Well, I rigged up a way to spin the drive gear with a power drill, which got the drive gear spinning at 1500 rpm or so, which should have definitely got the darn thing pumping some oil, but nothing. When I spin the pump impeller with my thumb on a Husky or Stihl pump, I notice the resistance changes when you turn the adjusting cam from minimum to maximum flow, where as on this Solo pump, it did not.
So, I thought it was worth taking this Solo pump completely apart, which meant I would have to press these incredibly tiny pins out, and the effort was well worth it... I found the plastic (Plastic?!) adjusting cam (these cams are steel on both Husky and Stihl saws for a good reason!)
was completely worn away! The pump impeller rides on this tiny plastic "nub" (which as you know, is what makes these things pump oil) is now nearly gone (the only way I could see it clearly was to use a giant magnifying lamp, my eyes are going downhill fast, lol).
That's a poor design by Solo in my opinion, but I will probably have to order a new pump and have that one wear away in 6 months as well (maybe they designed a new piece, we'll see). The only other option is to machine a steel adjuster, but I don't have the necessary equipment or time to do that.