Oil Pump Not Priming, Yes I packed it with Vaseline

I installed the TA boost plate kit on my Wagoneer. Packed the gears with vaseline and filled up filter as instructed.

Crank crank crank...no pressure (on mechanical (tube) gauge and dash idiot light). Car even fires right up and runs fine...but gauges tell me no pressure. Don't understand how my lifters can be working and my crank not knocking like crazy with no pressure.

^^^I'm headed into round 3 of repeating the same thing, and I'm about to lose my mind.

This thing was running just fine before I pulled the pump cover...seems unlikely the oil pump shaft broke. The jelly's still in the housing from the previous attempt, suggesting it's not just dead gauges. I'd assume it would pump right out of there really quickly, right?

I did this job before and didn't have this problem. I'm seriously going crazy here. What do you recommend?

Edit: Answer is that I sheared the oil pump drive tab off the bottom of the distributor.

Anyone have a spare HEI distributor shaft lying around?

 

i suggest making a primer shaft and pull the distributer out.
spin primer with a drill.
but i assume you still have a problem. did you pull the pressure relief valve at all?
could be stuck open .also pull gear that goes to distributer make sure the slot is ok.
if the plate gasket is to tight it can stop the gear from turning. ta has a gasket shim kit for oil plate.
personally i would pull vasaline out, put back together, pull out sender and fill with squirt oil can .

 

Was everything working ok before the plate install? If so, you may have the wrong gasket/s installed on either side of the plate. Also do as alec296 said, spin the pump with a drill, dont crank it with the starter. The only other thing I can think of that could be wrong is you bound up the gears by not properly shimming the booster plate, thereby shearing the spline on the pumps drive gear, that could be the reason for the Vaseline still being in the pump cavity.... the gears arent spinning. DO NOT START THE ENGINE AGAIN till you get it figured out:TU:

 

Distributor not fully engaged? I had this happen on a cam change way back.

 

When spinning the pump with a prming tool assuming a ytpical electric drill, what pressure can be expected at the gauge?

How long does the priming tool spin before pressure can really build?

 

I got 30 PSI with a cordless drill easily. You will feel significant drag on the drill when it primes and starts pumping oil.

 

Would it make sense to take the oil pump cover off and just bump the starter with a switch to see if the gear's actually turning?

 

Should the drill continue to run for a period of time once gaining pressure?

 

The longer the better. You have a lot of air in the passages.

But it's not necessary, just won't hurt anything. I would pull a valve cover and make sure there is oil to the top of the motor before you stop. .

 

It wouldn't hurt.

I even had trouble with the drill tool. I had to pack the pump AND pour oil in the pressure sender port with a funnel that had a long flexible tube to get mine to prime.

 

If you pull the distributor to prime it with a drill be sure to look at the bottom of the distributor where the pump engages it and make sure that tab isn't sheared off. If the gears bind up on the booster plate it'll shear the tab on the distributor shaft and the tab can easily fall into the timing cover and out of sight as you're pulling the distributor out. Sometimes the tabs on oil pump shaft where the distributor engages it will be bent a bit when it shears, but not always. If you don't check the bottom of the distributor it's easy to get a prime from a drill then scratch your head when you don't have oil pressure when the engine is running. Of course removing the oil pump housing and cranking the engine will show that something is up, or you might be able to simply turn the gears with your fingers if the tab is broken.

 

If you take the cover off of the pump...the gears are going to fall out. Not sure that is a good idea to bump engine with cover off they may get ejected when you bump it. I got mine primed with out the vaseline using primer tool...

 

Be 100 percent that the gasket is installed corrrectly on the booster plate as well.. Might be wise to go back to stock and see if that works. If it was working fine before then the problem is something simple..

 

I used the old distributor made into a priming tool trick. It spun about 2-3 seconds before I got pressure as evidenced by the drill almost tearing out of my hand. Good luck

 

To add some context, here's the whole backstory

The motor is a Jasper reman with like <5k miles on it, but it was sitting for like 18 months before I got it.
The oil pressure was lower than I wanted (under 10psi at idle, 25-30 around town)
Picked up the TA booster plate, installed with minimal issues other than frustration of gears and vaseline dropping on my face repeatedly while trying to line things up and get them bolted in.

Didn't check clearances or shim anything, as I swear there was nothing about that in TA's instructions
Installed with cork rubber gasket between plate and oil filter housing, really thin gasket on oil pump side
Minor bump in pressure
Leaked from oil pump-to-plate surface​

Drove it like that for a while, then just went through a round of miscellaneous fixes (intake manifold re-seal, carb rebuild)

Re-assembly round 1:

Pulled it apart, assembled using thin layer of black "right stuff" sealer in place of thin paper gasket
Possibly a little light on vaseline
Car fires right up, runs for some time...no pressure
Don't remember if I re-filled the filter
Assumed insufficient vaseline​

Re-assembly round 2:

Pulled it apart, cleaned out black stuff (none in pump or anywhere else)
Re-assembled with paper gasket, and a teenie tiny thin layer of "right stuff" just to hold it in place
Lots and lots of vaseline
Re-filled filter
Fires again...no pressure
WTF?!​

Re-assembly round 3:

Pulled it apart, paper gasket looks just fine, adhered to pump side
Vaseline still in gears...not obvious if it's been turning or not
Smooshed more and more vaseline in there
Wiped everything clean
Re-assembled...cranked with no distributor...no pressure​

Pulled the little plastic hose for oil pressure gauge off at the motor, cranked, came back out to check...only trace amounts of oil barely dripped out. Looks like stuff that's been in that cavity for a while (e.g., not pumping).

...and now we're up to the present.

My plan:
Go rent a priming tool from Autozone
Bump motor to TDC
Yank Distributor (an HEI unit, btw)
Check for shaft damage
Spin that fncker up until I get pressure

Sorry for the long post

Any other suggestions?

 

Meant electrically. Would've said coil not hooked up, but it's an HEI, so there's no coil.

 

There ya go. Hmmm, you have the drill turning clockwise ?

 

I will when I get home from work tonight.

Edit: Does the generic "GM" oil pump primer tool from Autozone work for this motor?

I just saw on another thread where the guy said it the "GM" one he bought didn't.

I have a feeling the grinder may be coming out tonight...

 

Made my own out of an old dist. Cut the shaft under the advance and chucked a drill to it. Make sure you take off the gear too.