dui dizzy question

When I start my car up and let it run I see oil leak out of the base of were the dui seats in and my oil gauge is seem to be close to the h icon whats up with that. Am still working on a kill switch 4 the the dui also. I been pretty busy.

I have had that same issue with oil dripping out where the dui dizzy meets the block. I found that if I make sure the bolt holding the dizzy down is REALLY tight then it doesn't happen. I went round and round at first thinking I had an o-ring issue and had the dizzy out and back in several times. Just make sure the hold down bolt is really tight. Hope this helps.

I'm having the same problem. And the thing is, my DUI didn't have the hold down fixture in the box so I have a cobbled up stock clamp which presses laterally against the dizzy more than clamping it downward.

aahsac":3oe6j606 said:

I'm having the same problem. And the thing is, my DUI didn't have the hold down fixture in the box so I have a cobbled up stock clamp which presses laterally against the dizzy more than clamping it downward.

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Was there supposed to be a hold down fixture? I didn't have one either. I just used the stock clamp which doesn't really fit all that well and an allen head bolt since the stock bolts' head was too big around.

well am going to try that and see what happens

Mine leaked too unless you clamped it down real tight. I ground the stock clamp so it fit and used a allen bolt also.

Later,

tryed it and it still leaks

I'm suprised that these are leaking, my buddy put one on his '66 200 and never complained about any such issue. Could they benefit from a thicker gasket between the distributor housing and the engine block?

-ron

CoupeBoy":2ku67z6p said:

I'm suprised that these are leaking, my buddy put one on his '66 200 and never complained about any such issue. Could they benefit from a thicker gasket between the distributor housing and the engine block?

-ron

Click to expand...

Nope

Sounds like the o'ring seal on the upper distributor housing in not making a proper seal.

I wonder if performance distributors is using an o'ring with too small a cross section.

Using a duraspark or any other ford distributor i have had zero oil leaks at that area.

Has anyone taken the o'ring from their old distributor and compare it to the o'ring on the Dui????

I would not suggest putting a gasket between the Dui flange & the block surface.

If you do you will destroy the proper measurment from the flange to the gear, possibly causing camshaft & or distributor gear wear.

Has anyone had distributor gear wear with the DUI distributor?? I have no idea which brand gear they use.

You might want to purchase a new distributor o'ring if you can find one.

When i go to work on thursday i will check our box of distributor orings at Advance.

I believe MSD offers a distributor hold down that places the contact points at the centerline of the distributor. The cost is close to $40.00 for the billet hold down.

http://msdignition.com/product.aspx?id= ... =hold+down Bill

wsa111,

I thought the same thing about the o-ring on the DUI because mine is leaking too. My engine's a complete rebuild so this one slow oil leak is nagging in the back of my head.

I don't know what gear Performance Distributors is using but when when my finals are over Thursday, I'm going to bring my car back up to campus and pull the DUI at work. We have a Rockwell hardness tester and I can tell you how hard the teeth are. I'm going to indent the narrow 'edge' of a tooth and probably indent the cylindrical part also to see if it's the same hardness throughout.

I want to put a caliper on the o-ring groove to see if it's the same size as stock also.

Stephen

I too also had a leak from my DUI. I first tried the o-ring from the original Ford dizzy. That didn't work, I believe it was to thick. I tried to match up an o-ring from the hardware store, couldn't find one that worked. However, when you receive the DUI there is an instruction leaflet that mentions something about a gasket between the block and the hold-down part of the shaft. I then assumed that they were talking about the v-8 version. Bottom line, I a put a gasket on and it doesn't leak anymore. I never thought of actually calling DUI, They probably have a solution. The 1-800 number is on top of the DUI dizzy.

I sent my D.U.I. back to performance for repair due to an adapter shaft issue. I kept the o-ring but asked for a replacement due to tearing it upon installation. the one they sent was smaller than the original and would not seal. I was able to find a match to the original at the hardware store and bought several. i tore a couple trying to install so i coated the next one with grease. it slid in with a little twisting motion without tearing. so far I have'nt had a leak. the install instructions are pretty generic and i believe they are discribing a chevy install when refering to a base gasket.I have never seen a paper gasket under the dizzy base of a ford engine just the o-ring.

With so many of you having oil issues, I'm surprised this hasn't come up before. Or if it has, this is the first that I've heard about it. I called Performance Distributors and filled them in on the problems, and here's what they said.

First and foremost, the gasket definitely needs to be under the base flange. Not only does it provided a better seal, it also helps to maintain proper gear clearances. Without the gasket, they have a much higher likelyhood of leaking. I looked in my Ford Master Parts Catalog and the group number for the Distributor Base Gasket is 12143, but I couldn't find the part number. I'll keep looking....

