Oil Metering Pump Failure?
 

I'm in the middle of resolving a sudden case of not starting for my '88 N/A convertible. At this point I'm pretty sure I flooded the engine and thanks to all posts on here about that I think I know why, why it won't start now (loss of compression due to loss of oil film), and how to fix it.

In the process of trying to resolve the sudden no-start issue, I noticed that the oil metering pump actuator rod seems to restrict my throttle from opening all the way. I pulled the radiator shroud in order to get a look at the pump and everything seems to look OK, but the valve on the pump only moves a few degrees which translates to the rod only moving a centimeter or so. This restricts the throttle from opening all the way (which I noticed by looking into the throttle body as I rotated the throttle). With the rod disconnected the throttle butterflies open to a perfect horizontal.

I've only had this car for a year and have never driven any other 7s so I can't comment on power-loss other than to say the power seems OK to me (not ridiculously fast, but it is only a N/A engine and my idea of ridiculously fast is my '99 Honda Superhawk, 0-60 in 2.8 ... now that's fast).

I'm curious if anyone has ever had one of the mechanical pumps fail in a way which caused the restriction in movement (such as part of the internal mechanism breaking and jamming the part inside which rotates) or if this is somehow normal to not have the throttle open to a full horizontal angle on the butterflies.

With the cost of these metering pumps as high as they are, if it is broken, I'm thinking of unhooking the pump and running pre-mix. Any comments/opinions/suggestions?

The mechanical pumps just don't fail.

There is a small spring between the lever and pump body. Is it full of crud and jammed?

I'll take a closer look and see. That's a bit of a relief about the mech. pumps being reliable. thanks,
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Jonny

Thanks for the advice, definately stuck due to corrosion on the outside. Bit disconcerting is that I think it's been stuck since I bought it! Only 5K miles or so but still, that's a long time to not have the metering pump allowing the full amount of oil to get to the rotors. Throttle moves more freely and I definitely notice the pedal goes further to the floor (the metering pump rod was restricting the throttle). Not really a noticable power difference though (throttle must have been opening almost all the way before).
Thanks again.