Distributor troubleshooting

MRcar · 07-12-2007, 07:48 PM

Distributor has oil dripping from weep hole.
New rebuilt one at that.
What does it mean?

fast924S · fast924S's Garage

Please list make, model, year, engine, mods???? for more help

MRcar · 07-12-2007, 08:54 PM

1980 924 2.0 no mods.

nynor · 07-12-2007, 09:40 PM

its been way too long since i worked on a 924. sorry, man. have you tried over on 924board.org? did you ever get the car running?

Icey1174 · 07-13-2007, 06:52 AM

The 944 has a seal and a paper gasket behind the distributor. The distributor on the 944 sits right at the end of the cam housing. So with the 944 you need the seal and paper gasket to keep oil out of the distributor from the cam housing. Do you have the same type of setup? If so it sounds like it may just be a bad seal or gasket behind the distributor.

nynor · 07-13-2007, 07:00 AM

its a different setup, with points and everything.

Icey1174 · 07-13-2007, 07:04 AM

Yup, I looked up the PET for you. Your distributor is on the back end of your cam. There is a gasket for the distributor housing. I would guess this is leaking and letting oil into your distributor. The part number listed on the PET for this gasket is 048.905.341.B. The number had an * in front of it on the PET. I don't see a key anywhere for what it is supposed to mean.

Icey1174 · 07-13-2007, 07:21 AM

I found a gasket on the distributor too. It looks more like a "seal" or an o-ring, but they have it labled as a gasket. The part number is 056.905.261. This part also has the * in front of it.

Icey1174 · 07-13-2007, 07:27 AM

Distributor Housing Gasket - Paper $4.42 (048.905.341.B)
http://www.pelicanparts.com/cgi-bin/ksearch/PEL_search.cgi?please_wait=N&forumid=&threadid=&command=DWsearch&description=048905341B

Distributor Shaft Seal - Paper $1.00 (056.905.261)
There are two listed here. One is OEM the other is a VW/Audi part. Same thing and the VW part is not a special order. Cost differece is only $0.01. I would get the VW part so you can get it quicker.
http://www.pelicanparts.com/cgi-bin/ksearch/PEL_Search.cgi?please_wait=N&forumid=&threadid=&command=DWsearch&command=DWsearch&REFINE=Y&FORUM_REFER=&description=056905261&description=048905341B&x=0&y=0

MRcar · 07-14-2007, 07:32 AM

I have ordered a new Distributor for the car, its under warranty anyways. I thank all of you for your help, you're awsome!
NYNOR: the car was running BACKWARDS! Three different starters for the 924: One for manual trans
One for automatic
One for turbo's
Buyer beware, and check the arrows on the casing.

nynor · 07-14-2007, 07:38 AM

holy cow! that is nuts!

Icey1174 · 07-14-2007, 07:42 AM

Why did you order a new distributor??? Was it broken? Just because it's under warrenty doesn't mean they will honor it if there's nothing wrong with it, they'll just send it back to you. They might send a new one, but if that's not the problem then it's also not the solution. Unless it's cracked I do not see how that could be an oil leak problem. Did you put the two new gaskets on when you put the new distributor on?

924RACR · 07-14-2007, 11:28 AM

LOL - yeah, the 2.0L NA has the starter on the opposite side of the flywheel as the turbo and 944, hence the opposite rotation direction.

I'm a little unclear as to where the distributor is leaking, but it is common to have some weeping of oil down the back of the head. Still, it shouldn't be a substantial amount - just enough to piss you off!

As Icey said - did you put in the new flat round paper gasket under the distributor when installing it? Specifically the distributor shaft seal Icey noted above; the other one is only if you have the housing off the back of the head - nearly impossible to do with the head still on the engine (requires removal of the cam then).

Note that you do want the oil in the cam housing to make it up to the distributor - helps with gear longevity. But it should stay inside the head!

Icey1174 · 07-14-2007, 05:15 PM

924RACR,

You cannot get the the distrubitor housing off without removing the head? I have a 944 and I am only looking at the PET diagrams. Anyone that sold him a starter SHOULD have asked which model it was for. That should be common knowlegde for parts people with computers to look up correct parts.

By the looks of the PET... the distributor housing should come off with the three screws. Looks like two screws on top going into the head cover and one screw going into the head itself. It looks like the cam has a gear at the end of it and it looks to be small enough to fit through the hole in the distributor housing. Like I siad, "looks."

I would buy the two new gaskets and three new lock washers. I would clean all mating surfaces very well and make sure the gaskets stay very clean for the instalation. Any dirt or oil will create a path for more oil to leak.

These are paper gaskets so I would guess the torque values to be higher than I stated before for the cork gaskets. The torque values are important to prevent leaking from the gaskets.

While it "may be commom" to have some oil weap down the head, it's not supposed to.

Proper gaskets with clean mating surfaces and proper torque values with lock washers well keep the oil in the head and not weping down the head or in the distributor housing.

924RACR · 07-15-2007, 05:55 AM

You can - if you don't mind removing the cam! LOL It's just a matter of clearance to the firewall. Yes, the gear on the end of the cam fits through that hole.

You're absolutely right about the starter - clearly they sold him a 924S/Turbo starter, when they should have sold him a 924 NA starter.

Otherwise, you're pretty much right. But torque values are very low, like 10 ft-lbs. They're small bolts. That said, the one round paper gasket he will be replacing is only held on with the one nut that holds on the distributor clamp - just like on most motors w/ distributors - so it'll take a little more torque, but not really more than 20 ft-lbs (it'll be torqued by hand with a combo wrench after setting the timing, so done by feel).

A little tip here, with respect to paper gaskets: I ALWAYS soak my paper gaskets in oil before installing. This causes the paper to swell up nicely, giving a better seal. As a result, my motors don't really leak any significant amount of oil. Additionally, this makes disassembly easier, as they also release from the mating surfaces very easy - they won't stick like dry paper, so no time needs to be wasted scraping surfaces clean.

Also, BTW - keep in mind this is old gasket technology; it doesn't seal to the same standard as the 44 gaskets. It's not watertight. If you have any doubts about this, compare the design of the 944 oil pan gasket - a beautiful if expensive piece of engineering - to the 924 pan gasket - four fiddly obnoxious bits of cheap paper and rubber that need to be glued to each other, the block, the pan, and the friggen' garage wall in order not to make a mess of the driveway...

Icey1174 · 07-15-2007, 07:37 AM

Why couldn't there be a better aftermarket gasket made for these applications that is not made of paper? Did these cars leak when they were new?