Its not a VX o2 sensor. But all the honda V6's uses a wideband (5 wire) o2 sensor for the first sensor. I had a bad hesitation caused by the o2 sensor and the Pilot one i bought fixed it.

 

For the price of that repair kit, you could get an entirely new distributor (including coil, ignitor, etc.)for maybe $40 more. Try ebay. Not oem, but it works. You might also be able to find a reman. one from an autoparts store for the price of that repair kit.
As for the play in the shaft, all the ones I've dealt with, and they were all 5th gen civic distributors, they all had play in them when they weren't mounted onto the head. That includes a brand new one.

 

Well, I picked up a remanufactured distro from Auto Zone for $170 and it was well worth it. No more hesitation, no more sputtering, just nice, smooth acceleration. I still get a code 48 from the MIL (or CEL as you guys like to call it) for a faulty LAF sensor, but that'll be fixed after my next payday.

And if you guys don't mind me jacking my own thread, How can I check if my water pump is functioning properly without ripping half the engine apart? I've got a feeling it is shot due to the fact that my upper radiator hose gets super hot after just going once around the block and the temperature gauge has no reading. The system is full, as I just had to refill it after testing my thermostat about a week or so ago.

 

Does your heat work?
Sometimes the cooling system needs to be bled properly in order to remove any air trapped in the system, the air can cause false or varying readings if it's in the right place.

Otherwise, if your engine is hot to the touch and there's no reading on the temp. gauge (which should show temp. even if the water pump fails), it could just be the temp. gauge sending unit or something with it's electrical connection. It's the smaller of the two in front of the distributor (slightly in front of it).
The resistance of the unit should be 142ohms at 133degrees F (56 C) or "cold" and 49-32ohms at 185-212degrees F (85-100C).

 

The heater does blow very hot, as I usually have it running full blast to help get heat off the engine. I thought I bled it properly (with the little bleed bolt in front of the distributor, there), but it was my first time performing such an action, so I may have done something wrong. Haven't tested the temp sensor, yet. Should be next on my list, I guess.

On a similar note, which may be good or bad (I don't know), is that my cooling fan never kicks on when running, even when the engine has been running for quite a while (like an hour), so I jumped the thermoswitch (on the thermostat housing, not the temp sending unit) so the fan always kicks on when the Ignition is on. I've only had it like that for a week or so and haven't been driving much, so if it's damaging, let me know. I may just need to break down and replace both (thermoswitch & temp sending) units.

And my temp gauge does eventually go up after a little while. It just slowly raises to about the 45% position and remains there, never fluctuating. One thing I have noticed is that when my engine light comes on (for the LAF sensor), the dummy light (aka Shift Indicator) stops functioning. Just wondering if there was any connection between the two, but I don't see why or how.

 

Nothing wrong w/ having the fan come on whenever the ignition is on, if you're in a pinch. Better than the engine overheating.

You say it eventually gets to ~45%, is that with the fan wired to run all the time? If so, the temp. gauge seems to be working, that might be an accurate reading.

I don't know about the LAF or any possible connection to the shift light.

You tested the thermostat, so that it opens and closes at the right temps., so that should rule out the thermostat being stuck open.
The fan not coming on by itself may in fact be the thermoswitch, but that wouldn't explain the temp. gauge not going above 1/2 no matter how long the engine idles, etc. You'd think it would have to be the gauge or it's sending unit, but maybe the engine just isn't getting that hot - is your distributor by chance tilted all the way towards the firewall in the engine bay? If so your timing is retarded, which may be the issue. Regardless though, if you have access to a timing light it might be a good idea to check it.

 

If functions the same after I jumped the thermoswitch as it had before, so even before I hardwired the fan it did the same thing. It slowly rises to 45% and remains exactly there. Never goes up a little bit, never goes down a little bit. In my opinion, the temp. sensor is faulty.

Correct. Suspended it in a pot of water as it boiled, using a thermometer to watch the water temp. It functions normally.

I feel it is entirely possible, although statistically improbable, that both the thermoswitch and the temp. sensor have both failed. And the engine is getting hot, I just don't exactly know how hot.

Before I replaced the distributor, it was rotated all the way one way or the other, but I can't remember which. It's been returned to the store as a core. When I reinstalled the replacement, the general opinion was to center it, allowing the ECU to correct itself, which is how it is orientated at the moment. As for the timing light, I have one, but checking the timing is a bear (need to remove the valve cover in order to remove the timing cover) and since I need to do all that anyway to replace the water pump, I may do it all in one fell swoop.

 

No need to remove the valve cover to check ignition timing. Regardless though, if the distributor is centered, that should be close enough to correct (at least not at max. retard) that we could rule that out as far as the temp. gauge.

So you got a new dizzy, and ever since the fan is wired to run all the time correct. I bet w/ the new dizzy (mainly b/c it's set closer to correct, more advance) if you turned the fan off it would eventually overheat at idle - not that you want it to though.

My temp. gauge on my '92 EX has never gone above 1/2, that includes when the thermoswitch stopped working and the fan would never come on. However, my timing was fully retarded back then, so I'm assuming the car never got hot enough to cause the temp. gauge to fluctuate.
What's important about these temp. gauges, to my knowledge, is that they don't continually move or update once they get close to 1/2 way(unlike older ones). It takes a more significant increase in water temp. before it will start moving above 1/2, and eventually to red. That's my understanding at least, may apply to all newer Hondas as well for all I know.