Hmmn. replaced rotor and cap last night and saw a ball bearing in the bottom of the distributor. After searching the web, found out what it is.
atlanticz/tech tips.....
My question is, will this fail and leave me stranded? I plan on trying to take it apart and rebuild or look for a new breaker plate assembly sometime in the next week or so but I still drive it to work. Not enough $$ to buy a new dizzy this year. Maybe next year.
Has anyone rebuilt one of these? Can someone tell me the difficulty level?
If the triangular plastic piece is not broken, can I just reseat the ball bearings?
And yes, I have both the FSM and Haynes manual (POS).
Thanks

 

hell i wouldnt want to rebuild one of these... i had a bitch of a time replacing my pickup coil all because of that god dam magneto star thing!!!

 

Junk yard ... ~$20.

 

I tried re-seating and lubing the bearings in a dizzy I had. It went together but the vaccuum advance still was sticky. That's all those bearings ride on...

I replaced it with a used dizzy. Move the rotor with your hand and then let it 'snap' back into place. If it has good return spring action then its a good distributor. 1977-84 Nissan/Datsun 810/Maxima L24 works as well as most any 280Z or 280ZX distributor. non-turbo only.

 

Thanks for the replies... I think I will try the junkyard and if all else fails I will resort to a rebuilt. I was hoping for a cheap-n-easy fix.