914 distributor heating up

[Jon Goens]

HI all, hey has anyone experienced their distributor becoming overheated to the point of malfunctioning? I have a 1974 914 1.8lt with fuel injection and several time recently the distributor has heated up enough the cause failure, actually melted the rubbing block. any thoughts? is there a place to lubricate the moving parts? this one has me stumped. thanks

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

There are lubrication points inside the distributor. There is a specific Bosch distributor grease that goes on the rubbing block of the points. Just a tiny speck is enough. The felt pad in the distributor shaft (under the rotor) also gets a drop or two of motor oil, and this helps to keep the advance mechanism lubricated.

Do you think that anything more than friction is causing this? The engine does get hot, but hot enough to melt plastic is excessive! If you have an IR thermometer you might check the temperature of the distributor.

--DD

[Jon Goens]

Thanks Dave, I was aware of the grease on the block, and I will add the motor oil under the rotor now that I know about that one. I do have a thermometer and I'll check. this one has me stumped like you i can't believe the motor alone would get it this hot. Is there anything on the shaft that could fail?- to be continued!! thanks again.

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

There's a bearing in there, or at least a bushing. Here are some exploded views to help:

Distributor rebuild info

--DD

[porschetub]

Originally Posted by Jon Goens

HI all, hey has anyone experienced their distributor becoming overheated to the point of malfunctioning? I have a 1974 914 1.8lt with fuel injection and several time recently the distributor has heated up enough the cause failure, actually melted the rubbing block. any thoughts? is there a place to lubricate the moving parts? this one has me stumped. thanks

I can only assume the oil feed hole is blocked and the lower bush is seizing ,heat is traveling up the shaft as a result,maybe time to pull that one asap and look for a replacement before it locks up completely as that will make a big mess , cheers.

[g911]

Perhaps check out the garage tab over at 914world and check out the thread for a group buy on distributors from 123 ignition and another thread discussion on troubleshooting of your existing issue as well.

[Jon Goens]

HI again, ok I need some input on this one as it does not make sense to me. On the distributor heating up issue has any one ever heard of a high voltage coil causing issues with the points? I had originally upgraded to a pertronix 2 ignition with a flamethrower 2 coil and the car just could not run right after, taking to Porsche mechanic he switched it back to points but left the flamethrower 2 coil in, the car ran well enough to test drive and take home, (I had trailered it to the shop so did not drive very far to test) after driving it just a few miles the points failed by melting. This happened twice. I decided to switch the coil back to a stock Bosch unit and oddly enough it now seems to run fine. is this just a coincidence and I have not really fixed the issue? first pic shows points after total failure, second shows the wear after only 4-5 miles. after switching coils no noticable wear? huh.....

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

Yes, a high-powered coil can put too much current through the points, shortening their life drastically. Have you considered a points-replacement gizmo, like a Pertronix or similar?

--DD