Here's a little nugget that I hope will help someone in the future. Currently doing a water pump and front engine seal, 86 944. Got the oil pump/crank seal off with no problem by drilling a small starter hole, then carefully inserting a drywall screw and prying it out with a pair of vice-grips using the end of the crankshaft as a fulcrum. (Credit to Bruce at Arnnworx). Now removing the oil pump drive gear, I tried pulling with slip joint pliers and vice-grips. No go. Lubed with PB Blaster and banged around the edge with a drift. No joy. One thing I did find out is that squeezing the drive gear with the vice-grips actually squishes the drive gear against the crankshaft and would make it much more difficult to remove. Now the trick. I dug out the black O-ring from the bevel on the gear, hoping to get better penetration with the PB Blaster, then the drive gear practically slipped off with the O-ring!! How the HE-double toothpicks that little rubber O ring could hold in that gear with such force is beyond science. Maybe I'm an idiot and this is common knowledge, but I scoured the internet and found nothing about removing that O-ring first. Hope this helps someone. Cheers. --Lizard

 

After using a plastic pick to remove the o-ring, I used a plastic panel tool made Sir Tools to wedge behind the gear and I pried it right out of the pump. If you can get something behind the gear or near the rear enough that it will grab, the gear will slide right off. I did oil the crankshaft with WD-40 after removing the woodruff key. That helped coax the gear out and onto the end of the crankshaft where it hung up. I used a 600 grit sandpaper with the WD-40 and cleaned the end of the crankshaft and the gear came right off the crankshaft. Glad to hear that you were able to get your drive gear off the crankshaft. It can be tough to remove.