Squeaking, vibrating from Distributor Cap '92 Civic

[purplebondus]

I have a '92 Civic DX and a few weeks ago on a long drive I noticed some hesitation occasionally on the Highway. I brought it in and had a new ignition rotor, distributor cap and replaced the spark plugs. Last week I started hearing a squeaking noise after driving it. I parked with it running, checked under the hood and it was coming from inside the distributor cap. I drove it sparingly this weekend and I got a "ckeck engine" light. I checked under the hood again and one of the spark plug wires had come loose off the new distrbutor cap.

brought the car in again and my mechanic put new spark plug wires on it yesterday and said he checked for the squeaking noise and it was fine. Sure enough on the way to work it squeaked again and when I exited the highway, it killed on me. It started right back up but the "check engine" light came back on. I stopped, checked the wires again they seemed ok. When I started the car again, the check engine light was off.

Any suggestions other than get a new mechanic? Is this a problem with the distributor itself?

Thanks.

[buphilo]

have had a similar problem in crx i had before and i had to replace distibutor

[BIAR]

It is the distributor.They are known to go bad.It isthe bearing.Sometimes they get so hot they will melt the rotor.Carl

[polacek]

Biar, are taking about replacing the entire distributor housing?

[purplebondus]

Its the Distributor. They are putting in a remanufactured one and cutting me a deal on the labor for failing to note the problem before. Its not cheap (around $400 with the discount), but the car only has 63,000 miles on it so I its worth it.

Thanks for the advice.

[jameskersten]

as soon as you said hesitation on highway and your dizzy was making noise, i thought either your dizzy or the ignitor. was there any red dust of death?

[Caz&Effect]

i have sorta something like that goin on at the moment. I noticed a slight squeaking noise from the distributor for a while and one day i just took off the cap and there was red dust and some 'sand' (most likely metal shavings/chunks). there were some screws with rust on the top of em, so i figured not good.

then one day a few days later i was driving and hear a horrid ice-in-blender noise, and it was commin from the distributor.

today i took it out, because my rotor piece broke when i was trying to get it out, and it does not spin freely. it just is constantly grinding so i am taking it apart, but its difficult because i don't know how to get the shaft out...

The red dust of death is just rust-dust, isnt it?

[lorunner]

Yeah distributor. A tell tale sign is like a copper color dust or rust if you will on the car and in the housing

[jameskersten]

Originally Posted by lorunner

Yeah distributor. A tell tale sign is like a copper color dust or rust if you will on the car and in the housing

the wonderful " red dust of death", or someone the other day at work called it the "red pollen of doom". either way, its never a good sign in a honda dizzy

[wld_jkr]

Originally Posted by purplebondus

Its the Distributor. They are putting in a remanufactured one and cutting me a deal on the labor for failing to note the problem before. Its not cheap (around $400 with the discount), but the car only has 63,000 miles on it so I its worth it.

Thanks for the advice.

It's prolly too late, but for anyone else reading this thread, DON'T pay someone $400.00 for a distributor for this vehicle.

You can pick up a NEW one at the dealer for around $300 - even less if you go aftermarket.

Replacing the distributor is ridiculously easy.

1. Remove the 3 distributor cap screws - use either a phillips screwdriver or an 8mm socket.

2. The rotor is held on with 1 phillips screw - you can access the screw when it is directly up. If you need to, pulse the starter to rotate the shaft until you can access it. You'll need a phillips screwdriver to remove this screw.

3. Pull off the black plastic cover - from here you can see coil (at 3-o'clock), the igniter (at 7-o'clock) and cam position sensor? (at 11-o'clock. You don't need to do anything with them (or anything else inside the distributor housing at this point.)

4. Disconnect the two large connectors located at 10-o'clock. (These are outside the distributor housing and are anchored to the distributor housing with 1 phillips head screw.

5. Remove the 3 bolts holding the distributor housing (located at 2-o'clock, 5-o'clock and 10-o'clock) to the head. You'll need a 12mm socket.

6. Remove the distributor. Swap the igniter and coil into the new distributor (phillips head screwdriver), and re-install. You CANNOT INSTALL THE DISTRIBUTOR INCORRECTLY. There is a slot on the end of the camshaft that the tab on the distributor shaft fits into - just align the two. If the distributor doesn't slide all the way flush with the head, then you have the shafts 180 degrees out - just flip it around and install.

