My panel decided that it was going to die on me in the fast lane at 85mph. this afternoon on 101s in San jose. First it backfired then the motor just cut off. I manage to pull over to the right and pop the hood. Found out the rotor wasn't turning so figured I had major problems. Called AAA and gave them location and told them I needed a flat bed cause my truck is too low. They send a regular truck and the driver says that they (company, AAA) won't tow me cause my truck is modified. They wouldn't believe that it came that way from the factory. So I had to call another company (Campbells) and pay out of my pocket, dam AAA membership. Finally I get home after 2 hours on the side of the road and $100 lighter. Pull the distributor out and check the oil pump, that seemed fine so I turn the motor by hand and the cam and crank spins. The distributor seems ok. WTF? Tomorrow I'm gonna put everything back together and see if it runs. Gonna have to change my roadside service provider. Anyone have a better idea? Fuckin AAA. Well this is my little rant today. Had plenty of excitement.
Never occured to me, but that's a good reason to run bags. Raise it up to not scare off the tow truck drivers. Maybe the rotor plastic is just cracked?
Man, that sucks. Whenever I call AAA I tell them to send a flatbed and they do. Mine's not really modified, but it DEFINITELY needs a flatbed. Hell, if it's RWD it needs one anyway, at least on the freeway.
I drive a tow truck for a AAA affiliated company and yeah that is the policy, "No modifed vehicles". Take your reciept to the AAA office and apply for reimbursement. A big part of the problem is most owners of tow truck companys are TOTAL DICK'S (in my case my bosses name is Richard so he is a DICK in more ways then one) and make the DRIVERS responsible for ALL DAMAGE so in my case I have to weigh risk vs. reward. If I feel that I might damage your car in any way or it is unsafe to tow I wont touch it, unless your a HAMB'er.
I just ran out and looked at the rotor and it is perfect. When I pulled over I tried starting it and it just cranked over but sounded like it wanted to start? I'll be working on it tomorrow if anyone wants to come by and put in their 2 cents. Fuckin AAA driver, every tow company must have a different policy. They just should have told me that when I called. The Campbells diver was hell cool though even put it in the garage for me.
Well I know who I'll be calling if I break down in Fresno. This guy wouldn't even consider it just said no way. The other tow guy obviously had no problem I guess they were just beeing overly cautious.
Also remember driving a tow truck is an EXTREAMLY SHITTY JOB so the turnover rate is high, the guy might have been new and if so you are better off with him not towing it in the first place.
Yeah I was much better off with this other guy. He said he mostly huals hot rods and oldcars. Really good new what he was doing.
Wow! I drive CAA truck and modified doesn't mean a damn thing. I've yanked and pulled Porsches, C-5 vettes, one AMG Benz and last-gen Camaros that were LOW to the ground and never had any problems. the arse that was driving the truck was probably too lazy to put out the dollies for the back wheels. That's all I've ever done for any real low cars. As long as the dollies fit under the back, I pull them. Never ever lost one or as much as cracked a piece of plastic in 15 years.
Had something very similar happen years ago in a 351C powered 1934 Ford Phaeton on our trip to the LA Roadster show. We were crusing along at a steady 80mph and on level ground. BANG POP dead silence,,,,, it sheared the roll pin that held the drive gear to the distributor shaft! If I were to hazard a guess on your application, the timing chain jumped a tooth....
I've never had AAA turn me down 'cuz my car was lowered. My '89n T-Bird was low with a lot of overhang front an rear and they still put it on a flatbed... several times.
Pull the spark plugs, too, and crank it. Two weeks ago I watched a guy blow his built LS1 in a Corvette. He was showing off and did a donut--with help from Nitrous. Lifted his foot half way through, and BANG. No external damage, but the insides of the pistons were gone. It would sit there and crank and make all kinds of noise like it wanted to start. When he pulled the plugs and cranked it, water came out. Ouch. I had my '54 Buick towed by AAA in Florida more times than I can count. "Unlmited Mileage" plan. "Hey, I need my car hauled from the shop at work to my home." "Is there a problem with it? Did it break down?" "No. But the engine is out of it." They knowingly hauled my '54 Buick a few times with no engine in it!
[ QUOTE ] it sheared the roll pin that held the drive gear to the distributor shaft! [/ QUOTE ] El P beat me to it. I assume you're driving a Ford based on your post title. Another assumption is it's a small block, but it applies to all - the SBF's are just the worst of the family. Check the roll pin on the dizzy. I had a very similar occurence in my 51 F1 Panel w/351W. Thought I'd lost the timing chain or it had jumped a tooth. It was just the distributor drive gear. Found it when I went to put it all back together (after changing the timing chaing & gears!).
well upon further investigation I found out that the oil pump is frozen. The one month old oil pump. The distributor is fine though. The motor is a 351c. So I'll be replaceing that today. Thanks for all the suggestions.
