Me again. 
1985 VW Polo, unmodified (bar head skim when head gasket was replaced) 1043cc engine.
Previously, the engine was very greasy and gunky from an old oil leak. Most of this gunk has been cleaned off as stuff has been replaced, which means I can see leaks and the like much easier now, which is the main reason I cleaned stuff up in the first place.
Recently, my mechanic friend reconditioned the head and replaced all relevant seals resulting in the top half of the engine being much healthier. Eventually, I'll get the bottom end done too but there's nothing wrong there at the moment so we've left it alone.
Noticed yesterday when doing general checks that there's clean oil leaking from the distributor and dripping onto my gearbox. Bro and I prised off the distributor cap, removed the rotor arm and the dust shield thing to see distributor with a fair bit of oil inside and on the points.
I have been having a weird cutting out issue for a while, something that's been improved as electrical bits and pieces - points, rotor arm, distributor cap, plug leads, HT lead, coil & condensor - have been replaced.
Here's what I, as a novice, suspect: oil is leaking past the camshaft seal (new, replaced with the head recondition as far as I'm aware) into the distributor, getting on the points and preventing spark, thus causing a cutting out issue. The cutting out only happens at road ends and is just like someone has turned the engine off with no drama. You can coast bump start it again or if you've come to a stop just turn the key and he starts up again with no issues or drama.
I suspect the rotation speed of the cam affects how much or little oil is getting into the distributor thus causing the points to be temporarily flooded and unable to spark but when the key is turned afresh or the engine bump started a larger spark is produced which burns off the thin film of oil and gets things running again. This opinion is based on a very rudimentary understanding of how this system works and could be very wide of the mark.
Question is, how should I go about fixing this issue?
I'll get some pics up when my camera batteries have finished charging. Pics very belatedly now added. Was diffficult to clearly show what's happening and at the time of writing this (Dec. 2012) the engine is in bits awaiting a rebuild.
1985 VW Polo, unmodified (bar head skim when head gasket was replaced) 1043cc engine.
Previously, the engine was very greasy and gunky from an old oil leak. Most of this gunk has been cleaned off as stuff has been replaced, which means I can see leaks and the like much easier now, which is the main reason I cleaned stuff up in the first place.
Recently, my mechanic friend reconditioned the head and replaced all relevant seals resulting in the top half of the engine being much healthier. Eventually, I'll get the bottom end done too but there's nothing wrong there at the moment so we've left it alone.
Noticed yesterday when doing general checks that there's clean oil leaking from the distributor and dripping onto my gearbox. Bro and I prised off the distributor cap, removed the rotor arm and the dust shield thing to see distributor with a fair bit of oil inside and on the points.
I have been having a weird cutting out issue for a while, something that's been improved as electrical bits and pieces - points, rotor arm, distributor cap, plug leads, HT lead, coil & condensor - have been replaced.
Here's what I, as a novice, suspect: oil is leaking past the camshaft seal (new, replaced with the head recondition as far as I'm aware) into the distributor, getting on the points and preventing spark, thus causing a cutting out issue. The cutting out only happens at road ends and is just like someone has turned the engine off with no drama. You can coast bump start it again or if you've come to a stop just turn the key and he starts up again with no issues or drama.
I suspect the rotation speed of the cam affects how much or little oil is getting into the distributor thus causing the points to be temporarily flooded and unable to spark but when the key is turned afresh or the engine bump started a larger spark is produced which burns off the thin film of oil and gets things running again. This opinion is based on a very rudimentary understanding of how this system works and could be very wide of the mark.
Question is, how should I go about fixing this issue?
