1997 Honda Civic Oil Leak

MARK THE EXACT POSITION OF THE BASE OF THE DISTRIBUTOR TO IT'S MOUNTING SURFACE. SCRATCH A LINE FROM ONE TO THE OTHER AS A REFERENCE. YOURS BOLTS DOWN IN 3 ELONGATED HOLES, (IF YOU LINE THE SCRATCH BACK UP, THE BOLTS AND ELONGATED HOLES WILL BE EXACTLY WHERE THEY STARTED) TIMING WILL BE WHERE IT ORIGINATED

FROM THIS POINT ON----DISCONNECT THE BATTERY AND DO NOT ATTEMPT TO MOVE THE ENGINE/ CRANKSHAFT IN ANY MANNER

REMOVE THE DISTRIBUTOR CAPMARK THE SIDE OF THE DISTRIBUTOR BODY, WHERE THE ROTOR BUTTON IS POINTING. SEE MY PIC OF MY JEEP'S DISTRIBUTOR

YOURS IS THE 3RD PIC, I GRABBED IT FROM THE ADVANCE AUTO PARTS SITE

4TH IS "WILLY", MY '46 WILLYS, THIS IS WHERE THE 1ST 2 PICS CAME FROM. THINGS AIN'T CHANGED A LOT WITH A DISTRIBUTOR

NOW WE HAVE 2 REFERENCES THAT MUST BE RIGHT BACK IN THE SAME POSITIONS WHEN WE EITHER REPLACE THE SAME DISTRIBUTOR OR PUT A NEW ONE IN.

(IF A NEW ONE IS INSTALLED, YOU MAY HAVE TO VERIFY CORRECT TIMING, AS IT MAY NOT BE MACHINED EXACTLY AS THE OLD ONE)

HAVING TO FIND "TDC" OR "TOP DEAD CENTER" IS NOT NECESSARY DOING IT THIS WAY. UNLESS YOU LOSE YOUR REFERENCE MARKS, OR THE CRANKSHAFT GETS MOVED

FINDING TDC IS A BIT MORE COMPLICATED. SO USE THE "KISS" METHOD. KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID!

THIS SHOULD BE REALLY EZ, LEMME KNOW HOW IT GOES

THE MEDIC

There really isn't anything you can do to prevent the timing from changing if you need to remove the distributor. I would confirm that is where the leak is coming from before removing it. However, if you remove it, I would place the crank pulley on TDC and then note where the rotor is pointing in the distributor so that you get it in the exact same place. After that, you will most likely need to use a timing light to reset the timing.