4 replies to this topic

[neilbaxter]

Have a ford 302 (74) and one day stopped running due to no gas condition. Took off manual fuel pump and arm was broken off flush with pump body. Cant find it. what should i do please help. engine ran fine on external electric pump that i tried while diagnosing problem.
Neil

[Xplorer man]

neilbaxter, on Jun 7 2010, 10:28 PM, said:

Have a ford 302 (74) and one day stopped running due to no gas condition. Took off manual fuel pump and arm was broken off flush with pump body. Cant find it. what should i do please help. engine ran fine on external electric pump that i tried while diagnosing problem.
Neil

Are you saying you can't feel the broken arm inside of the block. No noises while diagnosing. I wonder if that arm will pull to a magnet? Maybe a bright light and then a mirror to hopefully see in the opening. That's a tough one.

[neilbaxter]

Xplorer man, on Jun 8 2010, 09:37 AM, said:

neilbaxter, on Jun 7 2010, 10:28 PM, said:

Have a ford 302 (74) and one day stopped running due to no gas condition. Took off manual fuel pump and arm was broken off flush with pump body. Cant find it. what should i do please help. engine ran fine on external electric pump that i tried while diagnosing problem.
Neil

Are you saying you can't feel the broken arm inside of the block. No noises while diagnosing. I wonder if that arm will pull to a magnet? Maybe a bright light and then a mirror to hopefully see in the opening. That's a tough one.

I cant see it or feel it. I used one of those magnetic pickup devices inside but got nothing. thanks for reply

[John Sheedy]

Hi, Chances are what was left of the broken fuel pump arm ended up in the oil pan. Because the arm sits in front of the timing chain the chain probably dragged it down to the sump area of the oil pan. If its in the oil pan you could probably drive for years without it affecting anything but there is always a chance it could get bounced up into the rotating assembly (Crankshaft) and do other damage. Also the other concern would be what caused the arm to fail on the pump? The Arm works of an assembly bolted to the cam gear and if the cam gear is failing because of age or the assembly broke causing the arm to break you may have other issues that will cause a lot more damage if not addressed. The correct way to address this issue is to remove the water pump and timing gear cover and inspect the issue. If the motor has over 60 or 70 thousand miles on it replace the timing gears and chain even if they look OK. Most original cam gears are made out of a plastic material and age not just mileage affects them. If the arm did go into the oil pan you should be able to get it out with the timing cover off as it opens up the front part of the oil pan when removed. This is not an easy job to do on a van application because of the lack of room involved and because you will be touching the bolts holding the timing cover on to the motor. These bolts are known to break when trying to remove simple because they are to small and long for the application and they pass thru aluminum that over time interacts with the steel bolt and they weld together. This job in a car application even if some of the bolts break is much easier to do then in a van with limited space, so if you have limited experience in doing this type of work you may be better off letting your local mechanic handle it. John

[SquirrelTurds]

Did you ever find that arm? I agree with John, I would just take it as a hint that it is time to change out the timing gears and chain! My motor seemed fine but when I dug into it, it was far from fine! http://econolines.ip...?showtopic=4221