123 Ignition Oil Leak Fix

I do not like the tone in their description, which implies the necessity is mainly due to faults elsewhere in the engine. BMW wouldn’t have grooved the shafts if there wasn’t a legitimate reason for it, like driving for extended periods at higher rpm.
But glad to see they were responsive to the problem.
 
The guy selling these is a dealer in 123 distributors. I suspect he cannot imply that the distributor design contributes to this problem, so the only option is to hint that something about BMW engines causes this.
 
The two paragraphs of description do not appear to be linked. Ie, only an issue if there is a severe engine problem. Then, but we made this.

If there were a severe engine problem then why alter the design of this 123 system? Or, as Ohmess says, the dealer can’t admit there is a concern with their product as it will lead to warranty claims etc. However, we do all like a manufacturer that does address concerns and provides a fix.

Is the opinion that a 123 is worth fitting to a well running, standard CSI that does limited mileage?
 
123s are faulty & don't last 16K miles without the helix milled shaft.

Ray Koke & I tried & failed where @m5bb aka Gary has been successful.
 
Guys, my take on this is if you have a stock M30 motor then run a stock distributor with a Petronix electronic points.
I may be having problems with mine even after the mods. With less than a 1000 miles.
Going to pull it and try a stock one. Which I may then have to figure out how to modify for my performance engine.
Anyone know someone with a Sun distributor machine?
Steve in NO has had good luck with his.
I don't understand why some do and some don't.
My engine is heavily modified and even rebuilt the oil pump so my oil pressure at start up is 75 and warm at idle 25-30.
That could be contributing to oil migration up the dist shaft and destroying the circuit board.

Yes, there is another write up on this.

123 Distributor failures from oil?

How many are using 123 Distributors? Have you had to have the whole distributor replaced? The electronic module inside can get oil in it, oil that comes up the drive shaft from the engine. 123 claims this is a problem with BMW M30 engines. Mine has been replaced once so far. Tell me what...
e9coupe.com e9coupe.com

I took apart a stock Bosch dist and removed the shaft.
My brother took the 123 shaft and modified it like the Bosch shaft.
I then sent the Bosch shaft to 123 in Ohio.
They sent it to their machinist and then returned.
They are offering to do this as an upgrade.
I never understood them always blaming BMW engines for this.
There's a whole group of 2002 owners with the same problem.
I think it is hurting their sales.

@Stevehose
@adawil2002

Gary
 
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I agree that the design of the 123 is simply not robust without the reverse groove (a type of slinger). OTOH, haven’t heard of many oil contamination issues with other brands of classic cars. Maybe our engines do have slightly more crankcase pressure than is common?

Plus, without much careful thought, our motors do seem to have somewhat modestly sized breathers. The crankcase vent (in the valve cover) is about the same size as on my 1290cc Alfa and maybe 1/3rd or more smaller in cross sectional area as on my 3.4 XK. Jaguar even doubled up on the breathers for engines run more often at high rpm. The breather on my 1275 A series is maybe 1/3 smaller than on our BMW’s. Of course 60 years ago piston ring design was t as good as it is today so I would expect there to be more blow by back in the day.
John
 
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One way to prevent oil migration out of the engine is to evacuate the crankcase. I used GZ Motorsports modified smog pumps on my SBC racing engines and had no oil leaks at all. I pre-sealed the engine by attaching an old air compressor modified to work in reverse ( create a vacuum in the tank ) and listening for leaks around the engine. One of the leaks I had to deal with was the distributor shaft, and there's not much you can do except make sure the bushing clearances are minimum.
I hooked my big vacuum pump up to my M30 and the seals whistled really loudly, so I scrapped that idea.
 
Here's where I am at.
I AM NOT USING THE 123 ANYMORE.
After years of problems and drivability issues I'm tired of wasting my time trying to fix the problem.
I don't know if it's my engine for some reason but it's not working.
Yesterday I put the stock Bosch dizzy back in.
Started right up, took for a drive and ran like the banshee I know it is.
I know where a Sun distributor machine is and will go there soon to get my stock distributor tweaked to match my performance engine.

You guys will just have to make your own decisions on this. At $600 I just won't go there again.

Gary
 
Gary,
my engine is also heavily modified. It has an M90 block (built in 1979) and an external oil cooler located in front of the radiator.
I currently have the head off for camshaft repair because of significant scoring on intake lobe #6, which i suspect was due to inadequate oil getting to the cam at #6. I have not removed my oil pan so I'm not sure what kind of oil pump is in there.
What did you do to your oil pump to increase oil pressure at start-up?

John
 
All I did was replace the large flat metal plate that goes next to the impeller.
No part number in front of me.
A $5.00 part.
They wear and the tolerances increase.
Gary
 
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