distributor whining

[bludelsol]

'93 Del Sol,distributor is making an intermittent whining sound mostly noticable at idle..can really hear it at the cap area..do these distributors go out to where they need to be replaced ..is this a fairly common occurance?..car has 140k miles and runs well...

[toozious]

Hello,

I'm not sure if this will help, but I know of two Sols (one is mine) which have suffered distributor problems at around the same sort of milage that you are talking about (70K - 100K miles).

I had mine replaced after I broke it thrashing down a motorway at full RPM for about 20 minutes. I think it must have been on its way out anyway.

You could always try and look for a cheaper solution than that though. It cost me around 350 GBP (500 USD).

Cheers,
Jonny

Originally Posted by bludelsol

'93 Del Sol,distributor is making an intermittent whining sound mostly noticable at idle..can really hear it at the cap area..do these distributors go out to where they need to be replaced ..is this a fairly common occurance?..car has 140k miles and runs well...

[b16a3sol]

pull off the cap and check the rotor. the cap/rotor assembly may just need to be replaced. its relatively cheap and easy to do, and should be done as a regular maintenance item. replacing the whole distributor is expensive and should be a last resort.

[newman1984]

on the first del sol i owned, the distributor became warped and had to be replaced. it wasn't cheap if i remember correctly, around the $700 range. i've heard from other mechanic friends that it's a common problem with hondas and should be one of the things inquired about when buying a used one.

[Privatebigandrew]

The whining noise is caused by slack in your timing belt. The belt should be replaced by at least 90,000 miles. The slack in the belt creates less tension on the distributer causing it to whine. Replacing the distributor will only cure the problem for a while, then it will come back.