Just bought a 2000 civic w/ 71k miles.
Would not start and replaced whole distributer assembly (cap, rotor and body) not factory part just after market part.

After installing starts fine with no problems.
I noticed though during test drive that it runs a little sluggish and struggles to accelerate especially in first gear and getting past 60mph.

Anyone know if I installed it wrong? or are there any adjustments I'm missing?
I think the ignition timing is off. Any way to correct this?

PS. Before distributor went bad it accelerated fine.

 

After replacing a distributor, timing must be adjusted with a timing light.

Find the marks on the crank pulley and apply new paint if needed for good visibility. You are interested in the group of 3 marks.
Warm up the engine and turn it off.
Install ECU test jumper and restart engine. The CEL should light up steady (not blinking any codes).
Connect timing light pickup to plug wire #1 and check marks. Should be timed to the center mark of the group of 3. If not, loosen distributor mounting bolts and rotate distributor to adjust.
If distributor ends up rotated all the way to one end (it should be near the middle of the range), check cam timing and timing belt.

 

Thanks for reply. Will replacing the distributor cause the cam timing to be off?
I hope not since it seems harder to adjust the cam timing compared to the distributor timing.

 

shouldnt, unless your timeing belt happened to jump a tooth too

 

How often does jumping a tooth happen?
Or what would make it jump?

 

Found out that the distributor was defective. I replaced with a new one and it worked fine and did not need to adjust at all. It runs smooth as butter now!