ok so i have a big problem. I just finished rebuilding my 94' gen 5 502. Now when i start the engine there is no oil pressure!!!!! So I primed the system with a drill and got 60psi oil pressure so im thinking im golden, well once i put the distributor back in and fired it up still no oil pressure. So i preceded to keep priming the oil system multiple times with no sucess. Ok so i pretty much used all the stock parts including the oil pump which worked fine before the rebuild. The only thing I changed was the cam and i converted it to a roller cam. So here are some thoughts maybe distributor is to long or short? but it appears the same. Maybe oil pan is bent and restricting the oil flow to the screen of the oil pump? Has anybody ever had this problem or have any ideas? Im wondering if i need a gen 6 distrubutor? is there any difference bewteen gen 6 or gen 5 distributor? Please help and sorry for the long post

i did the exact same thing... i have a gen 5 502 and i installed a gen 6 cam. there was no difference besides the step nose where the timing gear is installed. i used the gm performance bracket (no cam button) i upgraded my oil pump to a blueprinted melling. i used the same distributor that comes with the mercruiser t-bolt setup. everything works fine on my end though. is the gear ok on the distributor? and is the slot in the distributor ok? also what came with my new melling was new plastic retainers that hold the extension shaft on the pump and keep it square. mabye the pump shaft is going off to one side of the distributor during installation. i know every time i remove the distributor i have to play a little to get the oil pump drive in line with where the distributor will sit when the gears are meshed. unless you have some very weird electrical problem i would remove the sender and put a manual gauge in that oil port and make very sure it is making oil pressure both with a drill and engine running. best of luck and keep us posted!

well i put a manual gauge on and i get oil pressure with drill primer and then none with the distributor in so i dont know what else. the gear end is fine ...... anybody else i need help

Somehow the distributor shaft is not making contact with the slot on the oil pump.

You should be able to feel the dist shaft drop into the slot.

If the engine is firing then the distributor gear is making contact with the cam gear.

Is this a new intake manifold??? New distributor gear???????

Push some grease into the bottom of the dist shaft gear and then reinsert the distributor. The grease should get pushed out if the shaft is going into the slot. If it doesn't, remove the distributor gasket and try again.

Does your distributor have a slip collar? Do you have someone around who can give it one? It's quite easy, grind off the collar as it sits, machine a split ring that goes around the shaft with a screw to fix in place and drop it in without a gasket, then drop the slip collar down and secure it. When you put the gasket on you'll be good to go!

Or you could buy an MSD Pro Billet with the slip collar.

Good Luck mate!

MSD offers the slip collar seperate.. Machine off the flange and slide on a collar.. then adust the height.

You should be able to feel the dist drop on the oil pump shaft. Can you see the slot in the top of the shaft down in the hole? Line it up and see if you can feel the dist shaft slide into it. The dist height does two things, besides alinging the cam gear and dist gear. It connects to the oil pump shaft (do you have the correct one?) and it blocks the ports in the block to direct oil to the lifters.
If you can pump oil with the drill, then you should be able to do it with the dist. It has to be the connection to the oil pump shaft.. To spin up an oil pump. I machined the teeth off a chevy dist and slide it in. That gives me the assurance that the dist is connected to the oil pump shaft with a stock height dist.. I also welded a 3/8" socket to the top of the shaft so I can connect the drill to it and spin it for psi checks..

Keep looking, it is something simple if you get 0 psi.. Step back and look at the simple things..

good luck and keep us posted.
Dick

if it all worked before, should now as well, those slip collar dist are so you can use one dist for either a std or tall deck, there is no diffence in the gen IV, V, VI 's are you sure the dist dropa all the way down into the machined portion of the intake, not just in the cam gear ? once you get it spin the engine over while hold the dist down should drop down another 1/4 inch into the oil pump, if thats not it the relief valve in the oil pump may be stuck open and no pressure..had that happen..Rob

I had a similar problem GenV block GenVI cam, but my problem was when I was priming my block I could not get oil through the 1 and 2 lifter gallies. The problem was that the primer was just a hair short and was bleeding oil between the distributor and the block. I could see that oil was circulating but not enough pressure to make it to the furthest lifters. I just was not seating the primer deep enough and had to adjust the slip collar. It worked fine on my first engine, but not on the second.

Not to hijack this thread, but how tight should the fit be between the distributor boss and the block. On both my Gen VI blocks the distributor seems like a sloppy fit (I can push the top of the distributor around quit a bit with the clamp loose). I think I am bleeding alot of oil pressure because of the fit. Should it bleed alot by design, maybe to lube the dist. gear? I can change the oil pressure on the gauge by loosening the dist. clamp and moving the dist. sideways a little.

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