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Car Forum / Nissan / Nissan Cars / December 2005'93 altima : the dreaded distributor frickin' finally died
The car has 140K miles on it, and died on me the other day. Nothing to really complain about here I guess. I found out from this forum (especially Nissan Tech) that the distributor failing is a common problem in the altimas. I also had the starter go - yet another common problem. I'm trying to ascertain if I got ripped off when the repairs were done. I had just had a tune up (plugs, wires, cap, rotor) all installed about 5k miles ago. The garage that fixed this problem told me ... "2 wires also shorted", so they replaced the wires, and the distributor cap/rotor too. I'm just trying to ascertain if a distributor failure can also cause 2 wires, the cap and rotor to go bad too, or if these repairs were extraneous. So does 2+2=4 here boys? Can the wires short out when the distributor suddenly fails like it did? Also, would like to thank the folks (Nissan Tech) for pointing out that the aftermarket distributors are junk. I repetedly told these guys I wanted genuine nissan factory OEM part and he assured me it is. However, the car is back at the garage now, and I think the replacement distibutor is bad. This time, I'm gonna request that they sign off on the fact that the distributor is genuine nissan distributor. FYI, anyone wondering why I didn't have it towed to the dealer in the first place: There were none even remotely close to where I broke down. > I'm just trying to ascertain if a distributor failure can also cause 2 > wires, the cap and rotor to go bad too, or if these repairs were > extraneous. At 140K, these could easily be just worn out.  SignatureSteve http://www.atlantaracing.com > At 140K, these could easily be just worn out Let me clarify my earlier post. The starter croaked 9 months ago. The distributor croaked yesterday. The plugs, wires, cap, rotor were all replaced 5k miles ago as part of a complete tune-up. My question is if the distributor failing can cause the wires to short, or somehow become fouled. Same with the cap/rotor, although those only cost small change compared to the wires. Bottom line, I got clipped for $750 for the distributor replacement (of which $65 was for the diagnosis from when the car was towed, which I have no problem with that whatsoever). I think this is a little high, and the wires were frickin' fine - unless they really were shorted out, the cap/rotor got scorched somehow. You know - kinda the old "your rotors are warped" trick? If you have any brake problems, it's the first thing out of a crooked shop's mouth. I'm not saying this shop is crooked, I'm just trying to find out if 2+2=4 (this sounds legit). 2+2x=4x(might be legit). 2+2=5 (total BS the wires went bad when the distributor failed with the oil isnide the distributor symptoms/problem). >> At 140K, these could easily be just worn out > [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > My question is if the distributor failing can cause the wires to short, > or somehow become fouled. It's more like driving with worn out cap/rotor and wires is what can cause the distributor to die. Like I said at 140K they are going to need replacement, how long to you think tune up parts should last? 200,000? 300,000? I know people hope a car NEVER needs anything but gas and even then they wish they ran on air but that isn't reality. SignatureSteve http://www.atlantaracing.com Hi Steve, I appreciate the helpful insight, judging by your post, I think there is some confusion. Let me clarify: 1) the wires, cap/rotor and plugs were replaced regularly through the years as part of a regular tune-up schedule. At the time of the distributor failure, these components had only 5k of miles on them since the last tuneup. 2) The distributor was the original distributor, and this had 140k miles on it. So back to my original question: can the oil in the distributor problem cause new wires/cap/rotor to short out or otherwise go bad? I can see the cap going bad, but the wires too? It was explained to me that as part of the distributor failure, two wires shorted out, thus I needed the wires replaced. It just doesn't sound kosher to me, but I don't know squat, so I'm hoping others may provide some insight. > Hi Steve, I appreciate the helpful insight, judging by your post, I > think there is some confusion. Let me clarify: [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > distributor failure, these components had only 5k of miles on them > since the last tuneup. If they were cheap parts, that could be why they replaced them. If the car doesn't say nissan on it, I recommend replacing it with a real one. > 2) The distributor was the original distributor, and this had 140k > miles on it. [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > part of the distributor failure, two wires shorted out, thus I needed > the wires replaced. I have no idea and no one else can either... I'd have to see the wires to know if they were really bad. Like I said they may have been some autozone cheap junk and he wanted to install something better if he is going to stand behind the repair. SignatureSteve http://www.atlantaracing.com > The car has 140K miles on it, and died on me the other day. Nothing to > really complain about here I guess. I found out from this forum [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > anyone wondering why I didn't have it towed to the dealer in the first > place: There were none even remotely close to where I broke down. Did you see the new distributor? They could have said "replaced the distributor" when they really meant replaced the cap and rotor. I had a 96 altima with a defective distirbutor too. My starter never went, though. The common problem with the distrubutor is that the seal that keeps oil from getting into the distirbutor fails. oild gets in, mucks up all the electronics and the car eventually dies. Mine was failing for like 6 months before my car actually got to the point that it was stalling out. CD
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