oil pump screwed ?

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pagilman

pagilman

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Did I screw up my oil pump? I read another post where the filter gasket kept blowing and I might be heading there also!!! When I put my new oil pump in i installed a high pressure spring, but when I put the spring in I tapped the plug in about 1/4 inch apast the pin holes that hold it and now the plug and the holding pin are about 1/4 apart. There was no way to get it back. Will the pressure push the spring and plug back against the holding pin or will it just produce too much pressure and blow my filter? I have already installed the pan. Thanks for any advise Walt:sad1:
 
pagilman said:
Did I screw up my oil pump? I read another post where the filter gasket kept blowing and I might be heading there also!!! When I put my new oil pump in i installed a high pressure spring, but when I put the spring in I tapped the plug in about 1/4 inch apast the pin holes that hold it and now the plug and the holding pin are about 1/4 apart. There was no way to get it back. Will the pressure push the spring and plug back against the holding pin or will it just produce too much pressure and blow my filter? I have already installed the pan. Thanks for any advise Walt:sad1:
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If it were mine I would pull the pan and take the pump off. Mount it in a vise and rig up a hose to a gallon of oil and make a simple steel plate and gasket to completely block off the pressure side and prime the pump. I think it will just pop and slide to the cotter pin but that's too risky to just guess in my opinion. Always for a good reference drill and mount a oil pressure gauge to that steel plate and find out what your max pressure is. That way when you fire your motor up you now exactly how much oil pressure potential you have and what percent you are off of it when the engine is running. Last thing you might smoke a drill or snap a wrist so be carefull.
 
The problem will be a quick fix, you just drop the oil pan to see the oil pump, spary alittle liquid-wrench in the cap hole, gently tap side of the oil pump housing next to the spring cap hole with a hammer until the cap rests against the cotter pin.
 
I got to think the oily environment would allow the cap to home itself. 50/50 shot. you a gambler ? LOL
 
I recently did some testing of oil pressure output using a new HV pump bolted to my 360 block which has the oil output threaded and a 1/2 fitting output going directly to a very high quality gauge and I used 10w30 oil. I tried 2 different springs (stock one and the high pressure one). I can tell you that if you tapped the plug in that far it will most likely excessively high pressure and won't push the plug out on it's own. While doing this test with the stock spring the pressure relieved at 72 psi. Just to see what happened I tapped the plug in approx. .030 and the pressure went up to 75psi. Tapped it in approx .050 more took it up to 80psi so this shows that they are very sensitive to how far you drive in the plug. The high pressure spring relieved at 85 psi. with the retainer drove in just far enough to get in the cotter key. At no time did the oil pressure force the retaining plug back. The high pressure spring is only rated at 21 lbs when compressed which isn't enough to move the retainer.

Sorry to give you bad news Walt but it needs a new plug drove in to the right depth. You can get the plugs at your local NAPA. Their 5/8" dia. and only cost about 50 cents.

Also this is just my .02 but I don't think a high pressure spring is necessary unless your running excessive clearances like in a race engine. Too much oil pressure can actually wipe out your bearings too much like a high pressure washer can take off paint.
 
When I fired up the 360 (fresh rebuild) the pressure relief spring stuck, and the excessive pressure wiped the bearings while I was trying to break in the cam. Might want to throw a new pump in that thing. I've got a melling high volume small block one if you need it. Goodluck.
Mike
 
Thanks for the input to all. It is a new pump and I was putting in a high pressure spring, should of left it alone. I am going to pull the pan and try tapping on it, thanks Walt
 
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