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Repeat offender: leaking distributor seal... possible causes?

Hi all, I have recently discovered that my distributor (on a 1990 B230FT) has started leaking oil again, and I just rebuilt it about 2 months ago(replacing both the distributor o-rings as well as the shaft seal).

I believe I have heard mention that this is a pseudo-common problem with these distributors, but I am wondering, what could be the primary cause? The engine has less than 2000 miles on it (recently rebuilt), and there should not be anything plugged from old oil (ie. like the flame traps on the NA models).

Now, I am running elevated boost pressures... I ran around 8 psi during engine break in, and no problems, but around 1500 miles on the engine I started gradually turning up the boost, stopping around 12.5 to 13 psi (on colder mornings it runs a bit closer to 13, on warming days it is closer to 12... air density changes I suppose).

Is elevated boost a likely culprit for causing a distributor seal to leak like this? Or is it more likely my home-rebuilt distributor job was a bit less than perfect, and just started leaking for no real extrinsic reason at all?

Thanks!
Gordon
--
Two '98-S70s and One '90-745. My First Car: '74 244DL Gone But Remembered!






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New Repeat offender: leaking distributor seal... possible causes?
posted by  Vos  on Fri Dec 20 13:10 CST 2002 >


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