hi all. today i replaced my distributer for a new racing one. my 302 has an oil pressure guage and has always worked fine. after i got it back together it fired right up but with no oil pressure. the lower hex shaft wouldn't come out with the dist but is in there and went into the new dist with alot of trouble lining it up. i don't know if the oil pump picked this time to pack it in ro mabye the rod pushed something? of course my daughter was running around when i pulled the dist to check and the rotor shifted and i forgot where it was but that's tomorrow's problem. should i just try to get the rod out and try to reinstall or should i replace the pump?
first the tranny, then this, and getting layed off on monday. what a week.lol

 

It seems most likely that the oil pump driveshaft got pulled up and out during the process of trying to align the distributor to it.
You'll have to remove the distributor again to check. If the driveshaft still is in place, spin it with a socket on the end of a speeder handle or drill motor while an assistant watches the dash (with the key "on") to see if the oil gauge reads pressure. If so, then the pump itself is okay.

 

What scoot told you is good advice IF you can get a primer shaft on the oil pump drive shaft. It is likely that the pump shaft was pulled out of the pump and then wedged down next to the oil pump.

If you can pick it up with something and move it around enough to re-engage it into the oil pump, you will be luckier than me. If you can't, the oil pan will have to come off, the pump dropped and the shaft put back in place or if it were mine, I would replace it.

Replacing may sound like overkill, but here's what happens: There is a star washer on the shaft that is supposed to be adjusted into the proper position upon installation. Often, people don't do this, thus allowing the shaft to come out of position as it did for you. If the star washer is out of place, it will probably not hold.

Once the oil pump is out and the NEW shaft is in place, put the shaft in the pump with the star washer such that it "points" down. This mean that the inner portion of the star washer will be lower on the shaft than the outer portion of the star washer. This is so, with the star washer adjusted into the correct position, the shaft will not move upward when pulling the distributor.

So with the star washer pointed as described, put the pump into position and see if the star washer is as far up on the shaft as it will go. You may have to go up above and pull the shaft up to see if it moves up with the pump in place. If the shaft does pull up, move the star washer higher and reinstall the pump until the shaft goes into position with the pump in place, but will not move up any further.

By doing all this, you will prevent this headache next time you have to pull the distributor.

In the old days (believe me, I'm old enough to remember them,) when the distributors were pulled out alot to put on a distributor machine or for other points service reason, most everyone knew the importance of adjusting the star washer. In these days of electronic ignitions, it is not as important, so the younger folks have not learned the importance of this star washer adjustment step.

I hope this helps.

BTW, since you have run the engine without oil pressure, I would STRONGLY suggest that once you get the pump and shaft PROPERLY in place, use a primer shaft and a drill motor to suck up oil and build pressure before you reinstall the distributor and start the engine again.

Hope this helps.

 

it ran for about 5 seconds. i'll pull the dist again and see if i can get the dhaft out, if not i'll try the nutdriver.
thanks all
mark

 

I have had this problem before. The first time the shaft fell in the oil pan. I found this after I had no oil pressure. I removed the oil pain which is a pain in the a$$ and put the shaft back in. Last month I pulled the distributor and the shaft came out again. I played with it for a while to try and get it back in the oil pump and didn't get anywhere. I posted on here and tryed everything that I was told and still couldn't get it in. The shaft ended up in the pan again. I just left it in there and bought another one. I took the clip off and tried to slide it in from the top but couldn't get it in. I finally got tired of trying and pulled my small stick welder out and tacked it on the bottom of the distributor. Just enough to hold in place where I could stick it in. Just an idea. Of course my distributor is not new but a suggestion.

 

i've tried 3 times today to go out and take a look at it again but we're getting thunderstorms every few minutes so i'll wait till tomorrow. i can still see the rod down i n the hole, so i'll try rigging up something to spin the shaft first and see if it works. if not i guess i'll have to pull the pan. hopefully the pan will slide out easily. i'm not allowed to work on my truck in this town and the neighbour complains at anything so it has to be quick.
thanks
mark

 

Both of you need to just bite the bullet, pull the pan and follow my instructions to get the shaft in place PROPERLY with the star washer in the correct position so that you can then pull the distributor without losing the shaft.

We are talking about the OILING SYSTEM here gentlemen!!!!!! Don't screw around with it unless your engine is worn out and you're ready to build a new one anyway.

One is always better off to fix things right rather than to try short cuts, but when it involves the life blood of your engine (the oil) don't take chances. Pull the pan, put the shaft in CORRECTLY, then you won't have to worry every time you pull the dist.

 

I don't have to worry about it now. I hear what your saying about doing it right but what makes your way better than mine when both work? Another thing I want to know is can you guarantee that the clip on a new shaft will not slide down and have the shaft pull out? After all this was the problem in the first place.

 

If the shaft is put in correctly with the star washer in the right direction and adjusted into the right position it will not slip. I've dealt with hundreds of them over the last 40 years or so.

Pulling the pan on these engines is really very easy as long as you just run out the four vertical motor mount to block bolts and raise the motor enough to get a 2 X 4 block between the engine and the motor mounts.

That said, it's your truck and you have all the right in the world to weld together whatever you wish.

Have a great day.

 

well it cleared up so i went out. put a bit on my drill and spun backwords and got the rod back into the whole and got oil pressure. thought great, so i found tdc on #1 and put the dist back in. fired right up with good pressure but when i turned the dist to adjust it i ran into the air filter(dumb cap it way to big). so i figured i would just pull it and rotate a little then reinstall. lifted it up and heard a ting. rod fell into the oil pan.
just not my night. tomorrow i'll see if i can find a store around here that carries one and try again, just not my week. so i figured i would change my vent window's and put power windows in the truck. spent 20 minutes looking for my pop rivet gun but never found the rivets.

 

I totally understand your frustration. I've been there before. That's why I pointed out the advantage of pulling the pan to get the shaft in place so that it will stay in place.

Best of luck with it.

 

just hard to do in the driveway and i need to get an aod rebuilt. when i get it back in it can wait in the pan a few weeks.lol
thanks
mark

 

well i dropped the new one into the pan so today i pulled the pan. found the old clip, and both rods. by the time i got the engine jacked up and the pan off i was crying for a beer. way too much farting around on a hot driveway. took about 10 minutes to put the rod in and clip on it. had to pull the intake for the oil pump to get the pan out and of course no store in town had the gasket, so i used that liquid gasket and bolted it back up. after farting around all day i got the engine fired up. the hei dist sure makes a difference. just sorry i went from 1 bolt and 20 minutes to 9 hours, but atleast i got to see the bottom of the motor, and the pan wasn't very dirty inside, just all the junk that fell in when i was beating it out.
i would highly recomend a set of ramps if your doing this at home, the truck is just too low for my creaper.
thanks all
mark

 

What were you beating on? I hope it wasn't the oil pan. Oh well, glad you got it fixed.

 

I'm also glad that you got it fixed.

I've pulled lots of pans laying on a creeper. I now use a two post lift for everything so it would be hard to go back to ramps and a creeper.

I guess I should have pointed this out before, but to pull the pan in most all chassis that had the 289/302 except for the small cars like the Mustang/Falcon/Maverick, removing the four vertical motor mount bolts, raising the engine with a wood block on a jack under the pan, then blocking up the engine with 2X4 blocks between the motor mounts and the engine lets the pan FALL off.

If you got the star washer on the shaft placed up within about an 1/8" below the hole below the distributor, changing the distributor henceforth will be much less challenging.

BTW, my compliments on your perserverence.