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Hatchbacks Mazda 323 Mazda 323
419 messages, Last post on Nov 22, 2009 at 12:45 PM
You are in the Mazda 323 Forum. Your Host is pf_flyer
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Bear with me. Under the weather. To answer someone else's question, replacing the distributor will not solve the oil flooding problem caused by higher blowby from a high mileage engine. Not to mention, they do a bit less than I do! This one is for free! Firing order is 1-3-4-2 with cylinder #1 on the timing belt end of the engine. Number one should be marked on the cap. Number one should also be the one highest up. Rotation is counter clock wise. Whenever I tune up, I scratch the tower numbers on all towers along with date and mileage on the cap. Read everything below first and work the procedure in your mind second, then handle it! Now for disassembly. Funny, as many times I had this thing apart until I figured out the real problem was blowby, I can not recall. So much for memory, but put the spare one I set up years ago, my hands recall just fine. I assume you have removed the rotor and the top screw in the shaft at this point. Check the shaft for sideplay. None should be felt. Too much, reject the unit for another one to rebuild, but hold for spare parts. Now to remove the magnet, "star" shaped thing, I recall using two medium flat blade screw drivers between the magnet aka reluctor I believe and the pickup coil below which has a plastic case! So be careful and read first! Have a clean bench area. Turn each screwdriver like you would a screw and slowly press the reluctor off. Pay attention where the roll pin takes off to and hides! This will give you access to further disassembly. Also pay attention to which spacers come from under the pickup and under the opposing part. See view. Yup, this is the same distributor We have! To press that reluctor back on, I started it and the pin on the shaft then turned the distributor upside down on the bench and carefully pressed it back on. Pay attention to which is top and bottom on the reluctor. Wrong way, and it will not work. I recall some kind of mark on the top side. Take apart to the point where the main shaft is stripped down, but not removed from the housing. After the counterweights is the point I stopped at. I used a regular wheel bearing grease to relube those weights when I reassembled. Clean plastic parts with Dawn dishwashing water, old toothbrush and hot water. Do not clean the base unit because it still has bearings in it. Use carb cleaner spray on the base and other metal parts as needed. Dry and air out everything as needed. Look carefully at pickup unit for cracks in plastic case. If it is cracked, does not mean it does not still work. It does mean it will fail sometime. I have yet to have to replace one yet. I have a few from junk yard with complete distributors as spares. Last time I checked price on pickup, it was over $300, so treat it very nicely! As for the new oil plugs I installed in the bottom, I use cutoff brads from a basic curtain rod hanger for a valance. Call wife if needed for this! I tend to have a one up on many mechanics in this department! The nails, brads, aka pins, plugs are shortened to avoid interference with the mechanics in the base of the unit and then carefully pressed in place. I would start with one pin first to see how that does. Reassemble, reinstall. If you have to, you can always press the second one if it proves to allow too much oil flow still. I used carb cleaner spray to clean out both holes before pressing in a pin. But if you block off too much oil flow, then you will destroy the bearings in the unit and will have to replace the distributor. I also used carb cleaner to blow oil out of the base of the unit that was not disassembled any further. The litmus test after you reinstall is whether or not the cap stays dry, free from oil after you put the car back into service. Mine has a little still, but not enough to cause problems. Some oil is normal lubrication underneath. If it works, I have learned not to mess with it in some cases. This is one of them. Come to think of it, car has 80K more miles on it since doing this. Other than this, I have had to replace the vaccuum advance and the wire harness on these units. The capactor is a radio interfence part, but even after it died, I never had a problem with interference on the radio. So I never replaced it.
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Replying to: girlcarbuilder (Oct 14, 2009 10:56 am) Two follow-up questions: 1. Firing order: So the top-most plug wire on the distributor goes to cylinder #1, then going counter-clockwise, left to #3, bottom to #4, and right to #2? 2. There's a resin-encased chip of some sort - a little black cube about 3/4" square - on the side of this distributor. I've heard mention of both an ignitor and ignition module (same thing?) and I'm wondering if that's it. Going through different posts on the no-start issue, there appears to be conflicting info about which components in, or on, the distributor are actually going bad that necessitate having to replace the whole thing. Hope you feel better soon! Getting a little chilly out there for drag racing with the top down. Whoops, this is a 323 forum - I guess it doesn't get that exciting for us 
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Replying to: listerine (Oct 14, 2009 4:12 pm) Anyway, live and learn. I guess now, unless anyone has any other ideas, I'm going to buy a used distributor from the junk yard. I'd like to try replacing the little black chip on the side of the distributor first, but I don't suspect they sell those separately. Any ideas appreciated as the ol' landlord is starting to get on me to get 'er gone.
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Replying to: listerine (Oct 20, 2009 9:19 am) 
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Replying to: 91323vic (Oct 20, 2009 5:11 pm) .
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Replying to: listerine (Oct 20, 2009 9:19 am) If you do not have these tools, they are a must to fix this. Harbor Freight again. Bear with me, doing the Vulcan mind meld with a 20 year old 323 is a bit rough long distance.....but it will not be the first I fixed that way. Hopefully it will not be the first not fixed. How far away are you from Baton Rouge, LA?
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Replying to: girlcarbuilder (Oct 23, 2009 10:47 am) I live in Minnesota.
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Replying to: listerine (Oct 23, 2009 12:24 pm) 91323
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Replying to: 91323vic (Oct 23, 2009 5:16 pm) RE 91323vic's post above: Is he saying I should try spraying a little starter fluid in the cylinders and see what happens when it turns over? Maybe someone more knowledgeable than I can fill in the gaps because I'm having a little trouble understanding him.  girlcarlbuilder: Going to try borrowing a timing light from Autozone (and bring my old distributor in for a bench test while I'm there.) Once I have that, and a stethoscope from the surplus store, and a friend to turn it over, I'll try your tests next. 91323vic's tests caught my attention simply because I don't have the tools you mention. Thanks for everyone's patience and advice. Obviously, my knowledge of automechanics is limited. I understand basically what timing is and why it's fundamental, but I've never had a timing issue on a vehicle before. It occurred to me in the beginning that the timing could be off here, but so many other posts pointed to the distributor. Frankly, I just didn't know what the proper order of operations was after seeing the weak spark at the plug. |
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Replying to: listerine (Oct 25, 2009 1:16 pm) a petrol problem because you can now see spark drop 10 ml of petrol in each pot this will start it but not run for long it will tell you that your timing is correct check fuses check fuel pump
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