I started my newly aquired 61 Valiant this weekend after 18 years of not being started and to my suprise it did start after replacing the starter and rebuilding the 1920 holley carb . I checked all the fluids but i didnt replace them as i was gonna run for about 5 minutes then change oil and filter(the oil looked fairly clean)but after about a minute of running the oil light came on(i cranked the engine with the plugs out of it and some marvel oil in the cylinders and made sure i had pressure before i tried to start it)so i shut it off and went looking for the problem and found that the oil filter was loose and when i removed it the gasket fell off so I figured that it was just dried out and i went and got a new filter and oil filled it back up ,cranked it till the light went out and proceded to start it againand once again it started fairly easy then after abuot a 2 minutes of running the oil light came on and i heard a noise and shut it down.This time the oil filter(motorcraft fl-1a) had blew apart . Now im thiking that the check valve in the oil pump is stuck( am i correct in thinking this) .I have a good oil pump from a donor slant and i ordered the gaskets and o-rings from my local Advance store.Can I replace the pump without removig the engine ? Does anyone think that i hurt the engine as it didnt make any death rattles and still turns freely by hand and it sounded good what time it was running. Any help as always is greatly appreciated, thank you.

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Ive got a slanted attitude and a heavy right foot.

You should be able to pull the relief valve out without removing the pump. It's behind the big hex plug on the housing. It is probably a pain to get to though.

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Official Cookie and Mater Tormentor.

i don't know about the 61s, but on the 63 d/v you must unbolt the motor mounts and jack up the motor so the pump will clear the k frame. keep in mind that the pump has to slide out 3 or 4 inches from the block.


-james

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I would first try to unstick the releif valve as Dennis suggests.
A 5/8 open end wrench will get the plug removed but getting the rusted barrel valve out may be a real hassel.

You can get the pump out but here again, the engine will have to be jacked-up and rocked to the side in order to get the pump's stem to clear.

As for running the engine a few moments without oil pressure at low RPMs, that should not hurt it.
DD

Thank yall very much.I got the motor jacked up far enough to remove the pump but only after removing the heater box but that was a good thing as i had a split heater hose inside of it and also allowed me to claen uot the cowl area.I hope to get it back together this weekend and runnig again. Thanks again.

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Ive got a slanted attitude and a heavy right foot.