[insightbrewery]

Hey guys, I'm out of town and thought I'd pick your experience for when I get back.

My uncle's got a '95 5S-FE. There's an oil leak the seeps down and coats the oil pan and transmission pan, I'm trying to think about it before I get back and dye it.

I put a new o-ring on the distributor and cleaned it up...it stayed clean. There's a little divot under the distributor that has oil in it, and the bundle of vacuum lines right under the distributor is oily. When the engine's running (idling), I don't see any oil seeping down to the divot, but I pop open the hood and the oil there is fresh. Valve cover gasket and spark plug tube seals are nearly brand new, no leakage around them.

Anything other than the VC or distributor that could be leaking? As I've verified the VC, I'm thinking the distributor bore is enlarged or something.

Thanks as usual

 

[Stillrunning]

I was plagued by a leaking distributor o-ring for years. Nothing I did fixed it - until I bought a new distributor from RockAuto for about $55. That was an instant fix. I suspect the o-ring groove was milled incorrectly and did not allow the o-ring to seal.

 

[M in KC]

Any oil inside the distributor cap.?

 

[insightbrewery]

I was plagued by a leaking distributor o-ring for years. Nothing I did fixed it - until I bought a new distributor from RockAuto for about $55. That was an instant fix. I suspect the o-ring groove was milled incorrectly and did not allow the o-ring to seal.

Damn. Well, it's an OEM distributor, and I have a spare I got from the Pick-n-pull. I'll toss in the spare when I get back and see.

Any oil inside the distributor cap.?

Yes, actually! I replaced the dust gasket when I replaced the o-ring, and cleaned it thoroughly. Still oil inside.

 

[Stillrunning]

I'll toss in the spare when I get back and see.

I'd add a new o-ring to be sure.

 

[lomaxxx1337]

3rd Gen camry 2.2L

I had similar issues with Distributor. I replaced the O-ring on the distributor, replaced coil pack that cracked from the leakage. Thought the issue was gonna be fixed but still -more- oil inside the distributor even after cleaning it thoroughly which caused the random dying issue.
Turns out the bearing inside the distributor was leaking the oil. I replaced the whole distributor. And had not had a problem since. No more oil in distributor.

 

[M in KC]

Check out this site, www.kbox.ca. I have no affliation with them nor have I purchased any of their products. They also have some YouTube vids. But I'd bet you are staring down one of these rebuilt kits or a new distributor based on what you have said so far.

 

[insightbrewery]

Check out this site, www.kbox.ca. I have no affliation with them nor have I purchased any of their products. They also have some YouTube vids. But I'd bet you are staring down one of these rebuilt kits or a new distributor based on what you have said so far.

Whoa, this sounds like just what I want. Apparently their US distributor is Twos R Us (MR2 parts distributor, aka Hawkley, Inc.). I emailed them on Friday and am waiting for a response as to whether the kit will work on a CA distributor (different, right?). I'll give them a call tomorrow.

Thanks, I'll update this thread when something happens (maybe do a write-up as well).

 

[BMR]

There's a decent DIY with pics for this over on the MR2 forum. It's a ton of work... http://www.mr2.com/forums/threads/51698-Rebuild-a-5SFE-Distributor-Photolog

 

[insightbrewery]

Hey guys, been a while. Have an update.

I used the Twos-R-Us kit and the distributor is not leaking internally anymore. Bearing is not as smooth as the OEM one.

I started it up, set ignition timing, and all seemed to be well...but now there is a lot more oil dripping onto the flex pipe. I turned off the car and visually inspected all the seal work I did: valve cover gasket is dry, oil pan is dry. I felt underneath the distributor and it's oily, but no oil on the drain port that lets you know that the internal seal is bad.

I think it is still leaking past the o-ring. The o-ring is a brand new OEM one, and the cap on that side was sealed with FIPG same as the other end caps. I had this problem before I took on the internal seal job.

Any suggestions? At this point I just want to slather black silicone on the bearing surface and around the outside.

