Did everything by the book, but I can't get the thing primed. Tried cranking with fuel pump fuse out(3 fully charged battery cycles), letting run with out pressure sensor in filter housing, letting run for 15 minutes to opperating temp, added oil to pressure sensor hole with 1/4" pipe nipple hooked to hose to oil/gas mixer surynge and forced oil, not more air, in. Nothing so far has worked Help please, Mike.

That'* kinda weird, actually. I've had my timing cover off, fiddled with the pump, had it all back together with normal oil pressure at least by the time the gauge stopped the initial sweep. Guess it'* too late to pack it with grease before you put it together...

Maybe a temporary overfill could help? I dunno...

I've had good luck oil-priming engines outside the car on a stand by pulling the plugs to lessen the load, and spinning the crankshaft by the 15/16" crank bolt with a big 1/2" drill and a long extension. (I cut off the end and ground six flats on a cheap 1/2" drive extension to make a drive bit for the drill.) I rent a mongo Milwaukee drill for $6 for 3 hours. This all assumes that there is no crack or bad seal on the oil pick-up tube and screen letting it suck air.

If this doesn't do it right away (within a minute), I would try jwickoff'* idea of temporary overfilling, and spin it with the drill again. With the crank in oil, you might have to turn it by hand. It'* hard to imagine how that could fail to prime the pump, especially if the oil level is temporarily above the pump. I would overfill a quart at a time, trying to prime after each addtition. Too much oil will hydrostatically lock the engine.

I would not start the car until the pump is primed and the oil level normal even if it means pulling the cover and packing the pump with vaseline.

Good luck.

You should never use grease to pack an oil pump; only use Petroleum Jelly or Vaseline. Grease can clog the oil filter and create lots of additional problems. The Vaseline or Petroleum Jelly will liquify and disolve as soon as the engine starts to build heat and will not clog the oil filter.

Thanks for the advice. I'll try the overfilling one qt at a time, pulling the plugs, and drill turning the bolt for a minute or two while the wife watches the guage with the key on. I don't know if it really matters, but I didn't know how much of the cavity to fill with vaseline, so I only packed what I could see underneath the gears and then the gears themselves. Should I have packed the whole run (gears through passages all the way to oil filter)? I can still take off the filer adapter and pack through that way....
thanks again

You should not have to do more than the cavity and the gears. If you have gone to the trouble of packing the pump, you should not need to overfill the crankcase. if it doesn't prime with the vaseline cavity and gear packing, I would look for other blockages, and/or measure the pump clearances. Pick up a Chilton'* 28200 repair manual; the procedure for oil pump R&R including inspection with drawings is given inside. Useful for a lot of other stuff, too.

This is from my Chilton'* 28200 on Oil Pump

Removal:
1. Disconnect negative battery cable
2. Remove the front cover from the engine
3. Remove the oil filter adapter, pressure regulator valve and spring
4. Remove the oil pump cover-to-front cover screws and the cover. Remove the inner and outer pump gears

Inspection:
1-3. Same as 2-4 above
4. Clean all parts in a suitable solvent. Remove all varnish, dirt and sludge. Thoroughly clean the gasket mating surfaces.
5. Inspect the pump cover and front cover for cracks, scoring, porous or damaged casting, damaged threads, or excessive wear. Inspect the pressure regulator for scoring, sticking in bore or burrs.
6. Check the pump gears for:
a. Inner gear tip clearance - 0.006"
b. Outer gear diameter clearance - .008 - .015"
c. Gear end clearance (gear drop in housing) - .001 -.0035"
d. Pressure regulator valve to bore clearance - .0015 - .003"

Installation:

1. Using petroleum jelly, pack the pump and assemble the gears in the housing.
2. Tighten the oil pump cover-to-front cover screws to 97 in-lb
3. Install the pressre regulator spring and valve. Install the oil filter adapter.
4. Install the front cover to the engine
5. Connect the neg battery cable.

Thanks for the info, Bill, basically the same as in my Haynes manual. The gears/cover/T30 screws and the spring/valve are brand new(rebuild kit from Advance Auto). Had to replace it because the tranny went out after 140,000 miles and I let it set to long till I had the money to buy a used tranny(about 6-7 months), then started it, most likely unprimed, and tore the gears up. Outer gear was cracked between every tooth. All the peices were there so I'm not worried about damage from that. Went through 2 pressure sending units before I figured out it was the pump gears. But I'll keep trying, I like that car too much to get rid of it. Any other help from others who have encounted this would be helpful. Thanks

Mike

Mike, has the pump failed to prime after being packed with vaseline?

yes