distrubutor shaft o-ring ?

[sunbird3400]

well i was trying to change out my oring but i had trouble pulling the shaft out. i just stopped before i broke anything any tips on easy removal? its on 93 3.1 sunbird

[60dgrzbelow0]

well i was trying to change out my oring but i had trouble pulling the shaft out. i just stopped before i broke anything any tips on easy removal? its on 93 3.1 sunbird

This link is generally relevant and has a basic "How To" on this repair with some additional photos:

http://www.v6z24.com/howto/oring

Between the gunk and debris around the upper cast aluminum drive assembly body and the place where the old "O Ring" mates to the engine block, along with the fact that the helical gear mating at the camshaft end applies a torquing pressure between their mating surfaces when running, it requires a rotation opposite the gear angles during removal and this is often what makes this removal difficult with the engine in the car. If you can look at some images of your camshaft, you will get the right idea as to which way to "turn and pull" the Oil Pump Drive Body up and out of the engine. The right tool for this job runs around $30-$45 and is basically a kind of blued steel grabber that encircles the circular portion at the top to give leverage. But often, many enterprising mechanics with brazing skills will sacrifice a pair of Channel-Locks and braze two half-moon pieces onto the opposing jaws of the pliers and use these to facilitate the squeezing and turning necessary for the OPD removal. As with all things done in the blind... if it feels too hard to get out...something is wrong and your original ample caution is justified again in not using too much force to get the unit out of the block. Here is a link to my Photobucket for an additional image of the OPD and the appropriate "Brown" PTFE replacement "O-Ring" with part number(s):

http://s557.photobucket.com/albums/ss19/60dgrzbelow0/GM34LNEWENGINEPARTS/?action=view&current=ACDELCOUPDATEDOPDORINGGM34L.jpg

Please let us know how things go on this common problem and if you can take some images of your own progress and procedures and post them here...it will help others down the road.


P.S. One last thought...

If you are not in any rush to do this repair, it would be very helpful if your Oil Pump Drive is coming out of a high mileage engine to submerge and soak it in a pure solution of Purple Power to dissolve any and all old oil gunk and detritus that can get lodged inside the oil channels that feed and lubricate the unit. This passive but powerful de-greasing and de-carbonizing method will obviate the need to knock out the steel spring pin and disassemble the unit (Bronze Drive Gear) to clean its gunked up internals by hand. After soaking it for about an hour or so, run it under some super hot tap water to dissolve and remove any residual Purple Power and flush out the remaining gunk. Then just squirt the hell out of the various nooks and crannies of the OPD unit inside and out with some water-displacing stuff like WD-40 or Liquid Wrench and after putting on a brand new PTFE "O-Ring", lube up the gear teeth with some fresh oil or engine assembly lube... and it will be ready for installation.

[geoffinbc]

Also remember when everyone tells you to pull straight up we mean inline with the shaft and not the engine. It sits on a slight angle so make sure you are are not pulling it crooked or you will just cause it to bind up. I can pull a distributor out of an old junkyard beater with just my hands so all you should need is a set of vice grips.

[phonedawgz]

Are you trying to pull the distributor shaft out of the distributor, or the distributor out of the engine?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HL_Zd1O9wQ Pulling the distributor

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5QRK...eature=related - Pulling the shaft out of the distributor

He has more videos on the distributor and timing. He's doing it on a 60* 2.8 Fiero Pushrod Ironhead V6.

[bszopi]

Are you trying to pull the distributor shaft out of the distributor, or the distributor out of the engine?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HL_Zd1O9wQ Pulling the distributor

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5QRK...eature=related - Pulling the shaft out of the distributor

He has more videos on the distributor and timing. He's doing it on a 60* 2.8 Fiero Pushrod Ironhead V6.

The engine he is talking about doesn't have a distributor, but still has a shaft powered by the cam to drive the oil pump. So he is basically pulling the distributor shaft (only) out of the engine.

[phonedawgz]

Yeah I was wondering about that. I forgot the 3.1 still has a oil pump distributor shaft.

[sunbird3400]

Thanks for the help. I want to fix it this weekend if the wonderful chicagoland weather lets up