 

[insightbrewery]

I had similar issues with Distributor. I replaced the O-ring on the distributor, replaced coil pack that cracked from the leakage. Thought the issue was gonna be fixed but still -more- oil inside the distributor even after cleaning it thoroughly which caused the random dying issue.
Turns out the bearing inside the distributor was leaking the oil. I replaced the whole distributor. And had not had a problem since. No more oil in distributor.

OK guys, I've had my mechanic look at the leak now and he says the shaft got worn out and the oil seal isn't sealing. Guess the solution is to buy a new distributor.

You guys have a recommendation? I see WPS, Spectra, and Cardone (New and Reman) on RockAuto for my CA-spec car. I hear they're all pretty crappy and the best choice is to buy OEM or OEM reman.

 

[insightbrewery]

OK guys, so I bought a Cardone Select (new) distributor and installed it. Oil leak gone, but the distributor is faulty.

When I went to set ignition timing (yep, TE1 and E1 jumped, trans in neutral, car warmed up), at maximum travel it would only go to ~4 degrees BTDC. I'm going to exchange it with RockAuto for another one and see if that solves the issue. I will take it apart to see before I ship it out, but I'm guessing the shaft was made incorrectly, since the rotor only goes one way onto the signal gear.

 

[insightbrewery]

OK guys, so I bought a Cardone Select (new) distributor and installed it. Oil leak gone, but the distributor is faulty.

When I went to set ignition timing (yep, TE1 and E1 jumped, trans in neutral, car warmed up), at maximum travel it would only go to ~4 degrees BTDC. I'm going to exchange it with RockAuto for another one and see if that solves the issue. I will take it apart to see before I ship it out, but I'm guessing the shaft was made incorrectly, since the rotor only goes one way onto the signal gear.

Alright, the Cardone is on its way back for a replacement, hopefully that works out. Other than the timing it felt well-built.

In the meanwhile, I got a WPS distributor (new) and tried it. This one only goes to 9 deg BTDC (!) which is OK I guess. Deal-breaker is that the car hesitates when you step on the gas and there is a noticeable rattle coming from the distributor (nothing out of place when I looked under the cap). Also, it is leaking sparks from the center terminal (NGK plug wires are a year old and gave no issues with any other distributor). That's a downvote, will be returning that.

So an update for the oil leakage.

- replacing the distributor with new aftermarket ones stopped the leak from there
- no leaks from newly-sealed oil pan and valve cover gasket
- crank/oil pump seals are holding fine after a year
- half of transmission pan, rear of transmission are oily. it drips from the flex plate cover when the car is running, so I think the rear main seal is shot.

...it doesn't drip directly onto the flex pipe, but I think it flings onto it when the car is moving around. Smokes pretty bad. Guess I will start a thread and do a write-up when the rear main seal comes in. Sigh.

 

[Phils Camry]

When I had similar distributor problems, I got mine at Pep Boys, a local auto chain parts store. Never had a problem with it since. Don't have the car anymore. Try Blue Devil rear main sealer for a quick RMS fix. My 98 hasn't leaked for a year and a half yet.

 

[insightbrewery]

When I had similar distributor problems, I got mine at Pep Boys, a local auto chain parts store. Never had a problem with it since. Don't have the car anymore. Try Blue Devil rear main sealer for a quick RMS fix. My 98 hasn't leaked for a year and a half yet.

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll check it out. Honestly I'm leaning toward doing the RMS job because I sealed everything else for oil and now I gotta win against this car :smile:

 

[insightbrewery]

When I had similar distributor problems, I got mine at Pep Boys, a local auto chain parts store. Never had a problem with it since. Don't have the car anymore. Try Blue Devil rear main sealer for a quick RMS fix. My 98 hasn't leaked for a year and a half yet.

Cool. I tend to avoid buying parts like distributors from my local stores (Autozone, Winchester, O'reilly, Pep Boys is a bit farther) because they want $250 or so. I finalyl decided to try the Cardone reman, and it has the same range of adjustment as the OEM! Just a couple bucks more than the aftermarket ones on RockAuto, core is going back tomorrow. Also no leaks!

Guess that solves everything except the RMS. I got a transmission jack in, and will start tomorrow and make a new thread.

TY all.