oil pump shaft problem,HELP!!!

[blckstng96]

we ran into a problem last night while converting my 88lx to carb.we got everything done and went pretty smooth until we went to drop in the distributor.we could not get it to seat,then we noticed the shaft wasnt centered so then we kept playing around with it to get it centered and still no luck.so we figure maybe the distributor just wont work.tried to put the factory one in and still no luck,and if anything it was worse than the new one.odd thing is nothing else happed besides the old one being pulled out.but it seems to me the shaft has come out of where it drives the pump and is not fully seat and i cant get it to seat either and when we tried pulling the shaft out it starts comin up and then feels as if it gets hung up and drops back down.im kinda lost as to what to do here and really dont want to pull the motor on this thing.

 

[Grn92LX]

Get a magnetic tool and use it to try and get the shaft back into the hole (get your mind out of the gutter ) then try and drop the distributer in again.

 

[blckstng96]

yeah,thats what i been tryin but the thing is not seeming to fall into the hole.not making any sense to me at all.

 

[Fast63]

If the shaft came out of the oil pump, it would have dropped to the bottom of your pan. The shaft is also not supposed to appear to be centered down there, it will center itself when the distributor is put in. I think the problem you are experiencing is that the hex of the shaft and the hex of the distributor are not lining up, which happens every time unless you get lucky. So the way to make them mate is to turn the engine over. You can do it by hand using a socket on the big harmonic balancer bolt, or just tap the starter to make the engine turn over a bit and it should go in. This of course is when the distributor only needs about 1/4 inch to go in.

 

[blckstng96]

I don't know,i know its not in the pump because i can spin it and it has like no tension at all on it but the one time we got it seated in the pump we could tell because the tension on the tool using to turn it plus you could hear it working.never had this problem any other times removing the distributor within the past few weeks.its really odd.i guess hard to explain

 

[NKau]

There is a little clip on the pump drive shaft that is supposed to hit the part that the base of the dizzy seats in prevent you from being able to pull it all of the way out of the pump. The clip may have gotten knocked down a little on the pump drive shaft if you've yanked the distributor a bunch of times, pulling up on the shaft and dislodging the clip. As someone else stated, if you actually got it all the way out of the pump, it would have likely dropped into the oil pan, and you'd be screwed. If it is by some act of God out of the pump drive and somehow resting on the pump, it's going to probably drop into the oil pan, and you will either be pulling the oil pan offto fish it out, and reinstall it PROPERLY with the clip in place so it cannot be removed again.

 

[85cleangtvert]

i have the same problem. it is ****ing gay

 

[lang williams]

I went thru this. The dist dropped on the first try but like a dumb a$$ i thought i'd pull it out an turn it a tooth an it took over an hour to get it to drop back on! I ended up taking a screw driver an packin some assembly lube around where the shaft passes to the oil pump to hold it centered.

 

[LiquidGT]

I had this problem when I put my engine together last fall, I F'ed around with that thing for two hours; I couldnt get it fully seated. I tried the grease thing that Lang said^ and it didnt help me, after screwing around with it some more the distributor magically went into place just the way I wanted.

The problem is trying to center it on the shaft while trying to mesh the gears together and centering the TFI module all at the same time. All I can say is lube the gears and shaft really good and try and try again.

 

[redfox91]

Yeah I had the same problem but it was a broken shaft. When I pulled it out with a magnet it looked like a drill bit or a twizzler.

So its a new oil pump for me.

 

[blckstng96]

yeah i finally ended up figuring this out a while ago.2 weeks later i blew the motor haha.

 

[85cleangtvert]

im still having this problem. i used some assembly lube and that helps to keep it centered, enough to get the dizzy on it. it clicks and drops down a little but it still wont go all the way down... do you think it is a problem with the side gears not meshing or the oil shaft maybe bent so i cant get it all the way into the dizzy? any more help is appreciated

 

[lang williams]

once it starts on the oil pump shaft it should drop on with a little wiggling an swearing. maybe put a socket on the crank bolt an have some one bump the motor a little.

 

[85cleangtvert]

my brother thinks that the shaft might be sitting up too high and maybe i pulled it out of the oil pump when i took the dizzy out. hes gonna check an engine we have with the dizzy out to see if the shaft is up at the same position as mine. i also will try to post a pic

 

[Mustang78]

i had a similar problem, when i built the motor i forgot to put in the oil pump shaft... i didnt want to buy a new oil pan gasket, RTV, etc.. so i used a little shoe goo inside the distributor, stuck the oil pump shaft in and let it dry overnight.. the next day i dropped it in no problems, went ot fire the motor and it was off 1 tooth, so i removed dizzy and shaft, reinstalled but the shaft was halfway between the hex patterns on the pump and shaft, so it didn't line up.. being an idiot i decided to tap the dizzy with a hammer and get it lined up, BAD IDEA. I pushed the shaft in the oil pump with the splines not lined up.. i fired up the motor and noticed the dizzy was moving in small circles like it was binding. This ate up the dizzy gear in short order and i had to pull the motor again to replace the oil pump(cracked the female end where the shaft slides in) and put the clip on the shaft, lesson learned..but this could also be your problem.

 

[lang williams]

you can take one of those screw drivers that have different tips an use it with out any tips to fit over the oil pump shaft an turn it. or use a nut driver that fits sheet metal screw heads. twist it a few times an see if you feel oil pressure build, if so the shaft is seated in the pump.

 

[85cleangtvert]

my brother tried that yesterday and he said it didnt feel like there was any resistance on it and that it should be harder to turn if it was building up pressure. so im guessing it came out.

 

[lang williams]

try a magnetic driver to reseat the shaft. I think there's a collar on the shaft so you can't pull it all the way thru from the top.

 

[1 BADSOFTTOP]

The shaft will not come out of the pump,,install the distributor as far as it will go then put the rotor on unplug the coil hold one hand flat on top of rotor with some pressure crank engine jumpping the starter relay it will go in......