3 weeks ago the CEL on my 98 Honda Civic came on and I took it to my mechanic. He checked the codes and told me that it was Misfire signal. I got him to change the sparkplugs, ignition wires, cap etc. for abot 350 bucks.
After 2 weeks of running the CEL came back on. This time he found the P1362 code and he is asking me to change the distributor assembly for about 550 bucks. Is this appropirate? Other than the eyesore of the yellow CEL the car runs great with no other engine problems. My mechanic tells me that the code itself P1362 - manufacturer Igntion something .... will not harm the car in any way as there is a failover mechanism built into the distributor.
He also tells me that replacing the distributor will not improve the performance of the car in any way.
Again he will not gaurentee that the CEL will go away if the distributor is replaced.

Should I sink in the 500 bucks and replace the distributor? Are there other things i can check before replacing the 500 bucks? Is a distributor replacement that expensive?

Any help in this regard will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

ognep

 

damn $350.00 for a cap, plugs and wires. Thats way to much. Try looking online for a cheaper dizzy

 

Guess I understated the work on the first time the CEL came on:
Here are the details:
Computerized Engine Analysis - 100 bucks
Ignition wire set - 85 bucks
Replacement Sparkplugs - 40 bucks
Rotor - 10 bucks
Dist Cap - 20 bucks
Rest was labor

 

thats seem about right

 

here is what the honda service manual says about the code....
EK11-172.jpg and EK11-173.jpg

not sure if that helps any though. For the prices you mentioned, I'd be searching anywhere else for parts man. $500 for a $100 distributor and the 30 minutes it would take to install is not cool in my book.