Any tips for stopping distributor oil leak?

For all technical questions. VIEWABLE without login, you need to register (free) to be able to post a question.
Post Reply
Funokata
Full Member
Posts: 63
Joined: Fri Apr 01, 2022 7:42 am
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 5 times

Any tips for stopping distributor oil leak?

Post by Funokata » Fri Mar 28, 2025 4:00 pm

As above, seems no matter what I do, every time I've fit a new distributor, I get an oil leak from where it slots into the head. New O-rings, hylomar can't seem to stop it!

Any tips?

mojo98
Tech Rep
Posts: 2670
Joined: Thu Sep 06, 2018 10:52 pm
Location: Billingham
Has thanked: 42 times
Been thanked: 57 times

Re: Any tips for stopping distributor oil leak?

Post by mojo98 » Fri Mar 28, 2025 4:11 pm

My only suggestion is try a thicker o ring

cpt black
Tech Rep
Posts: 2862
Joined: Fri Sep 07, 2018 8:28 am
Location: chatham/kent
Has thanked: 15 times
Been thanked: 88 times

Re: Any tips for stopping distributor oil leak?

Post by cpt black » Fri Mar 28, 2025 4:37 pm

Plenty of wynns black gasket maker if your using non ford dissies some times there a bit
over machined

jrh
Full Member
Posts: 1051
Joined: Thu Sep 20, 2018 3:08 pm
Been thanked: 44 times

Re: Any tips for stopping distributor oil leak?

Post by jrh » Sat Mar 29, 2025 12:25 pm

Not more than two turns of PTFE flat tape between the O ring and the flange.
But the O ring alone should do the job.
The PTFE is really a bodge fix.

Sunfly
Full Member
Posts: 1044
Joined: Fri Sep 07, 2018 9:11 am
Location: Minchinhampton Glos
Been thanked: 24 times

Re: Any tips for stopping distributor oil leak?

Post by Sunfly » Mon Mar 31, 2025 5:52 pm

I'd be inclined to check for casting cracks if you've done all that, but have you checked the o-ring compression?

Measure the bore the o ring sits in then measure the outside diameter of the fitted o-ring when fitted to the dizzy. you need about "0.015 thou (0.4mm if you've been converted) compression on the o-ring to get a proper seal.

i.e bore 40mm. Over o-ring 40.4mm

If you are looking for cracks, buy an NDT test kit from a welding suppliers, or what will work every bit as well is brake cleaner to clean all adjacent surfaces, parafin to soak into the crack, soft rag to wipe off excess parafin then dust with chalk. any cracks will show as hairlines in the chalk.

Theres a dodgy dizzy repair shop that people use quite understandably. The sold me a "new" (and it looked new) dizzy that had been machined to 0.4mm undersize on the dizzy spigot so no possibility of proper alignment - every possibility of damage to camshaft and dizzy, so beware.

Good luck

Funokata
Full Member
Posts: 63
Joined: Fri Apr 01, 2022 7:42 am
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 5 times

Re: Any tips for stopping distributor oil leak?

Post by Funokata » Thu Apr 03, 2025 6:14 pm

Thanks for taking the time to reply everyone. I'll check the O ring and bore sizes, hopefully a slightly thicker I ring may solve it. The past couple of dizzys have wept but not enough to really bother with, this one is leaking and I need to do something about it.



Ironically the last one I bought was from a dodgy UK dizzy shop, ran a touch lumpy and failed in weeks. This one I got from Rockauto and engine has been running so smoothly since I fit it

.

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 29 guests