You are so right - and I also momentarily lost my mind . I should have said instead that when I put the priming shaft back in, that it turned freely with absolutely no resistance (I guess that's what being tired and frustrated does to my sensibilities)

BUT - it is still out of the pump - and I still don't have a fix other then try a piece of tubing to pull it up and dither around and try to reset it or drop the pan( which I will do tomorrow if no one can come up with a miracle fix