The "Clink of Death" Yup, oil pump shaft dropped into the pan!

Mikey · Jun 10, 2006

What a day! All I wanted to do was install the lighter springs of the advance curve kit into my Duraspark distro.

First, the two screws holding the vacuum advance broke off at the heads.....screws were frozen tight!

No amount of drilling and easy out was going to work so I grabbed the spare off the 79 Ford van. Went and modified that one per the pdf I got from Crane (one light spring and one stock spring and use the shorter slot on the governor). I'm all set and pulling the old POS out and lining up the van's distro. "CLINK!"

Pulled the "new" distro and sure enough, no shaft.

Sooooo....any easy way to fish it out? How do I remove and re-install the distros without doing this?

Any idea if the van's distro will give me problems?

Thanks!
Mikey.....Groan!!!!

Daddy4zack · Jun 10, 2006

OHH YAAHH been there.. Pulled my dizzy last year and heard the same thing.. I thought that the shaft would just lye on the bottom of the pan and not give me any trouble.. Untill I went wheeling and my angle of the bronco came up and shoved the extra rod into the crank..

..

PULL the pan!! Get a new rod with the retainer clip. ($9.00).. Pull the oil pump relace shaft W/clip and install pump. now the retainer clip will keep the shaft in place so this will never happen again..

Good luck

Aaron

Mikey · Jun 10, 2006

Can I pull the pan with the engine still on the motor mounts? Can the pan slip out?

Daddy4zack · Jun 10, 2006

I don't know that one.. I had to pull/replace my motor.. Do a search on pulling the pan or maybe someone will chime in.. I think you should be able to...???

Aaron

ponch0v · Jun 10, 2006

Mikey said:
Can I pull the pan with the engine still on the motor mounts? Can the pan slip out?

Had the same happen to me. Yes the pan can be dropped w/o moving the motor. Jack up the frame so the pan will clear the pumpkin (unless you have a big lift)

JKrieg70 · Jun 10, 2006

Yeah, just jack the front end up some so the suspension drops a little and you can squeeze it out from under there. It was time for an oil change anyway, right?;D

Daddy4zack · Jun 10, 2006

JKrieg70 said:
Yeah, just jack the front end up some so the suspension drops a little and you can squeeze it out from under there. It was time for an oil change anyway, right?;D

Nice!!

Aaron

Mikey · Jun 10, 2006

I have a 2-1/2" lift. Maybe I'll get lucky. I plan on buying a new shaft with the clip on it, new pan gaskets....think I'll need a couple of oil pump gaskets?

Gee, so much for a peaceful Sunday!

Thanks, guys, for the info!

Mikey · Jun 10, 2006

What, did Ford NOT put that clip on their older engines?

73stallion · Jun 10, 2006

i dropped the pan on mine when i still had stock suspension under it, i think i had to jack up the front about 1/2". you'll be able to do it no problem with a 2.5" lift.

ponch0v · Jun 10, 2006

Mikey said:
What, did Ford NOT put that clip on their older engines?

Found the clip in two pieces at the bottom of the pan when I dropped mine

76 bronco J · Jun 10, 2006

Mikey said:
What, did Ford NOT put that clip on their older engines?

------ford did or at least my stock one had a clip-- problem is----I've seen where the distributor gets kinda stuck on the oil pump driveshaft then when you yank up on the dist. it causes the retainer to slide on the shaft enough that when the dist. finally releases it is already out of the pump at the bottom so it falls into the pan ----- there is a solution to this not happening again & getting a stronger shaft for not much more, under $20 --- the chromoly shafts that ford racing sells have a thicker middle section & the clip rests on the necked down section so even if it the dist. gets stuck on the shaft it will hold that clip in place as you remove the distributor---

Mikey · Jun 11, 2006

76 bronco J said:
------ford did or at least my stock one had a clip-- problem is----I've seen where the distributor gets kinda stuck on the oil pump driveshaft then when you yank up on the dist. it causes the retainer to slide on the shaft enough that when the dist. finally releases it is already out of the pump at the bottom so it falls into the pan ----- there is a solution to this not happening again & getting a stronger shaft for not much more, under $20 --- the chromoly shafts that ford racing sells have a thicker middle section & the clip rests on the necked down section so even if it the dist. gets stuck on the shaft it will hold that clip in place as you remove the distributor---

Sounds like an excellent idea. I'll have to order one so the Bronco will be down this week. Only problem with this idea is if I ever want to go with a Ford EFI conversion, the EEC-IV distro will not fit. If I go that route, I will probably just get a whole 5.0L engine anyway.

While I'm at it, I think I'll order the one piece pan gasket, too.

ponch0v · Jun 11, 2006

Mikey said:
Sounds like an excellent idea. I'll have to order one so the Bronco will be down this week. Only problem with this idea is if I ever want to go with a Ford EFI conversion, the EEC-IV distro will not fit. If I go that route, I will probably just get a whole 5.0L engine anyway.

While I'm at it, I think I'll order the one piece pan gasket, too.

The EEC-IV distro will not fit??
No issues using the stock EFI dizzy in a 302. Did mine, works fine.

Mikey · Jun 11, 2006

ponch0v said:
The EEC-IV distro will not fit??
No issues using the stock EFI dizzy in a 302. Did mine, works fine.

It will fit a stock one but not the beefed up chrome moly one because the beefed up one has a shoulder on it and the EEC-IV distro has a longer oil shaft pocket shoulder on it.

This is reflected in a note in the Ford Racing Parts catalog and two different part numbers.

Any idea if the 5.0L single piece oil pan gasket will fit our old 302s?

Madgyver · Jun 11, 2006

Mikey said:
Can I pull the pan with the engine still on the motor mounts? Can the pan slip out?

Yes, It can be done........

Yellow75 · Jun 11, 2006

I had the same thing happen to me.. Best part is, I was able to fish it out with a magnet the first time through the dissy hole. So i'm putting it back in and it fell AGAIN! This time it fell all the way in though. Had to jack the front of the truck up to get the axle out of the way and pulled the pan out that way..

73stallion · Jun 11, 2006

ARP makes those larger center diameter shafts too. next time my engine comes apart it's getting one. they're not that expensive.

i still have one for a 351 if someone needs one.

Mikey · Jun 11, 2006

Well, I'm ordering the Ford Racing one from JEGS and found out the 5.0L pan gasket won't interchange. Soooo....I'm getting a Felpro regular type.

Thanks!!!
Mikey

Mikey · Jun 11, 2006

OK, I ordered from Summit as they were a bit cheaper....$36.51 while JEGS was $39.22.

What irritates me about JEGS is they added some sort of "Delivery Area Surcharge!" Surcharge this!!!

Parts on the way!!!

The "Clink of Death" Yup, oil pump shaft dropped into the pan!

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