1957 Possible bad oil pump

T

Traneman

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Jun 25, 2017
Thunderbird Year
1957
I think I have a bad oil pump and want to verify it. Does anyone know the tool that would attach to the oil pump and a drill?
I was able to get a flat blade screw driver on the pump. It was hard to turn and felt very rough. Any suggestions would be great.
Thank you
 

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If it felt rough it's junk. I have been to this movie before and can tell you from personal experience that it's time to pull the engine and disassemble the block completely. Take it to a machine shop for a hot tank and cleaning. While it's apart you can check or replace the bearings and rings etc. Once the oil pump had started to fail like this it spreads metal shavings through out the block. Next thing it will do is seize and shear the pin holding the distributor drive gear. Then you're done. Towed home. The good news is that you know now, not somewhere out on a lonely stretch of freeway...
 
74 Harley said:
If it felt rough it's junk. I have been to this movie before and can tell you from personal experience that it's time to pull the engine and disassemble the block completely. Take it to a machine shop for a hot tank and cleaning. While it's apart you can check or replace the bearings and rings etc. Once the oil pump had started to fail like this it spreads metal shavings through out the block. Next thing it will do is seize and shear the pin holding the distributor drive gear. Then you're done. Towed home. The good news is that you know now, not somewhere out on a lonely stretch of freeway...
Click to expand...
Arrrgh, not the answere I was expecting but I appreciate the honesty. I can do alot myself mechanically but rebuilding an engine is alittle much. I will do some searching in my area for someone qualified to do that. Thank you
 
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, however you should really give it a shot. The Y block is a very simple and forgiving engine to work on, other than a torque wrench and feeler gauges no special tools are really required. If you don't have one already start hunting used book stores and car swap meets for a 1958-59 Motors manual. It will give easy to understand procedures for nearly anything on your car.
 
Traneman said:
I think I have a bad oil pump and want to verify it. Does anyone know the tool that would attach to the oil pump and a drill?
I was able to get a flat blade screw driver on the pump. It was hard to turn and felt very rough. Any suggestions would be great.
Thank you
Click to expand...
I'm confused, haven't had coffee yet...
How and where did you get a flat blade screwdriver on the oil pump?
If you removed the distributor and put the screwdriver down from the top onto a slotted oil pump drive shaft... that's not a '57 engine.
'55 and newer Y-blocks came with a hex drive oil pump.
.
 

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If you are going to do a rebuild I also do the heads and valves so that you can run on unleaded gas
 
dmsfrr said:
I'm confused, haven't had coffee yet...
How and where did you get a flat blade screwdriver on the oil pump?
If you removed the distributor and put the screwdriver down from the top onto a slotted oil pump drive shaft... that's not a '57 engine.
'55 and newer Y-blocks came with a hex drive oil pump.
.
Click to expand...
It was hard to see down to the oil pump because of the oil. It did look round I am assuming the blade of the screw driver just barley fit into it enough to turn. Thank you
 
I am confused. I thought the Y block oil pumps were easy to access.
 
The shaft between the pump and distributor is easy to get but can't you use the existing one, it should have stayed attached to the pump when you pulled the distributor. Then you can spin the pump counterclockwise by hand with a 1/4" socket and then by drill. Maybe the screwdriver was slipping in the hex slot and that is what you felt. Have you dropped the oil to look for signs

Search for y-block information, Ted Eaton, builds the Y's to compete in the Master's and he shares ideas readily.
 
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Y-8 said:
The shaft between the pump and distributor is easy to get but can't you use the existing one, it should have stayed attached to the pump when you pulled the distributor. Then you can spin the pump counterclockwise by hand with a 1/4" socket and then by drill. Maybe the screwdriver was slipping in the hex slot and that is what you felt. Have you dropped the oil to look for signs

Search for y-block information, Ted Eaton, builds the Y's to compete in the Master's and he shares ideas readily.
Click to expand...
The shaft came out with the distributor,I will check that and see if it comes off the distributor. Thank you
 
Thank you Y-8. I was able to get a 1/4" socket and extension on the oil pump. It did turn nice a smooth. However when I put a drill on it
and ran the drill CCC there was not oil coming from the holes in the head. I did notice that the drill started off easy and became stiffer as it ran. Felt like it was maybe building pressure.
The holes in the head appear to be clear. I am guessing maybe next is to pull the oil filter? Any other ideas? Thanks everyone
 
The oil filter runs on a bypass circuit of the oil system. What goes in it is returned to the pan.
How long did you run the drill?
Maybe I missed it, but what is the reason you started having oil pump concerns?
 
74 Harley said:
The oil filter runs on a bypass circuit of the oil system. What goes in it is returned to the pan.
How long did you run the drill?
Maybe I missed it, but what is the reason you started having oil pump concerns?
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I ran the drill for a good 1.5 to 2 min. I was actually going to check valve lash and noticed no oil. Iam just stumped and unfortunately seems noone
in Southern Utah knows about y blocks. Any info even guesses would be great.
Thank you
 
Time to pull the pan. could be a clogged pan filter. Not the easiest job as some of the plumbing is external.
 
IIRC those engines back in the day could suffer from plugged oil galleries going through the head to the rocker assemblies. sometimes pulling the rocker arm assembly off and clearing the oil passage hole helped, other times the heads had to come off to clear the area where the oil went from the block through the head gasket to the head. There is a Y block forum somewhere on the internet that might help.
 
There is a rubber seal into the oil pump on the pickup tube from the pan. That seal may have failed or the tube itself may have collapsed. Either will allow the pump to suck air not oil.
 

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dmsfrr said:
There is a rubber seal into the oil pump on the pickup tube from the pan. That seal may have failed or the tube itself may have collapsed. Either will allow the pump to suck air not oil.
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Very true. I have seen that mentioned before in either the restoration manual or tech article. He didn't mention what had been done to ask, Putting back together a rebuilt short or long block and trying to prime it. That oil tube is important.
 
Ward 57 said:
Very true. I have seen that mentioned before in either the restoration manual or tech article. He didn't mention what had been done to ask, Putting back together a rebuilt short or long block and trying to prime it. That oil tube is important.
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I just removed the valve covers to check valve lash and get it ready fro the summer. I noticed no oil around the rockers. Thank you
 
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