Distributor oil seal

[CJH]

Please excuse the elementary question - I've checked my Haynes manual and it's a bit ambiguous.

I've got a bit of an oil leak, and it looks like the distributor seal might be at least part of the problem - there's oil around the base of the distributor, but a bit more on the underside of the engine. It looks like it could be the seal behind the pulley, but I'm going to start with the easy bits first. The fuel pump seal looks ok, the breather tower seal looks ok, and the breather pipe is in good condition.

So here's the elementary question - am I right in thinking that if the distributor goes back in the same place as it comes out, it won't affect the timing? So if I line up the timing marks as described in Haynes, and remove the distributor clamp from the block without slackening the clamp around the distributor itself, then I should be able to put it back so that the rotor arm points to the same point on the distributor body. In other words, so long as I don't make a gross error in timing (i.e. a different spline) then I won't make any error at all.

The ambiguous bit in Haynes is where they say "check that the rotor arm is still pointing to the notch on the rim of the distributor body. If not, slacken the distributor clamp pinch-bolt and turn the distributor body as necessary". Their final step is then to adjust the timing, but I'm guessing (hoping) that isn't necessary if the clamp pinch-bolt is left tight.

Flame suit on - fire away.

[itchyfeet]

Yeh make sure you photograph or mark it and you can't go wrong really as the base of the dizzy can't be more than 180 degrees out
The difficult bit I found is getting it back in with a new seal

Need to lube it up and twist it to get it to slip past the opening

Bracket needs to be loose for that

[BOXY]

If you only undo the nut holding the clamp to the engine block, you can lift the dizzie out without moving the clamp. The dizzie will only go back in the same position you removed it if you do this. Just check the clamp is tight first.

[itchyfeet]

If you only undo the nut holding the clamp to the engine block, you can lift the dizzie out without moving the clamp. The dizzie will only go back in the same position you removed it if you do this. Just check the clamp is tight first.

Yeh that's the problem I had
Need to twist the dizzy to encourage it in if a new seal is fitted and you can't do that with the pinch bolt tight as the bracket hits the retaining stud

If you mark it and loosen the bracket you can get the seal past the opening then get the bracket over the stud before ramming it home

Its the drive shaft that can be put back slightly out as long as you don't remove it or turn the engine you will be ok

To be honest if you are maintaining your own van you need to invest in a timing gun,I can't belive how many people never check their timing

[CJH]

To be honest if you are maintaining your own van you need to invest in a timing gun,I can't belive how many people never check their timing

Like this one you mean?



I can't believe I found it - first place I looked too! I knew I had one somewhere, but I was convinced it was going to take an entire garage clearout to find it, so I was looking for the easy way to do the job.

Thanks for the tips gents.

Chris

[itchyfeet]

Ha ha

Took you longer to write the op than find the timing gun by the sound of it

[CJH]

Ha ha

Took you longer to write the op than find the timing gun by the sound of it

You're probably right.

[CJH]

I changed the seal today. Itchy's description was spot on - if the seal had been a fraction smaller it would have gone in without having to undo the pinch bolt, but even though it was well lubed up, no amount of pushing was going to get the shaft in the hole - it needed a good twist. So I had to loosen the pinch bolt and then of course the timing needed resetting.

I must admit, I wondered at first whether I'd got the right seal. When I removed the distributor I could see nothing like the new seal - in fact there didn't seem to be a seal at all. So I checked the diagrams and realised that what looked like a flat plastic spacer on the distributor shaft must have been the seal. It's quite a different shape to the new one, and in fact I can't see how the old one was supposed to seal at all - it was totally flush with the metal shaft. It was only really Itchy's description that convinced me I'd got the seal in the right place.

Here's a picture of the two seals - old flat section one on the left and the new 'D' section one on the right. as you can see, I broke the old one removing it, it was so brittle.

[itchyfeet]

Old seal would have looked like the new seal once

As they say experience is everything


Need to clean the oil off around the engine now to know if you have found the leak or not

Changing the crank oil seal is not so hard if it needs doing

[CJH]

Need to clean the oil off around the engine now to know if you have found the leak or not

Yep, did that. I also changed the fuel pump gaskets and the breather tower O ring while I was at it, and gave the top of the engine block a bit of a clean while everything was removed.

Nice and dry underneath so far, but only a long drive will test it properly. I'll see how it looks after a trip out to the Autobahn show tomorrow.