Dizzy Seals Question, Have a bit of an oil leak problem... Options

[tech_cruz787]

Hello All,

I apologize for not being as avid as a user as I had expected to be when I first got my 95 ST. Lack of money and being a pretty diligent college student my time for my Celi has been limited. On top of the major set back of the semester: getting my first three tickets ever, in one sitting, one stop sign away from my housing by an undercover DB total $342 (rant can be posted if you guys would like to hear about it...lol) =/ But I've been working really hard and have a little bit of money to take care of quick and easy issues and mods for now.

But on to my actual issue. I've been having a bit of an oil leak problem. Thankfully a have a master mechanic of a neighbor that helped me narrow it down to it being my distributor. He is so savvy that he told me to find a specific seal that I cannot quite find online. I'm pretty sure it is the "inner shaft seal" for the distributor that I've read a little about already. I will also be getting the standard O Ring for the distributor which should be easy to find, order, and replace from what I've read.

I would really appreciate any heads up on this inner seal matter and if anyone knows where I might be able to find it?

-Otto

[xrav22]

Hello All,

I apologize for not being as avid as a user as I had expected to be when I first got my 95 ST. Lack of money and being a pretty diligent college student my time for my Celi has been limited. On top of the major set back of the semester: getting my first three tickets ever, in one sitting, one stop sign away from my housing by an undercover DB total $342 (rant can be posted if you guys would like to hear about it...lol) =/ But I've been working really hard and have a little bit of money to take care of quick and easy issues and mods for now.

But on to my actual issue. I've been having a bit of an oil leak problem. Thankfully a have a master mechanic of a neighbor that helped me narrow it down to it being my distributor. He is so savvy that he told me to find a specific seal that I cannot quite find online. I'm pretty sure it is the "inner shaft seal" for the distributor that I've read a little about already. I will also be getting the standard O Ring for the distributor which should be easy to find, order, and replace from what I've read.

I would really appreciate any heads up on this inner seal matter and if anyone knows where I might be able to find it?

-Otto

Hi there yes it is probably leaking and a nice place to start oil cleanup process.

1 buy distributor o ring from toyota dealer
2 remove airbox carefull not to break any hardened rubbers or wires
3 mark and remove plug wires
4 mark by screw and unscrew dizzy (mark so your timing will be the same after).
5 pull it straight out ,change the o ring and push it right back in.
6 put dizzy in may have to apply pressure and get it exactly where it was and tighten

Put everything back and snug up valve cover as that likes to leak to

[tech_cruz787]

I appreciate the quick write up xrav22, I see you are talking about the external O Ring. But would you, or anyone else, have any insight on the inner O ring that goes around the base of the dizzy.

I pulled the image below from a 4A MR2 Dizzy rebuild write up:


This is what I believe he is asking for, just in case its not just the external O Ring. Sometimes its the internal(base) seal that is the culprit. Maybe if I can find the dimensions of the O Ring(s) I can find it at a hardware store, maybe? =] I just can't find any specs on it.

[stephen_lee]

there shouldnt be oil there.

and he probably be the inner seal on the shaft that goes into your dizzy...

[xrav22]

there shouldnt be oil there.

and he probably be the inner seal on the shaft that goes into your dizzy...

That is to keep moisture out, but yes after you undo the timing adjustment screw, you can pull the whole unit out and put it back in. Have the o ring ready so you dont let anything turn. I would goto toyo for it.

This post has been edited by xrav22: Oct 13, 2011 - 3:32 PM

[Galcobar]

Two O-rings on the distributor -- a gasket between the cap and distributor as pictured, another around the shaft where it is inserted into the head. The inner shaft seal is a third part, and when it leaks oil makes its way into the distributor internally.

Rebuild guide (photos are a touch blurry): http://www.celicatech.com/forums/showthrea...tos!!**

[tech_cruz787]

Thank you everyone. I've been reading up on all of the rebuild guides I can find and were given. I at least got to take off the dizzy cap and there was a little bit of oil there. My neighbor and I degreased the top of my transmission which was holding all of the oil, gunk, and dirt. Looked pretty for a day, untill I drove it a couple of days and now it has fresh oil right back on the top.lol.

