Distributor GP, shaft seal

[Bernie Benz]

Now that I have a 20V distributor without a drive gear attached, part of my
current gear GP inspection, I have removed the shaft from the housing to
check on Bosch's shaft sealing system.

There is no shaft sealing component used in this distributor!  That portion
of the shaft running in the upper (outer) half of the upper bushing has a
reverse spirol groove that acts as a pump to move oil down the shaft/bushing
interface, rather than into the distributor body.  Further, the 2" length
between upper and lower bushings is filled with a felt wicking and this area
has a drain hole on the bottom side allowing excess oil to drain back into
the cam area in the head.

Conclusion:  Anyone having oil accumulation problems in his distributor will
not solve it by replacing distributors, but will by solving his crank case
pressurization problem.  My 3 distributors are dry of oil accumulations.

Bernie