Oil Pump shaft broken? Is this commom

Ran a nice 12.6 and parked it. Went to do another run and heard noise and saw NO oil pressure.

Some of the Ford guyd said "oil pump shaft".

I'm ready to drop the pan... anyone run into this before.

Thanks

stock or aftermarket oil shaft?? most guys upgrade to a aftermarket oil pump shaft when they do a build up. its cheap and it could save your engine
[addsig]

Hey Tony... all stock bottom end. I did buy a Melling pump and oversized shaft for the replacement. I'm thinking and hopeing I didn't break anything other then the shaft, and have no small shiny stuff in the pan.
What are my chances?
And tell me about that 10 second 306. We have stock 40k bottom, Roush heads, Holley up & low, 75mm tb and x cam. I have a block and am considering a 331 or 347 stroker kit. 5 speed/391 gear
Thanks, Ron

I've broken more than I can count. Most of the time it was the very tip of a valve spring that got into the pump...and locked it solid. I was running brand X springs back then. Upgraded to another brand, and have not had a problem since....knock on wood.

I really don't want to say what brand they were. They worked great, but had a nasty habit of breaking the tips off for some reason.

While you have the pan off, it'd be a good practice to pull the pickup and at the very least, clean the crap out of the screen. If it were me, I'd replace the pickup. You simply cannot get behind the pickup baffle to get the junk out without cutting it apart and re-welding it. They're pretty cheap, and still available at the Ford dealer if you need one. I think Pioneer also makes them, even cheaper. Also look at the end of the distributor where the drive rod goes into it. I have cracked a few of those, especially on 302's (tiny shaft and tiny pump drive rod)

_________________
"it is better to appear ignorant than to open your mouth and remove all doubt"--Mark Twain

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: mavman on 5/16/06 9:04am ]</font>

ARP also makes one for about $17.00. Summit has them.

I broke my oil pump shaft a short while back. Luckily I always watch the gauge. It broke while I was on the interstate doing 75mph. I just shut it down. The pump locked up and twisted the shaft. I replaced the pump with a Melling, and installed an ARP hardened shaft.

Yes, Ford 302s have a history of breaking oil pump driveshafts. It happened to me once while open tracking my Saleen. I replaced it with a HD ARP Driveshaft. Cheap Insurance.