My car (1997 pontiac trans am) is leaking coolant because of a bad waterpump so we're getting a new waterpump, but the machanic who is gonna replace it says we should just get a new distributor to because of how many miles the car has, but we don't know whether its bad or not, how do you check whether it is or not, because they are really expensive and it needs to be replaced when the waterpump is because the instaltion fee will be the price of one if they are done at the same time.
2007-06-02 12:40:49 · 11 answers · asked by tori r 1 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
Are you talking about a distributor cap or the whole distributor? If the cap hasn't been replaced in a long time you might as well do it because they don't last forever ya know. I'd guess every 30K miles but it's different for every car. If your talking about the distributor then I have no idea. Look in your owners manual cap replacement might be listed in there. Depending on where it is your could do it yourself.
2007-06-02 12:46:46 · answer #1 · answered by DialM4Speed 6 · 0⤊ 2⤋
GM distributors from this era have had some inherent problems that are starting to show up. They are known to wear the drive gear, wear the shaft bushing, and occasionally will get magnetized. The first two items are easy to check when the distributor is removed. The last one isn't so easy. The only way to test is with a lab scope referencing the module output wire (purple with white trace) to ground. The pattern should be a clean square wave. Anything else indicates a magnetized distributor. The only way to fix is to replace with a new one. And I would not recommend a rebuilt one, either. It may be magnetized, as well. I know this is pretty in depth and technical, but I have seen it more than once. If there is any concern, have him do this test. Hope this helps.
2007-06-02 13:22:57 · answer #2 · answered by rat396 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The dist. has a shaft that in most cases is driven off of the cam shaft. Check it by removing and inspecting the underside of the dist. cap look for wear there is a clearance between the rotor and the cap. Next with the rotor on the shaft try and move the shaft away from you and back there should be very little play. If play is excessive then the shaft bushings are probably bad. Also if this dist. has points ck for correct clearance. ck cond. ck out spark at the plug. these are all simple cks which should tell if you have a problem or not.
2007-06-02 12:55:18 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Distributors DO wear out. If the bearings are worn it will be hard to set the timing and the advance will probably vary. Wiggle the rotor to see if there is any side to side play in the distributor shaft. If you don't suspect any problems or have any timing/ignition problems it's probably OK. Maybe the mechanic has personal experience with Pontiac distributors.
2007-06-02 12:49:54 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
OK inside a distributor is a little rotor arm that spins and makes contact to produce your spark in your plugs. After a while the rotor will wear out but unless you are having trouble with your car other than the water pump (as in not starting (but turning over)/misfiring/cutting out tell the mechanic to leave it alone. Sounds to me personally he's after your $$$
2007-06-02 12:51:28 · answer #5 · answered by WaftyCrank 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
you do not exchange the distributor each music up, purely the cap and rotor. bypass the cheap way, get a cap and rotor, positioned it on, then examine for oil in some days. If there is oil, get a sparkling distributor.
2016-12-18 12:06:25 · answer #6 · answered by vasim 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the dist for that car is very expensive & there is no need to replace it although I would recomend that you go ahead & replace the cap & rotor (yes, they can be replaced with out replaceing the complete dist) because water pump removal is nec. to service the dist.(the most common cause of dist problems with this system is the "vent" hose that is suppose to "pull" fresh air thru it comes off. over a period of time this will cause "arcing " & excessive "build up" on the contacts of the cap & rotor
2007-06-02 12:50:42 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
The distributor on this engine is quite unique. It is on the timing cover, I've had a couple of them go bad, but not so much. I would just leave it alone and replace the water pump. DialM4speed is an idiot. Replace distributor every 30K? Do you change your oil twice a day too?
2007-06-02 12:55:30 · answer #8 · answered by toolboxvoodoo 2 · 1⤊ 3⤋
A distributor is not a maintenance item, meaning it doesn't require replacement because of miles/age.
2007-06-02 12:43:42 · answer #9 · answered by Ron B 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
that is good advice. even if the dist. is good now it wont be for long and the water pump will need to be removed to change it later.just make sure you use GM parts most after market parts do not seem to work very well in those engines.
2007-06-02 13:32:25 · answer #10 · answered by jamesd 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