I see now that the seal picture I posted was just the cap gasket and is thankfully leaking it out and not holding too much oil inside the dizzy cap. I also now see that the inner shaft seals/rings are a bit of a project. I can only seam to find a rebuild kit from KBox. A lot of people in the rebuilds are using this Canadian Manufacturer.

Before I order the 7AFE dizzy rebuild kit I want to pull out the dizzy from the engine to see what exactly is going on in there. I already bought the external O-Ring at least and I also have a couple of generic internal rings/seals that might do the trick which were given to me. Then again I really might need that bearing that comes in the kit, since mine must look like hell I pressume.

I was having trouble taking out the rotating pin that is seen in as soon as the dizzy cap comes off. Is it just suppose to pop out? The write ups aren't clear on how to remove it. I'll keep watching some videos and reading nonetheless. It should be number 6 in the image below:


Thank you all...
-Otto

[stephen_lee]

That is called the "rotor." It should simply pull off with a little effort.

[xrav22]

That is called the "rotor." It should simply pull off with a little effort.

I think the rotor has two small phillips head screws I would look at it closely. I remember I was carefull not to strip them as they are delicate and you will never get the rotor off if it is stripped.

Also I dont remember needing to do any rebuild on my distributor or even take anything apart. After the spark plug cables are out of the way if you mark then remove the timing adjustment screw, the whole thing pull out and expose the inner o ring that keeps the oil in engine. I hope I am remembering correctly here.

[trdproven]

looks like mine, mine was leaking from the inner o-ring, not on the shaft side.

[stephen_lee]

That is called the "rotor." It should simply pull off with a little effort.

I think the rotor has two small phillips head screws I would look at it closely. I remember I was carefull not to strip them as they are delicate and you will never get the rotor off if it is stripped.

Also I dont remember needing to do any rebuild on my distributor or even take anything apart. After the spark plug cables are out of the way if you mark then remove the timing adjustment screw, the whole thing pull out and expose the inner o ring that keeps the oil in engine. I hope I am remembering correctly here.

Nah, on our year 7a at least, it just pulls off.

[trdproven]

yea ive never seen it but it should pull right off, thats how i've seen a bunch of toyotas. integras have a screw that hold the rotor in place, and its tricky to get it to align it to where it exposes the screw, you would have to play with cranking it til it spins it into position and you better hope to god you do not strip that screw to prevent a headache.

This post has been edited by trdproven: Oct 18, 2011 - 11:37 AM

[tech_cruz787]

So the leaking was internal with my Dizzy. So I went ahead and bought and replaced it with a new one from E-Bay.

The Good News: > My Idle RPMs went down from always being at 1100RPM to around 800RPM.
> The Oil Leak, obviously ceased to be. =]

But on my way to school today it felt like I was only riding on 3 cylinders. Scary lose of power. So I get to my parking garage and play with the spark plug wires a little. Ran the car around a little again and the car seems to be responding better. But I still feel some sputtering going on. Gonna check the timing after school today. But could it be time for new spark plug wires after 170K?

My next sub-project I want to work on is really cleaning OR replacing my fuel injectors. I know this would help with my performance greatly.

I can't THANK this site and its users enough for all the great information! Thank you really. There is nothing more gratifying than being able to fix your own car and saving so much money.

[stephen_lee]

Yeah, id def replace the plug wires. did you get a new cap and rotor while you were replacing the dizzy?

[tech_cruz787]

It all came with the new distributor... the problem was the old spark plug wire boot fasteners (clip like things that hold the boot down to the dizzy cap) wasn't agreeing with the new cap and therefore the plug wasn't getting enough contact. So I just took them off and plugged them in w/out them.

Also adjusted the ignition timing to about 12.5 degrees above TDC. Rode it around, and she is back! =]

So happy. Valve cover seal, grommets, rings and fuel injectors coming soon. Wires I'll hold off on til I can find some reasonably priced aftermarket ones.