So I have a distributor question, obviously my audi doesnt have a distributor so I really dont know much past how they work and there purpose. And what I need to know is how to tell if one is bad. Its on my friends 2000 civic si and I know honda is know for there shitty distributors but idk how to see if one is back. Once the distributor cap is off should there be a obvious sign if it is bad? Thanks for the help and I know its not an audi question but i dont wanna have to get an account on a civic forum.

 

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/ignition-system4.htm
Heres how they work, good to have a grasp of that.

Basically, same as a spark plug, theres a certain gap you should have between the cap and rotor. Over time, the electrodes wear, and the gap grows and/or get dirty, and you'll lose spark, or strength of the spark.

Usually not expensive, best to just replace both the cap and rotor if they look weird. May want to consider plug wires as well.

 

Thing about the Honda's is that they have a distributor and coil all in one and the cap and rotor may be good but the rest isn't. It's about a 15 min replacement just make sure you get the thing back on exactly like it was before so the timing is right. so take the cap off note where the rotor is facing put the new one on make sure the rotor is facing the same way. Then also make sure the distributor portion is on in the right way but that new might not have an adjustable distributor.