Nissan Repair: Nissan Almera 1996 break down, nissan almera, rotor arm

Question
Hi, i have a nissan almera 1996 model, it broke down for the first time last week. The car had been stalling a little and then it started to struggle so i pulled in and put on my hazards then it wouldn't start again. The AA man came out and looked at it and said it needed a new rotor arm, which i got and replaced. This however didn't work, so i called them again, and they checked it over again and after 2 hours of examination, and two phone calls to their technical department said it was the distributor unit that had failed in the car.  This is a very expensive part to replace and the guy checking the car out didn't seem very sure of himself or what was wrong. I have asked a few people about this and they say they have never heard of the full unit failing before. I would be most grateful if you could give me a second opinion on this, if you've ever heard of that being an issue before? I know its very hard to diagnose a problem especially without seeing the car, any help would be most appreciated.

Answer
Hi Lorraine -

I would think it is the ignition module located in the distributor. To check that, pull out a spark plug wire, insert a screwdriver into the boot until it contacts the terminal inside securely. Hold the shaft of the screwdriver about 1/4" away from any metal surface of the car while a helper tries to start the engine (do not touch any metal surface while doing this). If there is a spark jumping between surfaces, the distributor and module is OK. If there is no spark, then I would replace the module.

Hope this helps -
aloha
calvin