help. Installed MSD distributor now oil light is on and loud knock

WTH did I do wrong?????? Help.

 

The o ring came off, and it's stuck

 

In the engine

 

No oil pressure

 

O ring is still on the distributor

 

It's as far in as it will go

 

heeheehee



on most cars I've worked on, the distributor shaft is male and the oil pump shaft is female. The parts are supposed to fit together like ahhh, ya know what I mean. The cam turns the distributor shaft and the distributor shaft turns the oil pump. Take it apart, use a flashlight and see why that isn't happening.

 

Does MSD make a distributor that fits a Buick nailhead?

 

put old one back in and it runs fine. something is wrong with the MSD distributor. The tang that catches the oil pump looks to be too wide.

 

This one?

http://www.msdignition.com/dist_34.htm

Gear must be different.

 

Yep, 8524. I don't understand because others here have had success with it. It when in fine unless I installed it wrong.

Can I pop off the gear of the old one and install it on the MSD?

 

Ok, I got the gear off the MSD distributor and I'm going to tackle it again tomorrow. My first priority is to see if the shaft will fit the oil pump and how much I might need to trim off of it. The original distributor looks tapered where as the shaft on the MSD looks too wide.

BTW, the gears look to be the same.

 

it is best not to mess with it, send the dist back to msd, the problem is theirs. If you alter it that will void the warranty and you will be stuck with it. Jim Lore is probably on to something. I would bet they sent you the wrong part.

 

I don't think it's the gear but the shaft itself.

I looked around the forums on the MSD site and a person with a Chevy 502 was having similar problems. The tech guy told him to bevel the oil pump shaft to get it to fit properly.

I compared the two side by side and the MSD is a little taller than the stock one but other than that, they are completely identical from where the o-ring sits on down. So either the shaft is too wide or the ID of the gear is too small.

BTW, I have the firing order memorized now and can get to #1 TDC and get the distributor timed in right (thanks for the two bolts on the valve cover Buick, that made my job a whole lot easier). Talk about learning the hard way. 5 hours spent on it yesterday for such a simple job. From initial install to getting the boots and terminals put on the wire set and then going through this crap. Thankfully I didn't go with my initial instinct and just purchase an HEI boot and terminal kit to put on the wires I already had. I would have never got the car running again.

 

I just installed my MSD a few weeks ago,,,I took a dremel and beveled the edges,,,,still took some work to get everything in where it should be,,,,everythings working fine now though!!!!

 

If you have to trim the bottom the gears are not the same. It is all one piece. There is no excuse for their product to not fit without you having to perform a modification.

 

I didn;t trim the gears,,,,just the slotted piece in the end of the distributor shaft that slides into the drive for the oil pump...I just beveled that slot with a couple 45 degree angles,,,they come from msd with a 90 degree angles which won't really help align anything and get things started!!!

 

That's what I'll do and see how it goes. Thanks for the help.

 

Alright, it's in and the oil pump is working.

Need some help with timing.

Timing mark on crank has a 12, a 5, a inverted V and then a 0. I use the V to set timing, right? Going by the notch, I have it set a 10 degrees. Is that right?