I just want to post this here to potentially save someone else a few minutes of work. I recently replaced the timing gears and chain, crank pulley, rear main and front main seals, as well as the oil pump and oil pan gasket on my new to me 2004. In order to finish the job correctly, I wanted to prime the pump before I started the engine, so I searched around a bit for an oil pump priming tool with no luck. Here is how I solved that problem.
I clamped a larger flat head screwdriver tip down into my vice, and held a propane torch to the shaft a few inches below the handle. Once the shaft temperature was high enough, I was able to start rotating the handle slightly, until it slid off the shaft. Using a pair of pliers, I removed and cooled the shaft off with running water, chucked it in a drill, and completed the priming with a 3/8 cordless drill. Afterwards, I slid the shaft back into the handle to finish with a primed pump and a slightly damaged flat head screwdriver.
FWIW, the whole "timing" process for the OPDA/Cam Sensor is completely unnecessary for simply removing and replacing the assembly. Just carefully record the position and relationship of the assembly and the hall wheel once the top of the sensor has been removed. I photographed the assembly with the cap off after clocking the hall wheel to an easy to index point in the housing. As long as it goes back the same way, its not a problem at all.
I clamped a larger flat head screwdriver tip down into my vice, and held a propane torch to the shaft a few inches below the handle. Once the shaft temperature was high enough, I was able to start rotating the handle slightly, until it slid off the shaft. Using a pair of pliers, I removed and cooled the shaft off with running water, chucked it in a drill, and completed the priming with a 3/8 cordless drill. Afterwards, I slid the shaft back into the handle to finish with a primed pump and a slightly damaged flat head screwdriver.
FWIW, the whole "timing" process for the OPDA/Cam Sensor is completely unnecessary for simply removing and replacing the assembly. Just carefully record the position and relationship of the assembly and the hall wheel once the top of the sensor has been removed. I photographed the assembly with the cap off after clocking the hall wheel to an easy to index point in the housing. As long as it goes back the same way, its not a problem at all.
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