FYI FORD MustangSteve's Ford Mustang Forum / Put a straw in your toolbox

**Posted by Alan** 6/03/2024 8:15 PM

Replaced the intake on my coupe. When i pulled the dizzy, i thought i heard a little clunk, but didn;t think too much of it. MS law was in effect. Sent off the injectors to be tested and cleaned. Came back, they said 2 of them were putting out more than the others, so i had some from a 302 truck i junked out. Cleaned them up and installed every thing. Got to the dizzy and could not get it in. Started looking and the oil pump drive was leaning off to the side. Did some research and figued out that it must have pulled up and out of the pump. Tried and tried to get it back in. Gave up and got on the net. Found one post from another site that said to use a drinking straw and push it on the shaft, reseat it and push it off the straw with a dowel. Worked like a charm.

**Posted by Ron68** 6/03/2024 8:29 PM

Cool. Good info to know. Thanks.

**Posted by Bullet Bob** 6/03/2024 8:52 PM

Had the same thing happen, Alan. A decent pencil magnet will do the deed also, but for the road, that straw is a good Idea....in the toolbox. Thanks.

**Posted by RTM** 6/04/2024 4:17 AM

I’ve never heard of that method. I’ll keep that in mind next time I have that issue. I do like to tap on the distributor as I lift it up in hopes of the oil pump shaft not coming out with the distributor.

Many years ago I had the oil pump shaft fall into the oil pan. It took some time but I fished it out with out pulling things apart.

**Posted by BobE** 6/04/2024 7:55 AM

I wish i knew of this trick years ago when this happened to me. Thank you for sharing.
I'll note that there should be a washer type 'stop' on the drive shaft so it doesn't pull out of the pump when the distributor is pulled. Since that time when I built an engine, I made sure there was some play in the shaft with the pump installed, as this washer thing slides onto the shaft and may not be positioned correctly.
Also, if this washer was originally installed, it is likely sitting in the oil pump pickup, and IMO not a danger to be sucked up into the pump ... unless it was broken into tiny pieces.

**Posted by Bolted to Floor** 6/24/2024 11:28 AM

Great trick. Thanks for sharing

**Posted by rpm** 6/24/2024 11:53 AM

Bullet Bob wrote:
Had the same thing happen, Alan. A decent pencil magnet will do the deed also, but for the road, that straw is a good Idea....in the toolbox. Thanks.

Ya, a magnet is what I thought of first. Who doesn't carry a magnet in their tool box in the car? Or a floor jack? Or jack stands? Or...

**Posted by Alan** 6/24/2024 8:29 PM

Tried the magnet, could not manipulate the shaft enough to find the oil pump, then wondered how to get the magnet off without pulling it up out of the hole.
Took about 15 seconds with the straw

**Posted by rpm** 6/24/2024 10:51 PM

Good to hear.

**Posted by Nos681** 6/25/2024 4:40 AM

Cool tip, never heard of this trick.

**Posted by Greg B** 6/25/2024 6:33 AM

A straw would also be good idea when installing valve stem seals.

**Posted by 50vert** 6/25/2024 3:25 PM

A plastic straw is rare down here ... they got banned a coupla years ago.