The shaft below the drive gear... Isn't it the oil pump shaft? Is it supposed to come out wiht the distributor? I was thinking it stayed inside the motor but could be wrong. Been a long time since i have worked on these cars.

[IMG]local://upfiles/75326/0D922653A4054663BF6CCE312E69EBCC.jpg[/IMG]

 

Oops... There's supposed to be a small clip on the shaft that keeps it from coming out like that. Unfortunately, the only real way to get it back into the oil pumpis to drop the oil pan=/

 

Swap the oil pump while yer at it. And buy a new shaft. Cheap insurance. Its the heart of your motor after all.

 

I think I would try to get the shaft in from the top prior to dropping the pan,,,,,

I think I would be motivated to try hard to get that sucker in from the top because I am lazy....

Besides, if it didn't go in properlyI would just have to drop the pan.....

Once the shaft and the distributor are in correctly, the little clip doesn't matter at alluntil you pull the distributor next time.

 

If your really lazy, Drop the pan!! Ask how I know, Hehheh
Oh yeah, when dropping the pan remove the chassis brace under the engine, & if necessary drop the idler arm to get that last bit of clearance, to get the pan off.

 

Ok,, how do you know?? Inquiring mindsneed to know!!

If I were in the OPs place, I am sure that I would have to learn the hard way of the need to drop the pan despite your warnings!

Yea the whole pan thing would probably only take about an hour or so,,, but I would still have to try the free 5 min fix first,,, especially if the pan had no leaks around the gaskets... If I had a leaky pan Iwould probablyjump right on it..

 

Get a ARP hardened shaft, you'll love yourself in the long run

 

JMD is right. its not that hard to put it back on from the top ( Did it recently). A good light and a couple smart tools and your done. Ofcourse if you miss and drop it through then you only wasted 2 minutes.

 

wonder if the clip somehow fell off and is laying in the oil pan? Woudl rather not pull the oil pan off but woudl hate to ruin the motor if the cli is laying dwon in there. Whta do you guys think?

 

LOL.. that sucks! Get some really long needle nose pliers and try to put it back in before you drop that pan..