Oil in Distributor cap - HELP

[wawab 0]

My corrado's in the garage at the moment getting the camber sorted & a new oil pressure sensor that was also leaking oil. mechanic now saying that there is oil leaking out of the distributer cap.

 

what if anything can be done about this?

 

anyone?

[stevemac 0]

The seal which seals your distributor to the engine crankcase is likely to be leaking.

[Scott16v 0]

I had the same problem its caused flat spots in power I had to get a new distributor. I was told by the mechanic that an oil seal in the distributor was leaking and oil was getting on the contacts within the cap and the only way to replace the seal was a new distributor.

[wawab 0]

can that be replaced or fixed? big job?

[wawab 0]

oh, you must have just posted that one b4 i replied. :)

 

is that the most likely cause of the problem then?

 

thanks

[Scott16v 0]

I'm no expert just going be what hapened to me. Have you been getting flat spots in the power?

[Scott16v 0]

The only way i can see that oil has got into the cap would be though the distributor which would been a leaking seal within the distributor?

[wawab 0]

havent really noticed. only had it a couple of weeks & b4 that i had a 306 diesel so compared to that anythings got plenty of power :)

 

took my mate out for a spin last sunday & it had plenty of power with no flat spots then.

[Scott16v 0]

Might be best to speak to an expert but with oil in the cap it will lead to possible starting problems and rough running. If this is the case a new distributer is about £100 from GSF but you will need an expert to adjust the timing as it is hard to get it spot on.

[wawab 0]

ok. thanks for you help

[Scott16v 0]

One last thing if there is no running problems i would be tempted just to clean cap up and remove any oil and see if it comes back?

[Louie Lungbubble 0]

I was told by the garage that my dizzy was leaking, but not so much inside the cap as all down the side of the engine!

Think I remember the mechanic tellin me there's a little breather hole in the thing which was where it was dripping from.

 

I too was told it's a non fixable problem.

(I.e. New dizzy) - Bugger.

 

Sort of hoping some-ones gonna tell me otherwise, but I doubt it. :roll:

 

Rough price for a new or recon unit any-one?

 

Edit - Just seen post above.

£100 from GSF

Nice one

[Scott16v 0]

i think GSF is about £94 plus VAT for a new one (with exchange for your old one). However i have seen them on ebay for much cheaper.

[Yash 0]

You can get the seal from the stealers, i bought one the other week as I have the same problem, just havent got round to fitting it yet. Hopefully that will fix it.

[Scott16v 0]

I think you mean the seal between the engine and the distributor not an internal seal within the distributor???

[theRuler 0]

its an internal seal that leaks the oil into the cap.

just something that happens with age.

 

my 16v mk2 did that. i'd wipe it out every once in a while. it ran fine

 

the seal may be replaceable, but when i enquired at the time, no one i spoke to knew of a way of replacing it.

[wawab 0]

gettin a bit confused now. :?

 

so what is it then?

 

a seal within the distributer cap?

 

OR

 

a seal between the engine & D-cap?

[Kevin Bacon 5]

There's a seal on the distributor shaft and also one inside it.... to change the internal one you need a repair kit.

 

If oil is leaking down the side of the engine it's probably the one on the shaft that has worn. The dizzy is on a dog drive so can easily be removed, just don't turn the shaft through 180 degrees when it's off the engine though!!

[wawab 0]

asked the VW guys what it could be & they said if its leaking up the outside of the shaft then its a seal that costs about £7 but if its goin up the inside of the shaft & into the cap then its a case of replacing the whole distributor for about £94 + someones time to do it (dont fancy tackling that myself).

 

cheers guys