I started driving the other day and noticed what seemed like the
engine was missing. I was travelling on the interstate and this
continued for the next couple hours. It got worse and the car
started
to miss when accelerating and hesitate under load. I changed the
spark plugs (did not change the wires). Eventually it got worse and
seemed like the car was not getting any fuel/power when I gave it
gas. I decided to pull off the road to give it a break. As I slowed
down it stalled out and would not start. As I tried to restart the
car the battery died. However, when the tow truck arrived I jumped
the battery and got it to start. I had the car towed and the
mechanic said the diagnostic machine indicated that the distributor
was bad. To my knowledge there was no oil in the Distributor and the
mechanic said the bearings did the internal distributor damage that
was going to require a new distributor. For some reason I don't
think
it is the distributor but I am far from an expert. Please help.
My questions are:

1. Would I have heard any sounds if the distributor went bad?
2. Could the symptoms listed be a pvc valve or air filter (neither
have been changed for quite some time)?
3. Any other seggestions?

<bcummings (AT) ec (DOT) rr.com> wrote

of the early Altimas when they got a little oil in the cam angle sensor
(which may be what he meant by distributor). FWIW, when my cam angle sensor
failed I did not have any unusual sounds. And a friend had one that acted
much as you describe - began to run poorly and would stall when stopping for
red lights and unable to restart for 10 or 20 minutes. Just a guess, but
I'm no mechanic.

On Feb 21, 7:54 am, bcummi... (AT) ec (DOT) rr.com wrote:
You haven't said what car it is or, more importantly, how many miles
are on it but the symptoms you describe are classic indicators of a
failing distributor. The problem is that the seal goes bad and allows
oil to get into the distributor and impede the operation of the crank
angle sensor inside the distributor. The sensor relies on detecting a
light beam passing through very fine notches in a rotating circular
plate to determine the position of the cam. This data is processed by
the computer to determine when to send ignition voltage to the
appropriate spark plug. An oily mist in the sensor results in erratic
or no ignition voltage. There's no noise assocaited with the
problem. Letting it sit for awhile temporarily fixes the problem by
letting the oil settle and drain away. The bearing hasn't failed, the
oil seal has. Even if you take off the circular plate in the
distributor and look at the guts inside, it may well look dry.
Internal distibutor parts are not available. You have to buy the
whole distributor. Mine starting going bad at 310,000 miles. That's
probably on the long end of their expected life. Good luck. Al

On Feb 21, 9:57 pm, "al" <abuo... (AT) msn (DOT) com> wrote:
Thanks for the reply. I ran out of time and had to make a decision.
I replaced the distributor. However I am still not totally convinced
it was the distributor. I am pretty sure that it did not have any oil
in the distributor and which seems to mean the seal did not break. I
was told by the mechanic that the bearings went bad. I have the old
distributor and the internal parts are wobbling inside. The bearings
are out and there seems to be chewed up peices. The only reason I
question the diagnosis of it being bearings is that there were no
sounds made at all and it started out with slight missing and then got
worse and worse. I would think that the bearings breaking loose would
cause some sounds and the ultimate end would have come a lot sooner.
Please give me your opinions on my thoughts listed above. One other
thing, if the bearings break loose, meaning the distributor has gone,
can the motor still be started?

It might help to know the make , model and year of the vehicle in question


<bcummings (AT) ec (DOT) rr.com> wrote