Dumb oil pump rebuild question...

[landrovered]

93 RRC 4.2L:

I was changing out my oil pressure sender unit and the threads in the oil pump cover stripped. Cheap crap rover casting because I had not even gotten the thing tight yet. I have another oil pump cover from an old engine and am going to rebuild the pump since I have to take it out.

My question is, do I need to do anything special to make sure I do not mess up the timing of the distributor since the oil pump is driven from the bottom of the distributor shaft? I assume that the distributor drive gear from the cam will keep everything where it is supposed to be but I have learned it is better to ask and have everyone think me stupid than to not and deal with unknown consequences.

Also I am planning to pack the pump with vasoline to prime it or is there something better to use.

Thanks

 

[MUSKYMAN]

you need to pull the distributor because there isnt a way to turn the oil pump to make it engage the distributor.

dont sweat it pulling a distributor and dropping it back in is really easy and you will want to reprime the pump with a drill down the dizzy shaft anyways.

 

[landrovered]

Thanks, I have done the dizzy pull fifty times before but never done anything from the other end.

 

[MUSKYMAN]

then dont sweat it scott you will be fine

 

[rover4x4]

what do you spin the oil pump with? Is there a tool for the drill?

 

[ptschram]

you need to pull the distributor because there isnt a way to turn the oil pump to make it engage the distributor.

If you're installing the gears from beneath, why couldn't you take the the drive gear and offer it up to the distributor, engage the oil pump drive, and then offer the driven gear up to the drive gear, and then just bolt the oil pump cover back on?

I'm sure it would be easier to pull the front cover so you could more easily prime the pump (for which I use white lube diluted with 90 wt, I've found it works better than vaseline), but on a Vee belt engine, that's a bitch.

W/R/T the priming tool, I jus ttook a piece of round stock and ground a slot in it with a cut-off wheel.

 

[MUSKYMAN]

I guess I dont get where you "engage the oil pump drive"

 

[landrovered]

Thanks for the repies, one more question, which way do you spin the pump from the dizzy side to prime it, C or CC?

Nevermind: Stupid question I already know the answer to.

 

[ptschram]

I guess I dont get where you "engage the oil pump drive"

Slide the oil pump gear with the shaft on it up into the front cover and rotate it so that it engages the drive on the end of the distributor. I almost think it might be easier to do it this way, rather than trying to get the distributor to engage the camshaft gear AND the oil pump drive shaft.

 

[TigerDan]

It is...it's quite simple, I just did it myself the other day. I packed the drive gear with white grease, both around the shaft and in the gear teeth and slid it up into the housing, rotating it till I felt it engage with the distributor and then slid it all the way home. Then I greased up the driven gear and slipped it into place. Some of the grease was for the express purpose of holding the gears in place while I reinstalled the bottom cover, without it they tend to want to fall out...

To prime it I spun the engine on the starter with the coil disconnected (taking frequent breaks to keep from overheating the starter) till I had pressure, then reconnected the coil and lit it off.

 

[landrovered]

Sounds like a plan, I spoke to the vendor today and he suggested exactly this proceedure using lithium grease. Parts will be in Friday.

 

[tightgroup]

What does it matter if the dizzy is disconnected while spinning an engine with no oil???

You are still cranking the engine and things will grind.. Prime the pump first!!!!

 

[MUSKYMAN]

well I guess you could do it that way but I tend to think that complicates a simple process.

pack the pump full of light grease, and bolt into place

crank to TDC on #1 point the rotor a bit counter clockwise from where you want #1 on the cap and drop the distributor in. it will engage on the gear.

click and turn over the motor with slight downward pressure on the dizzy and it will find the pump shaft and ndrop down the last 1/4"

I have done it this way a number of times and its really just that easy.

this isnt really any different from alot of american v8s that used dizzy driven oil pumps.

 

[eliaschristeas]

just to piggy back - yes, refitting the dizzy as marked on removal AND THEN STUFFING THE PUMP DRIVE SPINDLE is the easier way to do it. Also, if you haven't made a super awesome home-made pump primer tool out of an 18" extention welded to the oil primer fitting of an older dizzy, you can "dummy prime" it with the dizzy in place, pull the coil lead and just crank it from the key or remote starter 'till the light goes away.

 

[ptschram]

I don't understand why there is such resistance to an alternative way to do things that does not require one to time the engine.

If on'es goal is to replace the oil pump gears, why add an operation with risk of parts breakage, further complications and the need to turn an obscured bolt?

 

[TigerDan]

That was my thought as well...why add extra work? The engine's already been run, it has oil circulated though all oil passages therefore nothing is "dry" and it's really needless to remove the distributor to prime the engine. But to each his own, I guess...

 

[eliaschristeas]

I don't understand why there is such resistance to an alternative way to do things that does not require one to time the engine.

If on'es goal is to replace the oil pump gears, why add an operation with risk of parts breakage, further complications and the need to turn an obscured bolt?

if i had a dollar for everytime i did something the hard way. . .