The motor has unknown milage on it would I be better off getting a high flow oil pump rather than stock? The motor is sretty much stock. I put a stock one in about a month ago and now this happens.
[ QUOTE ] well upon further investigation I found out that the oil pump is frozen. The one month old oil pump. The distributor is fine though. [/ QUOTE ] First things first - the pump doesn't drive the distributor, the distributor drives the pump & the cam drives the distributor. If your first post was accurate & your rotor wasn't turning, there's a failure between the camshaft & the distributor shaft. This sounds odd though - if your pump froze up, your pump driveshaft may have snapped, but this would not cause your distributor to stop turning - it is directly driven off the cam - Your engine should have run until it seized from lack of lube. If it froze up & did not shear the pump driveshaft and did not shear the roll pin on the distributor gear, something had to give and the only thing I can think of is the distributor drive gear on the cam! But this seems extremely unlikely as you've got two shear points (roll pin & pump driveshaft) that should go before damaging the cam. I'd suggest you drive the roll pin out & replace it regardless - mine that failed looked good from the outside - it was sheared in three pieces & it was tight enough that if you turned the gear by hand, the distributor turned, but trying to drive it quickly, like installed on the engine, it would slip. As for two pumps failing, I'm stumped on that one. Pull the bottom plate on the seized one & find out why it froze up. Is there something inbetween the gear teeth? Is the bottom plate scored? (insufficient clearance) This might help diagnose what's happening with your pumps. Also, what kind of pump? New? Rebuilt? Stock? Hi-vol? Hi-press? (I wouldn't run either on a stock 351C w/o oiling system mods)
I should have posted this earlier. I had the same problem with the same truck 1 month ago. Only I was in my driveway and not driveing. The motor fired up and then died and wouldn't start back up again. The only thing I could find wrong was the oil pump, everything else was good. I had to replace the dist. cause I had to beat on it with a hammer to get it out. Put everything back to gether and it ran great for about a month and now this. Pretty much the same thing. I'll have to take a look at the roll pin. Oh and last time there was not one mark on the gear on the cam or dist. same this time also? WTF. I had a stock oil pump and just bought another stock one. I have the pan off now and am going to put the new oil pump in. Now what do ya think? Still the same thing? Thanks
IF your rotor wasn't turning with the engine cranking over AND there's no damage/marks on the distributor/cam gear THEN I gotta bet on the roll pin. As I mentioned before, pull the bottom plate off the bad oil pump to find out why it seized up. Look at the flat plate (cover) & the pump gears themselves & let us know what you see there.
well I took the oil pump apart and found a metal shaving between the gears, along with more on the bottom of the pan. Removed the shaving and the pump works fine. I used the pump drive shaft and a drill and spun the pump no problem, I also spun the dist. with the shaft and drill and had no problem with it also. The shaft needs to be replaced because it is twisted. Part comes in tomorrow. Pulled all shavings from pan and cleaned everything up.Didn't see any scoring on bottom of oil pump plate, just some minor scratches on the gears (very small) The cam gear seems to be ok also when I turn the motor over by hand it spins as well.
what kinda engine is this? they make a heavy-duty oil pump shaft for SBF that i highly recommend-george
I'm guessing from elsewere in the engine. This pump wasn't missing anything. But I didn't look at the one I changed out last month. Just threw it away. My guess is that both pumps sucked up a shaving. Hopefully now that I got all shavings out it won't happen again.
Replace your pickup - maybe you have a small gap/tear/hole in your pickup screen allowing this stuff up in there. BUT if you've got metal shavings, you've got some other problems. Need to figure out what kind of metal...
I think the metal is from the roll pin off of the old dist. I pulled out last month. I thought I got all of it out last time but I guess I didn't. They are very small.
I hope you cussed out that tow driver AND his mom... I ask for a flatbed whether I need it or not, ususally have to send away the dragger they send first regardless... They towed my 2.5 ton caddy with a leetle tiny flatbed, pulled my copper truck up one no problem, its lowered, modified, AND has bodywork in the way... no sweat. Then that "thing" that I had towed on Friday... All triple A. I have AAA plus, carry my insurance thru them, and somehow have been a member for more years I've been alive... so they kinda like me. hmmm, all my pieces of shit have been flatbeded at one point... except for the rice bucket...
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