93 Max distributor question

I recently replaced the alternator on my 93 Max -- long story but in the end I had to stand outside the dealership with the service manager and have him listen to the engine -- he could then hear the whine and rumble coming from the alternator.

He then pointed out to me a very faint, light rumble coming from the top of the engine -- he said it was the worn bushings on the distributor. The car has 170,000 miles on it. I asked if we should not also replace the distributor -- he said, no, not on a car with this much mileage. Anyone else familiar with this condition? Should I replace the dizzy?

How difficult is it to replace? I am an old VW Beetle man -- have rebuilt several of them and a distro replacement on the Beetle is a piece of cake, can do it in my sleep. How much more difficult is it to replace the distro on the Max? Unplug the wires, pull it out, stick in the new one -- make certain it's lined up with whatever timing marks are there -- bolt it down, reconnect the wires and that's it -- right?

Reply to
Joe S.
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Basically that's it. I just suggest marking the block before you pull the distributor

Reply to
Brian

On those engines a worn/loose t-belt will make the dist noisy. Given there is like zero side load on those dist, I can't imagine the bushing are worn. I've -never- seen a VG-30 with worn dist bushings.

Reply to
Steve T

Completely non-expert comments follow;

Based on what I'm reading, my assumption is that this is a VG30 (SOHC), and not the VE30DE (DOHC) as Steve seems to point out. (Might have the model numbers wrong). If you're talking the DOHC then I think it doesn't have a distributor in the traditional sense, it has some kind of electronic pulsing unit, connected to the 6 coils.

I had just replied to Joe's speaker-whine post.. have you determined that the alternator is the source of that problem?? You can probably ignore my comments there.

Regarding the rumble.. FWIW, I noticed something surprising when doing the stethescope thing on a couple of newish engines (both my Maximas). If you place an automotive stethescope on the alt/dist/whatever, or even use a piece of wood to accomplish the same; you may hear what sounds like a mild grinding. This was heard in varying degrees as I touched it to other engine parts. Those parts lasted a long time however, so it's probably normal.. but I was still surprised.

If you perform the stethescope thing you may learn more about the rumble. What I'm saying is that some noise is normal but a problem noise should really stand out. If you're lucky, you have a friend with another 3rd gen and the same engine to compare it with.

Pat

Steve T wrote:

Reply to
Pat

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