2000 Sentra no start problem

Is there any Nissan expert here that have seen this problem? Note that problem is repeatable. The internet mentioned something about a seal beaing bad inside the distributor, causing an optical sensor that sense rotation to be covered with oil, thus the miss and eventual stop. when it drains back the sensor works again, thus the engine will start normally until the oil comes back.

Unless you have the 2 liter SE, you don't have a conventional distributor.

What does no start mean? Crank/no crank? Spark/no spark?

Are there any codes on the computer?

Conventional? This distributor was 4 sparkplug wires coming out of the cap ( no center wire that normally comes from a coil). I think it has a built in coil into each of the 4 longish sparkplug plugs. If you read my first post, I have no problem cranking, it just won't fire when the symptom happened. My OBD-II reader says no code stored (yes I own and know how to use it). Once rested for a while, the engine will fire right up.

Answering my own question, this weekend I took the distributor off the car (after marking the timing alignment), and took the plastic covering under the distributor cap. I found a small disk with circular slots covered with a thick film of oil. and also a small amount of oil pooled inside distributor housing. Clean all that up using a carburetor cleaner spray and all is well again. I think that the proper fix would be to replace the seal (o-ring?) on the distributor shaft which I suspect is worned out and thus allow small seepage of engine oil into this Hall effect sensor (senses rotational of the distributor, hence the camshaft and thus the engine). I didn't have the correct size seal handy, so cleaning it up should get me going for a while until I get a chance to replace the seal later.