Oil Pump drive spindle not engaging pump

[Co0kieduster]

In the process of putting my engine back together and before I installed the cam cover I went to make sure i had oil pressure.

Turned the engine over via starter motor for about 2 minutes and nothing.

Took out oil pump primed with oil and tried again...nothing

Took oil pump out again primed with light grease installed and spun manually with a long flat head cut and chucked into a drill......YAY oil squirting everywhere.

Took out oil pump reinstalled with drive spindle, installed dizzy with cap off to watch rotor spin (which it did)....absolutely no oil pressure anywhere after spinning the engine via the starter motor.

The spark plugs are removed and the engine is spinning slow but with the drill i can spin it just as slow and still get oil spraying from the cam oiler.

right now im convinced that the drive spindle is somehow not turning the receiver in the oil pump. to verify i removed the oil pump one last time and packed some light grease in it, reinstalled, checked that dizzy was tight, basically have no gaskets on dizzy end or pump end at this point think i can get the two closer together. After spinning the engine i took out the pump to check if it had moved the grease and sure enough it hadn't

What could cause the spindle to not reach? It worked before i took it all apart just fine. Is there spring in the receiving end of the pump to keep it engaged with the spindle thats not working?

Please help this is driving me crazy

[steve91tt]

Very odd. I understand why it's driving you crazy. Can you engage the drive spindle in the pump and then slip the two in the bottom of the timing cover as a unit? That way you know that the system is coupled correctly.

[Co0kieduster]

Tried that a few times. I think whats happening is the clockwise rotation of the crank is pulling upward, away from the oil pump, hence disengaging it.

I'm going to try and wiggle the crank a little and see if i can feel the spindle sliding down into place then use the dizzy without the timing piece(part with the gasket) to hold it down while i turn it over. If i see oil then I guess im looking at find away to shave some things down to allow the dizzy to keep more pressure on the spindle drive.

my plan of attack after work today :/

[zKars]

The only place for slop in the system is either VERY worn gear on the crank and/or spindle, or something broken in the oil pump that has allowed the end of the drive to fall slightly back into the pump, allowing it to disengage the spindle when the gears mesh and the spindle rises, or a combo of the above. Just can't imagine there is enough room for movement anywhere in the system to allow this, but its the only thing I can think of...

[Diseazd]

If you didn't forget to install the worm gear () and you installed the distributor drive shaft and oil pump as one unit (distributor rotor is turning), then my guess is you're getting oil pressure, just not enough to register. Remove all 6 plugs and turn it over for 30 to 40 seconds. Watch the gauge closely for minimal movement. If the needle moves at all, you're good to go. It won't move much at that rpm.

Edited September 2, 2011 by Diseazd

[Co0kieduster]

Thanks for the advice on watching the gauge...I was outside watching the oiling bar thinking i would get at least a drip while my gf hit the starter. Sure enough there was a little movement in the gauge Started her up and got about 15psi. Hopefully after driving around today ill see more pressure!

[AlexS13]

Its good to hear you got it worked out! I have a question regarding installing an oil pump. I'm going to be changing my oil pump on my L24 soon but I'm a little confused as to how to go about doing it. The part I'm not sure about has to do with the distributor. After the motor is a tdc, do I need to totally remove the distributor and hold the shaft in place or do I just remove the distributor cap and mark and hold the rotor from turning? The motor is in the car and running so its fully assembled right now. If you can give me a detailed way of doing this job that would be much appreciated!