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Yeah, it happens to the best of us. I doubt anyone out there has experienced this scenario [except maybe and hopefully Mark W] but I figured I would throw this one out there as the problem and the solution will probably be worth remembering.
Backround: I pulled a TBI350 out of a customer's cruiser and put in an F engine from tlcfj40 [Phil] that he had pulled for a vortec conversion in his own 40. Never saw the engine run, but Phil swore it ran good. Had a Roch carb and Delco dizzy, both of which were ditched for Non-US Toyota stuff. I posted a pic of the F over on Pirate on Phil's build up thread [fj40 buildup gaining steam]
Well, we started it up earlier this week, but couldn't keep it running for more than a minute or so. rogers69fj40 reminded me not to trust the valve adjustment, and sure enough, two of the intakes were overly tight. Readjusted to standard settings, the truck still would not idle.
I tweaked a couple of problems with the carb earlier today, and it started running better until BAM! THE DISTRIBUTOR SUDDENLY AND VIOLENTLY ROTATED 90 DEGREES COUNTERCLOCKWISE.! Well I immediately shut it down. I've been wrenching on Cruisers for 20 years and have NEVER seen ANYTHING like that happen before.
After thinking about it for a few minutes, I pulled the rebuilt dizzy out and checked it. It turned, but seemed a little more stiff than usual. I decided not to take any chances and went into the shop and grabed another dizzy to test with [to rule out whether the first dizzy was the problem]
Second dizzy did not line up with the oil pump the same position, so I put a screwdriver down the hole to line it up. When I let go of the screwdriver, IT ROTATED BACKWARDS BY ITSELF!
I tried this several times while the customer watched. If I turned the screwdriver like 3 turns, it would rotate backwards almost half a turn! WTF? It almost feels like winding up a rubber band.
We took a used oil pump off the shelf and opened it up to see what the inside of one looks like [something I'd never done before]. There is nothing inside the pump but the two steel gears, one of which has the shaft that meets the distributor. NO BUSHINGS, no o-rings, and most importantly, NO EXTRA space where something could have fallen in while the longblock was sitting.
Needless to say, we will be pulling the pan on Monday to yank the oil pump and have a look-see. Just figured I'd throw this out there in case anyone else had ever seen a POSSESSED oil pump before. Yeah right.
Backround: I pulled a TBI350 out of a customer's cruiser and put in an F engine from tlcfj40 [Phil] that he had pulled for a vortec conversion in his own 40. Never saw the engine run, but Phil swore it ran good. Had a Roch carb and Delco dizzy, both of which were ditched for Non-US Toyota stuff. I posted a pic of the F over on Pirate on Phil's build up thread [fj40 buildup gaining steam]
Well, we started it up earlier this week, but couldn't keep it running for more than a minute or so. rogers69fj40 reminded me not to trust the valve adjustment, and sure enough, two of the intakes were overly tight. Readjusted to standard settings, the truck still would not idle.
I tweaked a couple of problems with the carb earlier today, and it started running better until BAM! THE DISTRIBUTOR SUDDENLY AND VIOLENTLY ROTATED 90 DEGREES COUNTERCLOCKWISE.! Well I immediately shut it down. I've been wrenching on Cruisers for 20 years and have NEVER seen ANYTHING like that happen before.
After thinking about it for a few minutes, I pulled the rebuilt dizzy out and checked it. It turned, but seemed a little more stiff than usual. I decided not to take any chances and went into the shop and grabed another dizzy to test with [to rule out whether the first dizzy was the problem]
Second dizzy did not line up with the oil pump the same position, so I put a screwdriver down the hole to line it up. When I let go of the screwdriver, IT ROTATED BACKWARDS BY ITSELF!
I tried this several times while the customer watched. If I turned the screwdriver like 3 turns, it would rotate backwards almost half a turn! WTF? It almost feels like winding up a rubber band. We took a used oil pump off the shelf and opened it up to see what the inside of one looks like [something I'd never done before]. There is nothing inside the pump but the two steel gears, one of which has the shaft that meets the distributor. NO BUSHINGS, no o-rings, and most importantly, NO EXTRA space where something could have fallen in while the longblock was sitting.
Needless to say, we will be pulling the pan on Monday to yank the oil pump and have a look-see. Just figured I'd throw this out there in case anyone else had ever seen a POSSESSED oil pump before. Yeah right.
