I have been under my 72 dart since 11:30 this morning trying to get the rubics cube oil pump off and I am about to go mad, crazy, depressed, out of my mind distraught. What was supposed to have been an easy (relatively speaking) job has turned out to be the most frustrating, dirty, wet, injurious ,and unentertaining event of my wrenching life, not to mention learning a new language at the same time. After following the fsm and removing the motor mount bolts, jacking the engine up until the trans case hit the trans tunnel and finding the hidden oil pump bolts that I cannot get my fingers to, and finding that the oil pump itself was frozen to the block, (take a breath) driving wooden wedges between the op and block to push the pump away from the block I find that the (^%) thing will not come no further than the lower control arm. Stop, take a break and let the guys at /6 hear of my disappointment in the fsm way of removing this ^*% thing! Now I don't see any way to remove this, this,...THING other than disconnecting the trans and lifting the engine even further. Maybe if I can shift the engine towards the drivers side The necessary clearance can be obtained? I don't know but I do know that I used to love my dart but am having second thoughts now or am I just a big ole fat wuss??? Lol

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1971 GTX 440, 727, 3.91, stock except cam
1972 Slant 6 mor-dor Dart stock except minor rust
1984 Dodge Rampage 2.2 OEM stock
1986 Plymouth Duster 2.2 OEM stock
2007 5.7 TRD Tundra, fast for a truck
stopping is cheap, going is expensive

I assume the oil filter is off? You usually need to rotate the pump quite a lot around the shaft axis (like 100-180 deg) to find a spot where it will come out of the block and not get hung up on the K-frame or LCA. If it still won't come, you could disconnect the trans rear mount and drop that down a little on a jack, then jack up the motor more?? I haven't seen this problem myself.

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

Filter is off and I have rotated it to all extremes, there's just not enough clearance for it to come out of the engine far enough to be removed.
I can see about 1/4" of the step in the shaft and know that the gear is back there somewhere but how far? This is my first /6 and prolly my last. lol

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1971 GTX 440, 727, 3.91, stock except cam
1972 Slant 6 mor-dor Dart stock except minor rust
1984 Dodge Rampage 2.2 OEM stock
1986 Plymouth Duster 2.2 OEM stock
2007 5.7 TRD Tundra, fast for a truck
stopping is cheap, going is expensive

Sorry guys for being so negative but I'm sure some of you have been there with your darts too.
Thanks Lou for trying to help with my problem. Lowering the trans tailshaft may work so I'll give that a try and see what happens.

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1971 GTX 440, 727, 3.91, stock except cam
1972 Slant 6 mor-dor Dart stock except minor rust
1984 Dodge Rampage 2.2 OEM stock
1986 Plymouth Duster 2.2 OEM stock
2007 5.7 TRD Tundra, fast for a truck
stopping is cheap, going is expensive

Undo the driver's side motor mount bolt and jack the motor up 2-3 inches.

Thanks Reed. I have removed the passenger side mount so I could remove the "hidden" op bolt closet to the mount and unbolted the ds mount and raised the engine till it hit the trans tunnel but still no-go.
I got a BD party to go to now so I'll tackle this job again in the morning while it's cooler.
Thanks for the suggestions guys. I really appreciate it.

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1971 GTX 440, 727, 3.91, stock except cam
1972 Slant 6 mor-dor Dart stock except minor rust
1984 Dodge Rampage 2.2 OEM stock
1986 Plymouth Duster 2.2 OEM stock
2007 5.7 TRD Tundra, fast for a truck
stopping is cheap, going is expensive

Ok, Ryan's Dart (72 Swinger) had two oil pump gear failures and also had the pickup tube crack right where it screws into the block. There were days that I felt like giving up too. But hang in there you can do it. I pulled the last oil pump myself,out in my driveway, in not more than an hour.

1) Put jack under the pan to hold weight of the engine in the front. Use a board the full with of the pan so it doesn't get bent up.
2) Unbolt both motor mounts so the engine can move up ( I think I just took the big nut off the bottom on the passenger side.
3) Unbolt alternator, 2 bolts and move out of the way
4) Lift engine off K frame with jack
5) Set a small scissor jack (you know the small widowmakers that all the new cars have in them) in the the car against the passenger side frame rail and push against the Alternator bracket or something solid in the vicinity. The idea is the push the top of the engine up and to the drivers side to get the clearance you need.

