I've replaced the external seal numerous times, but never a internal seal. It might not be possible.

 

You might be right, grim_reaper. The Miata has a CAS without distributor at that location and the CAS housing looks like the base of the distributor.
On the "mazda racers" forum I found this post:

It could also be leaking through the CAS. There's an internal seal also, unfortunately non-replaceable.

You can take the cover off of the CAS without hurting anything and see if it's oily inside.

 

well that sucks. i was told that my bearing wasn't supposed to move back and fourth and to put some locktite behind it. how can i remove this bearing without breaking it?

 

Daquane25: do some fund raising, get a re-manufactured distributor. I bought a Cardone.

 

hey I put everything back together. I believe its 180 degrees off because it won't start.

 

I think this is possible. Pull off the cap, remove the bolts that hold the distributor. Pull the distributor our by 1 inch or so, turn the rotor 180 degrees, put it back together.

You could also proceed a bit more scholarly: put cylinder Nr.1 on TDC compression stroke. Make sure the rotor points to the wire for the Nr.1 spark plug. If it does not correct it as described above.

 

how would i go about putting no.1 cylinder on TDC compression stroke?

 

Take all spark plugs out. That allows you to hand crank the engine using a breaker bar and socket on the crank pulley nut. Now take a piece of paper towel or toilette paper and loosely lay it over the Nr.1 spark plug hole. As you turn over the engine by hand at some point the paper will fly off. That indicates Nr.1 just went through the compression stroke. Now bring it to the TDC mark. It should be easy to see if you have to bring it back or forward. And you don't have to be super accurate either. Since you only want to know if the rotor points to Nr.1 or Nr.3

 

ok thanks. today i noticed that my o/d light blinked a few times when i turned my car to the on position and my fan ran for a few seconds. what could this mean?

 

If the distributor is off by 180 degrees then you get a bunch of misfires and other data that are completely out of range.
Check the dizzy first and fix it if needed. Disconnect the battery and step on the brake to reset the computer.