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i bought a high volume miloden oil pump for my 351windsor and i got a different pump drive shaft that was stronger than the one sent with the pump but it has no instructions for installation and im wondering if the keeper on the shaft goes down at the pump or up at the distributor. please help asap!
According to my 1977 Ford truck shop manual the keeper goes up towards the distributor. I also have a Chiltons and a Haynes repair manual for the truck and neither of them specify the direction.
It goes down towards the pump. Its purpose is to keep the shaft from coming out with the distributor if you should have to pull the distributor sometime in the future. I just leave them off entirely, as they sometimes break and fall off into the pan and do nothing anyway.
I second the underneath part. When you pull the distributor, the shaft can come with it part way, then slip between the oil pump and the block and fall uselessly into your oil pan, leaving you with no lube...
The 1977 Ford Shop manual says it goes toward the distributor.
The following is a quote from the book regarding oil pump installation:
1. Prime the pump with clean engine oil.
2. Position the intermediate drive shaft into the distributor socket. With the shaft firmly seated in the distributor socket, the stop on the shaft should touch the roof of the crankcase. Remove the shaft and position the stop as necessary.
3. With the stop properly positioned, insert the intermediate drive shaft into the oil pump. Install the pump and shaft as an assembly.
If you think about it the stop needs to be at the top in order to prevent the intermediate drive shaft from coming out of the pump when you need to remove the distributor. The stop will hit the roof of the crank case when you pull the distributor out and prevent it from coming out of the oil pump.
As you can see, the clip is actually closer to the distributor end of the shaft as it has to go up through the cranckcase for some distance. (I was visualizing it as actually being closer to the pump end...sorry!)
But if using the clip, the shaft must be installed from the bottom. If you were to install it from the top, you couldn't get the clip down through the hole.
Last edited by TigerDan; Apr 10, 2006 at 07:31 PM.
It goes down towards the pump. Its purpose is to keep the shaft from coming out with the distributor if you should have to pull the distributor sometime in the future. I just leave them off entirely, as they sometimes break and fall off into the pan and do nothing anyway.
There have been many postings that contradict one another about the shaft..Guy says the ring is on the dist side. Another guy says his won't get oil pressure unless the ring is on the bottom at the pump side. I packed mine back into a plastic trunk with plywood stacked on top & it's raining out there. I will get to the bottom of this ..HEX shaped shaft sounds RIGHT ! Or ROUND with a flat on two sides would work too ! As far as a RING on one end. I would call that a SNAP LOCK RETAINING MECHANISM ! My guess is : To engage & disengage it. ( Install & remove )...You line up its key configuration..Hex shaft equals a hex hole/key way ! The ring engages an internal groove & keeps it from dropping out.. My guess is you line it up & smack it in with a WOID BLOCK ! To remove it, you pull / yank like hell with a pair of vise grips..But you put the vise grips where any metal gouging will not contact any critical bearing surfaces ..You can wrap shaft with tape or try a rag.. My shaft hangs out of the distributor..So if the the shaft is detachable, then there is a SNAPLOCK MECH holding it. Makes better sense that the shaft would be a hex, because then there is less you will have to rotate the rotate the engine to line up the oil pump's HEX KEYWAY to properly engage it ! That way your number one firing position stays close to the factory location ( at the cap/rotor ) ! If there is a true expert out there that can fine tune this, PLEASE COME FORWARD ! I REALIZE THIS IS 4-9-21..But people still seek answers none the less !
That retaining ring going down inside the block, and cannot be removed without pulling the oil pan and pump. The purpose of the ring is to keep the oil pump driveshaft from pulling up with the distributor. If there is no ring on it, there is a high likelihood that it will pull up, and drop down into the pan, meaning that you have to pull the oil pan off to retrieve it. There is no groove for the ring. The oil pump drive is a hex engagement, just like the dizzy. You're more than welcome to smash engine parts with a wooden block all you want, but I don't know why you'd purposely want to break things inside of the motor.
I have always put then up at the top under the distributor but not quite all the way touching as it prevents the distributor from dropping in place. When that happens you have tap the center shaft of the distributor with a small hammer to move the retainer down where it needs to be. Clears as mud right?
You don't see threads much older than this pulled up very often.
