Oil on my coil and distributor?!!!

[MattSWE]

well guys, I finally fixed my surging idle problem...a junkyard IAC solved it alright, I cleaned it with brake cleaner as well and it does great but.....

when I drive the car for 20-30min or so and come back an hour or so later and start it.....it barely starts, shakes horribly and dies most of the time unless I rev it. Plus it smokes white.

My idea of the problem is that last time I took off the distributor cap, there was a decent bit of oil inside the distributor cap! What I think is that oil is sitting on the coil and dist. and when I start it...it can get any spark until it warms up and burns the oil off. Because the car does fine AFTER it warms up!!! Am I in need of a distributor O-ring? or new coil? Is it a DIY project?

thanks a lot guys

[Tommy]

yea, you need a new distributer o-ring, or pickup a new distributer. might want to replace the cap/wires/rotor and coil while you're in there.

[88 LE]

Distributor shaft seal (internal shaft oil seal).


See link below for distributor seal kit:

http://www.kbox.ca/catalog/product_i...roducts_id=232

[clancey-g]

the same with my 89 apollo, the bloke that sold it from an estate was a mechanic he went to a wrecking yard and replaced it with a second hand one ,just so it would not give me grief, he also told me its better to get my old one rebuilt if i was interested. haveing a look at the old one you could see oil inside the Distributor, so i have a spare to play with.

[Doctor J]

Make sure, that IAC is not leaking internally allowing coolant to be sucked into intake.
The oil in distributor will not cause white smoke from tail pipe.

[Mike Gerber]

I would check the engine coolant temperature sensor (ECT sensor) with a DVM and the specs from any manual. It may be out of range and telling the ECU (computer) the car is cold, when it is actually still warm. This would richen up the mixture, as if the car was starting when morning cold. It may be too rich for a partially warm engine. The white smoke you are seeing may be unburned fuel exiting the exhaust.

The oil inside the distributor may be a separate issue.

Mike

[MattSWE]

good idea man, that could make sense as well, making the car idle poorly having to burn off rich fuel...nice

[MattSWE]

do you have any pics of the ECT sensor or diagrams of it online? Would this be a fairly do-able project to replace it myself?

thanks

[MattSWE]

the ECT and the water temp sensor are the same thing right?

[TBayToyotaBoy]

Originally Posted by MattSWE

the ECT and the water temp sensor are the same thing right?

Yup, same thing. Look on the water outlet pipe, above the starter. I'm more familiar with the V6 engines, but on the 3SFE I believe the temp sensor sticks-out the bottom of the aluminum outlet there (the rad hose may be obscuring it).

[IvanHoe]

Originally Posted by Mike Gerber

I would check the engine coolant temperature sensor (ECT sensor) with a DVM and the specs from any manual. It may be out of range and telling the ECU (computer) the car is cold, when it is actually still warm. This would richen up the mixture, as if the car was starting when morning cold. It may be too rich for a partially warm engine. The white smoke you are seeing may be unburned fuel exiting the exhaust.



Mike

If the ECT was out of spec, wouldnt the car always idle high as well?
My guess is that if the idle kicks down when the car warms up, then the ECT is working fine.

[timebuilder]

Originally Posted by MattSWE

well guys, I finally fixed my surging idle problem...a junkyard IAC solved it alright, I cleaned it with brake cleaner as well and it does great but.....

when I drive the car for 20-30min or so and come back an hour or so later and start it.....it barely starts, shakes horribly and dies most of the time unless I rev it. Plus it smokes white.

My idea of the problem is that last time I took off the distributor cap, there was a decent bit of oil inside the distributor cap! What I think is that oil is sitting on the coil and dist. and when I start it...it can get any spark until it warms up and burns the oil off. Because the car does fine AFTER it warms up!!! Am I in need of a distributor O-ring? or new coil? Is it a DIY project?

thanks a lot guys

I'd do the distributor repair and then refer to the other threads mentioning white smoke. Check for coolant consumption, spark plugs for oil or coolant fouling, etc.

[Doctor J]

Engine idle around 1000 rpm at warmed up condition is not caused by open coolant thermosensor.
The out of range sensor will set code 22.
The distributor shaft to drive fork dowel pin requires 10 ton press force to be pushed out.
There are two drain holes on the distributor housing. If the oil is getting inside, it will leak out from them.If only o-ring on the distributor housing is failed, the oil will leak on the engine head. Such o-ring is easy to change.