I am having trouble installing the distributor into my 289 2 BL. I have done this successfully half a dozen times before but this time the distributor just won't go in. In the past I was following the instructions. It went in easily, turned clockwise when it engaged the camshaft gear and then I cranked the engine till the oil pump shaft engaged too. This time it is different. The distributorbarely engages the camshaft gearbutit just won't go in all the way so that the oil pump shaft can engage. It feels like there is some resistance and I have a hunch that it is the oil pump shaft. I read about the possibility that the oil pump shaft can be pulled out of the oil pump and in the worst case falling down into the oil pan. The oil pump shaft is visibly there but it consistently leans to the right side and I am unable tomove it to the other side or get it to stay in the center. Does it have to be centered? Is it already out of its opening in the oil pump? I never paid attention in the past when installing the distributor so I have no idea how it is positioned if everything is OK. Did anybody ever run into this problem before. I just hope I don't have to remove the engine from the car to reinstall the oil pump shaft. Thanks for helping me.
Michael

 

I think you nailed it in that the pump shaft is askew and not letting the dizzy in. You can try grabbing it with some needle nozed pliers and see if you can wiggle it back into place. If not, you may have to drop the oil pan so you can get in there and fix it. Dropping the pan is a minor PITA but isn't too difficult or time consuming.

 

Bump the engine over and it'll drop right in. To me, it's a bonus if it goes in WITHOUT having to bump the starter... [&:]

Another thing, do you have the cap off? I've forgot to hold the retaining clips up and not had it drop in... [:@]

 

FIrst try "re-locating" the shaft with one of those "extendable magnets", you might be able to pull the shaft out a little and drop it back into place.

 

Thats exactly whatI did ,I pulled the shaft completly out with a magnet and then stuck it in the distributor with just a little gasket sealer.Then I letthe sealerset up for about 20 minutes and installed the distributor.worked like a charm.
Hope this helps
Jeff

 

The shaft should NOT pull out--There is supposed to be a clip near the top to prevent it pulling out. Otherwise it will often pull half way out with the distrubutor then fall into the pan.

Now to the first question--The shaft of the distributor (dizzy) is tapered internally. The oil pump shaft is tapered also--Some engineer thought that this might make the installation easier.

Keep working at it.

 

This is true, the oil pump shaft should havea metal retainer ring to keep the shaft in place when removing the distributor. However, if the shaft is indeed dislocated from the oil pump drive shaft, then it may be assumed that the retainer is either missing or in the wrong position for proper retention of the shaft.

For the OP, this retainer serves no purpose than to retain the shaft in the oil pump, if the retainer is missing or dislocated, it will not affect the proper operation of the engine at all, as long as the oil pump shaft is engaged properly when the distributor is installed.

 

I removed the oil pan last night and the shaft was pulled out of the oil pump after I had no luck trying to pull the shaft out and get it back in from the distributor side. The retaining clip sat all the way at the bottom of the shaft but from how hard it is to move it on the shaft I'd say it did not get there by accident and I have just been lucky so far that it stayed in the oil pump when I removed the distributor in the past. Any idea how to best reinstall the shaft? The retainer is supposed to sit as high as possible on the shaft without touching the block metal. Do I install the shaft and then push the retainer up trying to hold the shaft down or is it easier to remove the oil pump in order to figure out the correct position of the retainer clip? Also does it matter which way the clip goes on the shaft? Any ideas? Thanks.

 

I would do it the easiest way possible. At this point it should be easy to drop the oil pump and get the retainer in the right place. When I put the retainer on a 351, it did not matter which way the retainer went on the shaft.