1988-1990** Mazda 323 / Mercury Tracer / Ford Escort***
* These tips are based on the excellent posts of girlcarbuilder at Edmunds forums.
** I'm not positive about the span of years; update pending.
*** From 1988-1990, the Tracer and Escort were based on the 323 drivetrain in question.

Tips on pulling the distributor:
  1. First, lets really make your life easy on that distributor part when it comes to pulling it and re installing it. Take a chisel to the top part of the distributor base, and make a scribe mark on the flattest section between the engine head and the base of the distributor. That is your line up timing marks when you reinstall!
  2. The distributor will go one way in. Look at the base of the unit when you remove it and you will see that the flat drive part is off center. When you go to reinstall pay attention to how that lines up with the camshaft inside the opening in the head. You may wish to have that distributor cap off so you can turn it to fit it in properly.
  3. Good time to inspect the cap and rotor as well. They should also be new after a good rebuild.
  4. Check while it is out to make sure the distributor base o ring is in good shape. If not, your mechanic has cut corners on your rebuild.
  5. Another trick. Take a permanent marker before you pull the spark plug wires and mark the cylinders numbers on the top of the valve cover. Refer to repair manual for which is which. Take a small regular screw driver and scratch those same numbers on the distributor cap by each wire tower that wire goes to before you take those wires off. This will save you a lot of headaches later on misfires, no starts and backfiring troubles.
Addressing oil in the distributor:
  1. Oil can get in to the distributor and short out not only the cap/rotor but also the pickup chip. Just pull the distributor, disassemble and clean it out.
  2. If your distributor is like mine 86-89 Mazda, it will have two oil holes in the base of it. Later Mazdas do not have those holes. Take a small brad that will fit tightly, cut it short enough to fit tight and not jam up the other mechanical parts and close off those holes.
  3. After all of this is done, she should start up.
    1. If not, check to see if you are getting a signal from the pickup chip, easily verified if you are getting a spark.
    2. If no spark, take off to the junk yard and grab another whole distributor and ECU while you are there.