This worked on Ryan's Dart and his is a 4-speed with 6X1 headers on it and none of that stuff kept it from moving to the side far enough to get the old pump out and the new pump in. Good Luck

Rick

Thanks for the tips Rick. I am a little worried about the trans cooling lines that are banjo tight as it is at this stage of the engine position. Moving the engine towards the drivers side could cause one, or both to start leaking at the radiator? A possibility I suppose but it couldn't be as hard to fix the leak as it is to remove the op itself.
I know hindsight is 20/20 and if I ever have to do this again I think I'll just remove the engine. I know I could have done that quicker and easier than what I fought with today. Chalk it up as gaining experience the hard way.
However, I used the fsm instructions which seemed to to pretty laid-out and simple. I guess the engineers never actually removed one in reality or they would have experienced the same thing that I did and would have rewritten the instructions to include the Other necessary steps needed to remove the op in a timely and hassle-free manner.
My rant is over...
Again Thanks for the tips guys.

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1971 GTX 440, 727, 3.91, stock except cam
1972 Slant 6 mor-dor Dart stock except minor rust
1984 Dodge Rampage 2.2 OEM stock
1986 Plymouth Duster 2.2 OEM stock
2007 5.7 TRD Tundra, fast for a truck
stopping is cheap, going is expensive

this may or may not have anything to do with it and might be a stupid suggestion but did you pull the distributor?

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64' Valiant Signet 5.9, 64' Dart 170 moredoor 3.7, 67' A100 3.7, 00' Dakota SLT 4.7

Did not pull the distributor as it is not required according to the fsm.
Interesting that you should mention that. That is my next task after the op is out of the way. I tried to remove the dist when I first got the car and it too is stuck in the block, I can't even spin it to adjust the timing.
I should have just pulled the engine..

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1971 GTX 440, 727, 3.91, stock except cam
1972 Slant 6 mor-dor Dart stock except minor rust
1984 Dodge Rampage 2.2 OEM stock
1986 Plymouth Duster 2.2 OEM stock
2007 5.7 TRD Tundra, fast for a truck
stopping is cheap, going is expensive

I pulled my oil pump out years ago and remember having to tilt the motor to the drivers side as much as possible. i undid both motor mounts and then lifted the engine from the passanger side to twist it over. Even with that, the gearing on the pump doesn't easily clear the block. With a bit of patience I was able to pop it out and then try to get the new one in. The shift for the pump is so long that what looks like it should be plenty of clearance actually isn't.

I don't remember if I lifted the motor, but I do remember twisting it over. if you got an engine lift it would be the easiest way to get it over. I didn't have a problem with the trans lines.

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67 Barracuda
Eric

You need to remove the distributor to have much easier access to the pump. Unbolt the cooler lines at the radiator so you can have movement.

Rick

What if I loosen the k-member bolts so that the lca drops with it, think that will give me the space I need to remove the oil pump?
Also, who has the best op gasket for this thing?

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1971 GTX 440, 727, 3.91, stock except cam
1972 Slant 6 mor-dor Dart stock except minor rust
1984 Dodge Rampage 2.2 OEM stock
1986 Plymouth Duster 2.2 OEM stock
2007 5.7 TRD Tundra, fast for a truck
stopping is cheap, going is expensive

Woo Hoo!!! I got it out by using Rick's suggestion to push the engine over towards the ds using a small jack. Had it out within 15 minutes after starting work on it this morning. Many thanks to all who had suggestions
and special thanks to Rick for his experience and his tips. Now to clean this thing up, fix the stuck pressure valve and reinstall it while I still have some sort of sanity.

Thanks all!

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1971 GTX 440, 727, 3.91, stock except cam
1972 Slant 6 mor-dor Dart stock except minor rust
1984 Dodge Rampage 2.2 OEM stock
1986 Plymouth Duster 2.2 OEM stock
2007 5.7 TRD Tundra, fast for a truck
stopping is cheap, going is expensive

You may want to consider replacing the headpipe donut/gasket now that you've moved the engine around. It will most likely leak at the manifold after moving the engine around.

2¢

CJ

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Part of Tyrde-Browne Racing