Some gaskets sets come with the gasket, some do not, therefore Performance Distributors is going to start including a gasket with every distributor. If we still have issues, they may decide to add a second o-ring, but they are pretty confident a base gasket will resolve the problem. They're going to send me several gaskets, so if you don't have one or can't buy one locally, let me know.

When I talked with the owner, I also discussed the problems with the hold down clamps. Sometimes one is included, sometimes not. When it is, the one provided (as well as the stock clamp) doesn't fit as nice as it should. Therefore they are going to see if they can find one that fits better. If not, they may decided to make one. I let you know as soon as I hear something.

Mike, this is from your website & is the same as from the factory shop manual.
Distributor shaft end-play - Distributor shaft end-play is commonly overlooked when a motor is being assembled, or when installing a new/upgraded distributor. Most professional engine builders stresses checking the distributor-shaft end-play. Clearances which are too tight or too loose, may result in camshaft and distributor gear failures. Distributor shaft end-play should be between .022 to .033 of an inch. The factory service manual also states the gear location to be 2.510-2.515' from the mounting flange.

This demension is paramount, cause the botton surface on the distributor gear needs to ride on the surface in the block where the lower shaft of the distributor centers.

If you change that demension by adding a gasket like on a small block chevy the vertical distributor shaft trust is taken at the top of the distributor.

When you install the distributor the shaft should be pushed up using some of the end play.

The big question is performance distributors machining the housing to a different demension so a gasket must be used???

The distributor gear needs to make contact with the pad which is 2.5" from the flange surface of the block.

Even though i don't use a DUI in my engine, i have used DUI's before on several small block chevys.

Performance distributors makes a quality product & i'm sure they will find the problem.

I would first compare the OD of the distributor housing to that of a duraspark, then check the crossection of the o'ring seal they use. Than check the diameter of the housing which is machined for the o'ring seal.
Also check the width of the groove where the seal fits into.

I just measured an o'ring seal from a duraspark & the cross section is .100" the outside diameter is 1.325" & the ID is 1.125"

I believe one of the above dementions is not the same as the duraspark. Bill

wsa111":1qx0ytle said:

The big question is performance distributors machining the housing to a different demension so a gasket must be used???

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Seems you are missing the point. A gasket must be used with ANY distributor, not just the DUI. The illustrations in the Master Parts Catalog show the gasket being used on both the Load-O-Matic and the Duraspark distributors. Both distributors, as well as the DUI, were designed to use an O-ring and a gasket.

I seriously doubt that Ford (with all their wisdom and extreme foresight) designed and produced a distributor base gasket and included it in all their illustrations, just so some company which didn't even exist back in 1960, could say it needs to be installed when their customers complained about oil leaks.

However you are correct about Distributor Shaft End-play. It is extremely critical and should be checked whenever ANY new distributor is installed, not just a DUI. Doesn't matter if it's a rebuilt LOM or DSII, a Mallory or a DUI, it needs to be verified. However, I also doubt that 1 out of 20 (if that) actually check the end-play. Most just stab and go, assuming it's correct.

Bottom line, when ever you install a new or rebuilt distributor, regardless of which distributor you use, you should use a distributor base gasket, verify the distributor shaft end-play, and break in the new gear accordingly.

I agree with Bill, I have never had a dizzy gasket on any Ford I have ever owned. There was no gasket on the stock dizzy in my Maverick but I have had the oil leaking problem with the dui. I even tried making my own gasket for it and trying that but all the did was give me a gasket that was oil soaked and leaked anyway.

I guess since no one has seen a gasket, and they are certain they never existed, I must be wrong. However maybe someone can explain why Ford included them in their distributor illustrations, and why they assigned a part number to something that never existed? They even went so far as to call it a "Distributor Base Gasket", and show one distributor using both an O-ring and a gasket. Isn't that crazy.... I guess the ones I've seen in kits must have been for something else, maybe a breather cap or something?



I'm not saying the DUI couldn't benefit from a larger O-ring, maybe it could. All I'm saying, if this works, it seems like a very simple fix. Could it really be that easy? Of course this is assuming the distributor shaft end-play checks out, but I'm guessing since Ford originally intended for it to be there, the end-play will check out just find. Guess I'll have to prove that too.

BTW Gene, how did the end-play check out on yours? When you install your homemade gasket, did it throw it way out of adjustment, or was it acceptable? What is it now, without the gasket?

It seemed fine with the gasket, but I discarded it since. I think one issue is with the hold down. I have to really crank down the bolt to prevent it from leaking.