7. Re-install the cover, rotor, cap and re-connect wiring.

8. As far as timing, the dealer rep just said to put the adjustment in the center and forget it - the control module would adjust itself. Seemed a little flippant to me, so I just approximated where the original one was - 100,000 miles later everything's perfect.

Required time - 30 to 60 minutes.
Tools - 12mm socket, 8mm socket, Phillips Screwdriver.
Money saved - At least $100.00

[hondaman2]

Originally Posted by wld_jkr

It's prolly too late, but for anyone else reading this thread, DON'T pay someone $400.00 for a distributor for this vehicle.

You can pick up a NEW one at the dealer for around $300 - even less if you go aftermarket.

Replacing the distributor is ridiculously easy.

1. Remove the 3 distributor cap screws - use either a phillips screwdriver or an 8mm socket.

2. The rotor is held on with 1 phillips screw - you can access the screw when it is directly up. If you need to, pulse the starter to rotate the shaft until you can access it. You'll need a phillips screwdriver to remove this screw.

3. Pull off the black plastic cover - from here you can see coil (at 3-o'clock), the igniter (at 7-o'clock) and cam position sensor? (at 11-o'clock. You don't need to do anything with them (or anything else inside the distributor housing at this point.)

4. Disconnect the two large connectors located at 10-o'clock. (These are outside the distributor housing and are anchored to the distributor housing with 1 phillips head screw.

5. Remove the 3 bolts holding the distributor housing (located at 2-o'clock, 5-o'clock and 10-o'clock) to the head. You'll need a 12mm socket.

6. Remove the distributor. Swap the igniter and coil into the new distributor (phillips head screwdriver), and re-install. You CANNOT INSTALL THE DISTRIBUTOR INCORRECTLY. There is a slot on the end of the camshaft that the tab on the distributor shaft fits into - just align the two. If the distributor doesn't slide all the way flush with the head, then you have the shafts 180 degrees out - just flip it around and install.

7. Re-install the cover, rotor, cap and re-connect wiring.

8. As far as timing, the dealer rep just said to put the adjustment in the center and forget it - the control module would adjust itself. Seemed a little flippant to me, so I just approximated where the original one was - 100,000 miles later everything's perfect.

Required time - 30 to 60 minutes.
Tools - 12mm socket, 8mm socket, Phillips Screwdriver.
Money saved - At least $100.00

I have the same problem on my civic SI 93 and i replace only de bearing cost mee 42$can and he took mee 1 hour to do this job
My civic its ok now

sorry for my english i'am a french canadian

[WhiteCollar]

Don't mean to revive a super old thread here, but this description sounds exactly like the problem I'm having on my '93 Civic SI HB.

I had noticed that what was a slight squeaking from the distributor has now become a really loud & irritating grinding noise, especially noticeable on -20C Edmonton days. It sounds like a bearing has let go & when the grinding noise is occurring I find I have to rev the engine to prevent it from dying at a light. However, it's been intermittent and would be quiet sometimes.

I should add that I less then a year ago I changed the distributor cap, rotor, coil and ICM for no spark but there was no noise like now (should have started with the ICM).

Today I took the distributor cap off and also noticed the inside was covered in a red dust.

One problem I found was that the little Contact point spring was bent - plan to bend it back to shape or buy a new coil I guess...can you just buy the spring itself btw?

The other thing that has happened is the head of the rotor retaining bolt has been stripped. Of course the new rotor doesn't come with a new bolt... I had to use an impact screwdriver to get it off at one point so it's in real bad shape now. Does anyone happen to know the type/number of that bolt?

Lastly, someone had mentioned they only changed the bearing? The awful noise sure sounds like a seized bearing, but I'm having trouble even seeing a bearing listed in the diagram I'm looking at. Would that be part of the Distributor housing itself? Otherwise the only other area I can think of is there must be some sort of Coupling that connects camshaft to distributor rotor... unfortunately cheapo PartSource I went to doesn't list these parts.

Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated Also wondering if anyone knows of a good Ignition parts supplier/remanufacturer in Edmonton area?

Thanks!