Okay so I know this is a dumb question but whatever. I have a 1989 pickup 22re with an oil leak (actually several) that I can't locate. I think it is leaking past the distributor o-ring. I know how to remove the distributor and have I have the O-Ring but where I "think" (always dangerous) it goes there is what looks like a plastic spacer of some kind that is definitely not rubber and does not look like it is removable and even if it were it looks like the replacement o-ring is not wide enough to fill that gap. I have no clue where the original oring went but there appears to be a bevel in the head where the ring would fit between the head and the distributor. If you look at the pic, the new o-ring is on the shaft and as you look left, is the plastic "spacer" I referred to above and at the top is some type of perhaps former o-ring? Thanks.

 

It used to be rubber but rubber will turn to plastic or glass like material over time. I get my O-ring from Oriellys from an O-ring box that they have. There is one that is close and I work it down with a file to get it to fit. The O-ring that you are showing is one that is often neglected and not replaced. I suppose you could get one from Toyota but by the time I need it, the dealer is too far away for me to go get the correct one.

 

Thanks for the reply, what you say makes sense. I have the correct replacement but I like the replacement part to look like the one I am taking off if you know what I mean. I think the ring that is there is what is causing the leak and cause my wife to freak out because of "all that oil in the street!" Long story short I will now be able to stop the leak and get this back on the road and the beach to fish and woods to hunt.