A shaft seal assembly for an aircraft engine fuel pump has a seal housing (30) mounted upon the pump housing (32). A carbon face seal (42) is in wiping engagement with a seal face (40) on the drive shaft (36) of the pump. The carbon face seal has a recess (46) which receives a projection (44) for preventing face seal rotation. A universal washer (46), which is mounted in the seal housing in front of the carbon face seal, embodies four protuberances (48, 50, 52, 54) having bores (56, 58, 60, 62) which extend completely through the universal washer. Compression springs (64, 66) are contained in the bores and have their rear and front extremities in respective engagement with washers (70, 72) disposed on either side of the universal washer. The spring force, which is transmitted to the carbon face seal by the front washer, is overcome as pump pressure pushes the shaft toward the front of the pump. In the compressed condition, non-axial shaft alignments are accommodated by the universal washer.