]

Thank you!

@ iluvhonda: That was the information i was looking for! Now i will start work.

@ Gito: VERY helpful link! Thank you! Hondas are not very popular in Germany, therefore getting spare parts is sometimes cumbersome. Often i only hava a choice of original Honda or no-name rubbish.
Yes, i will fix the distributor for myself. Hey, i am German....

 

[spackard]

From what I remember, getting the new bearing pushed onto the shaft to the exact same place of the old one is the key. If you don't, you'll never have confidence the job is done right. You probably want to use a caliper to make precise location measurements before you try to move the old bearing.

 

[Number_35]

Originally Posted By: ChristianReske


Hondas are famous for this issue, so I disassembled the distributor.
Christian - A friend wrote me years ago to say that his old Honda Civic had reached 300,000 km, but that he'd gone through eight distributors on the way! He joked that his parts man might start buying them by the case.

About a year ago, the electronics in the distributor in my old Mazda got flaky (poor running, timing jumping around), and rather than change the ignition module I chose to replace the distributor. I had a choice of a locally-rebuilt distributor, or a new off-shore distributor for only $8 more. I chose the rebuilt one and am very happy with it. I think you're quite brave to repair yours.

 

[ChristianReske]

@ spackard: Thanks for the reminder. Yes, i am aware that the position of the bearing is critical. It will affekt the Coupling to the camshaft and other things. I will use calipers or even a dial indicator. I will see.

@ number_35:
So i am Lucky, its the first failure in 150.000 Km.
Locally rebuild distibutors ar not available here, because Honda is "Unpopular" in Germany. The market share is to small to maintain bussines like this i guess.
I am not brave. I am armed. With Tools!

 

[ChristianReske]

While i am changing the bearing, i also want to change the Oil seal, its a tiny littl bit leaking allready. Nothing to worry about, i am sure it will last, but I dont want do risk that i have to do the work again only 1 year after or so because of a oil Leak...

And here we go: It is impossible to get the 12,5 x 22,5 x 5 Oil seal in Germany.
No kidding. NOK ist the only known manufacturer of this seal, but they dont have a German agency.

I have to order from the USA.
Stay tuned.

 

[artificialist]

I'm glad you are getting the seal. Oil inside the distributor can damage the electronics.

 

[spackard]

For what it's worth, Bearing Depot http://www.bearingdepot.com/ sold a rebuild kit that included that O-ring. Their price in 2011 was $5.50 for the O-ring.
Their complete kit is $31.95 http://bearingdepot.com/Grease_oil_seals_metric_inch/6001-2RS-12.45_Acura_Distributor_Kit_Honda

 

[ChristianReske]

@ Spacakrd: Interesting Link. But thanks, i allready have the O-Ring and the Bearing. The O-Ring from the Honda dealer (The only source here in Germany..) and the bearing from my local bearing dealer. That was surprisingly no problem, because NACHI has a german distributor. The order just took a day.

So, i only need the Oil Seal inside the Distributor. I have to wait until Monday, my bearing dealer ist still trying to find a source for it, if he dont get one then i finally just have to toder it from USA.

The good thing: The car is put in Winter storage so i am not in hurry.

Meanhwille i played around with the shaft. I tryed to be smart, but failed.

The bearing is sandwiched between the aluminium bearing schield that holds the whole assembly in the distributor and the steel bearring holder that clamps the bearing to the shield.

I dont like the idea of removing the bearing by taping the shaft throug the baering, resting on only the fragile aluminium bearing shield.

Instead, i tried to remove the bearing shield to work with a bearing puller. The probelem is, that the Philips screws on the bearing holder are not accesible with a screwdriver because theres another reluctor in front.

So i soaked the screws with penetrating oil over night and opend them the next day with pliers. Worked.

Until i discoverd that the bearing holder cant move back enough to make room for the claws of the bearing pullers, it hits the reluctor first.

Oh yeah.

Back to drawing baoard.
I hope my expirience help others to avoid the same mistake.

 

[ChristianReske]

Back again.

To prepare for the job, i was wondering how to press the new bearing on the shaft to the same exact position as the original.

I meassured the distance, the Bearing is located with 41.06 mm distance from the top of the sahft.

Evidence: Even Honda manufacture parts with 0.06 mm Tolerance.

On with the lathe, i made a simple "Press sleve" with, you guess it, 41.00 mm length.

Pushing on the new bearing in the press with the sleeve is, hopefully, a easy job and the bearing should be in place with +/- 0.10 mm tolerance.

I hope.

 

[ChristianReske]

Slowly, but steady.

- pulled the reluctor
- pressed the shaft throug the bearing
- And vice versa....pressing the bearing and reluctor in postion.
- Changed the Oil Seal. What i think is important, i pre-lubed the oil seal with silicon grease between the sealing lips and with a little bit engine oil from the backside with a syringe. The distributor allredy has little holes designed that a little bit of engine oil lubes the shaft and seal while the engine is running.
In my opinion, most new oils seals fail in the first minutes of service because they are not lubed while instalation.
- And assembled the whole thing.

Almost finished.