Disclaimer: I am not responsible for any injuries or any technical faults that may occur when using these steps as a GUIDELINE.
Car: 2000 Base Prelude (but 97-01 models should all be the same)
Time: 30 minutes (for me) Your time will vary
TOOLS YOU NEED [list=1][*]Ratchet[*]8mm socket[*]Screwdriver[*]Jackstands (maybe)[*]Jack (maybe)[*]Socket for crank pulley (19mm I
think) (maybe)[/list=1]
PARTS YOU NEED
Now you need the new cap and rotor. I went to
this page and ordered the following parts.
- #2
- #3
- #5 This you don't REALLY need. I just got it in case I broke the stock one (didn't happen).
- #9 You also might not need this but I got it in case I stripped the one that was already in the car.
STEPS[list=1][*]
REMOVING THE DISTRIBUTOR CAP.
There are three 8mm bolts holding the distributor cap to the distributor. They can be seen in the following picture.
That third bolt is a little hard to get to but it's nothing you can't handle. Saying it's "hard to get to" actually might be a poor choice of words...uncomfortable might be a better word to use. In any case this is what it looks like in there
When removing the bolts don't worry about them dropping out and falling into the engine compartment. These bolts are actually part of the cap and will not fall out even when fully unscrewed. After all three screws are removed you can now remove the distributor cap.
NOTE: I left all the wires plugged in because later on you have to reconnect these to the new distributor cap and leaving them in now lets you remove them from the old cap and connect them to the new cap one by one so as you don't connect a wire to the wrong terminal.
[*]
REMOVING THE ROTOR.
Now you have to remove the screw that holds in the rotor. You can only get this screw out if the car's engine is at or close to topd dead center (TDC) on cylinder one. When the car's engine is in this position the rotor's screw head will be facing towards the front of the car. See the pictures below.
Another shot.
Here's a shot of DirtyLude's distributor with the screw in there.
Thanks for the picture DirtyLude.
When I removed my distributor cap I was lucky enough to have the engine be pretty close to TDC so I had access to this screw immediately. If you look closely at that black plastic cover inbetween the rotor and the distributor there's a cut out that allows access to this screw. If you car is not near TDC on cylinder one you're just going to be looking at black plastic and no screw.
So if you have removed the cap and your car's not at TDC for cylinder one what do you do? (Skip the following section written in blue if you're lucky enough to already have access to the screw.)
One method that I've used to turn the engine over is to jack it up and remove the driver's side tire. In the wheel well there's a star-shaped hole that leads to the crank pulley. Insert a socket in there and turn COUNTER-CLOCKWISE ONLY until that screw is visible. (This is where the jackstands and the jack come into play.)
Another is to put the car in gear and push it. If you chose any one of gears 1-5 then only push forward. If you chose reverse then push it backwards. I would choose reverse and have one friend watch for the screw while pushing and have someone else in the car to pull the ebrake when he hears the guy pushing yell that it's visible.
Yet another method is to slightly crank the engine until the screw is visible. I will let someone else describe this process as I've never done it and thus obviously have nothing to explain. I have an idea on how to do it but I'm not 100% sure it's safe/correct so I won't even begin to explain what I have in mind.
[*]
REPLACE THE OLD ROTOR WITH NEW ROTOR
Once the screw is out replace the old rotor with the new one and then tighten down the set screw. Be sure to tighten this screw down well.
[*]
REPLACE THE GASKET
When you buy the new distributor cap a new gasket comes with it. This gasket goes into the distributor itself and runs the entire perimeter. Remove the old one and put the new one in its place.
[*]
INSTALL NEW CAP
Line up the bolts that come out of the new cap with their respective holes on the distributor. There's no torque specifications on these bolts from the Helm manual by the way. I just tightened them down enough so that the washers that come with them are flat. Don't overtighten them though.
[*]
RECONNECTION OF WIRES
Remove a wire from the old cap and then reconnect it to the same terminal on the new cap. Once one wire is done proceed to disconnect one other one and reconnect. Do this for all 5 wires (4 spark plug wires and 1 coil wire)
Remove these wires by pulling on the rubber boot and NOT the wires themselves.[/list=1]
If anyone sees something that should be changed reply and let me know so that I can edit this.
End
NOTE: Geocities has a limit on the amount that can be downloaded from my account there. Sooner or later these pictures are going to not show up. I'll find a solution to this later.
please and thanks
Linear Mode
