Can someone tell me what this is? 1985 Iron Duke block... (Page 1/1) 82-T/A [At Work] DEC 03, 05:14 PM It's on the front left side of the engine (if in a longitudinal configuration, it would be on the passenger side looking at the motor from the front / side). Just a guess, but is this some legacy port for a mechanical fuel pump for when the older version of this engine was carburated? sleek fiero DEC 03, 05:27 PM Is your engine DIS because that looks like a distributor hole? Stingray92 DEC 03, 06:13 PM That's the cover for access to the oil pump shaft/gear. Stingray Dukesterpro DEC 04, 11:15 AM It an access port for the gear as stated above. Its also a frequent leak spot. Remove and replace gasket before reinstalling engine. sleek fiero DEC 04, 10:54 PM Hi Todd; I was right .its actually for a distributor on marine application. On yours it just uses the gear to drive the oil pump. I did build a half a dozen of these marine engines when I worked at the machine shop. I may be an old fart but my memory still works sometimes. Hahaha sleek 82-T/A [At Work] DEC 05, 10:17 AM Thanks guys, I appreciate it. And thanks Sleek... that's really interesting. I guess technically, everyone here is right. I noticed when I removed the distributor, I was expecting a shaft to be coming off that would then go into the oil pump... I was surprised when there was nothing in there. I haven't removed that plate yet, but it makes total sense that the oil pump would be driven by that. I'd imagine that on the boat version of the engine, there's actually a shaft that connects the distributor to the oil pump, where the oil-pump drive is directly driven by the distributor shaft (like on many other motors). Interesting though is that there seems to be no provisions for a mechanical fuel pump. I mean, I can't remember seeing one on the V6 either, but I know almost all the V8 engines I've worked on had a mechanical fuel pump attachment point (usually driven by the camshaft). 82-T/A [At Work] JAN 11, 12:53 PM So... just re-using this thread to make a comment on something I noticed. When my daughter disassembled the Iron Duke motor a month or so ago... we found this little teeny metal O-ring in the combustion chamber. It was small... about the diameter of a valve shaft. I had no idea what it was (I'll post a picture later if anyone is interested), but it was sitting on top of the piston. At first I thought maybe it fell in when we removed the cyl head, but it didn't seem to make sense because we were very careful about what went in there. Couple of weeks ago... my uncle chided me for wanting to use a machine shop and told me I need to figure out how to do all this stuff myself (and thus, my daughter will). So I bought a bunch of tools, and I ordered a bore gauge tool. Inside the tool case was a little bag that had three or four of these exact same things (maybe bore gauge bushings, I don't know... never used a bore gauge before)... and I realize now, whoever worked on this engine last must have accidentally left one of those bushings in the combustion chamber when they were checking for cyl wall size and wear. Sigh... Patrick JAN 11, 05:55 PM quote Originally posted by 82-T/A [At Work]: ...we found this little teeny metal O-ring in the combustion chamber. It was small... about the diameter of a valve shaft.... and I realize now, whoever worked on this engine last must have accidentally left one of those bushings in the combustion chamber when they were checking for cyl wall size and wear. Unless the engine never ran at all after the bore was checked... I'd say not a chance. This "little teeny metal O-ring" would've been shot out past the exhaust valve. 82-T/A [At Work] JAN 11, 06:09 PM quote Originally posted by Patrick: Unless the engine never ran at all after the bore was checked... I'd say not a chance. This "little teeny metal O-ring" would've been shot out past the exhaust valve. That's what I thought too... or at the least, it would have shot all over the combustion chamber and scored one of the pistons. Oddly enough, when she removed the cyl head... there it was, sitting on top of one of the pistons.