Honda Car Forum

Hy,

i have some troubles with my 94 Honda Civic EG3 1.3LS.
It gets hot if i drive faster then about 90 mph.

So i tried to find the problem and looked at the error code.
The Code is 8: TDC top dead sensor defectife.
Is it possible that this is the reason for getting hot?

As far as i know the TDC sensor is inside the distributor, is that
right? Can i open the distributor without problems?
Is there any chance to repair the TDC or do i have to buy a new one?

Regards
Andy

On Wed, 30 Jun 2004 19:28:33 +0200, "Andreas Nebenfuehr"
<andreas.nebenfuehr@gmx.net> wrote:

>Hy,
>
>i have some troubles with my 94 Honda Civic EG3 1.3LS.
>It gets hot if i drive faster then about 90 mph.
>
>So i tried to find the problem and looked at the error code.
>The Code is 8: TDC top dead sensor defectife.
>Is it possible that this is the reason for getting hot?

Are you driving wih the check engine light on? That would mean the sysem
is not running in closed loop so I wouldn't drive at 90mph like that - you
could clag up the catalytic converter.

>As far as i know the TDC sensor is inside the distributor, is that
>right? Can i open the distributor without problems?
>Is there any chance to repair the TDC or do i have to buy a new one?

It's often easier to remove the distributor from the engine to work on it -
mark its position first. There isn't much to go wrong with any of the
sensors inside the distributor - there are usually 3, depending on year, so
you have to be sure which one you need to look at. The reluctors (toothed
rings) can't go bad and are unlikely to move on the shaft; I believe
someone said here recently that occasionally the sensor inductive pick-up
can go bad but they are not inidividually replaceable AFAIK. It's just as
likely a harness/connector or wiring problem so check things carefully,
since you may have to replace the distributor housing.

When you open up the distributor, you may find red dust everywhere,
basically rust from a disintegrating, corroding bearing - that could be the
cause of your sensor problems since enough of it will interfere with the
sensor induction process. Here's an article on replacing just the
bearing/seal *if* you can find it in Austria:
http://techauto.tripod.com/distributorexploded.htm - note that some of the
links from it are wrong and can be manually corrected.

Rgds, George Macdonald

"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??