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FW: Oil pump woes

To: <mgb-v8@autox.team.net>
Subject: FW: Oil pump woes
From: "Richard Morris" <richard.morris@cox.net>
Date: Sat, 3 Jun 2006 08:54:02 -0500
Organization: Richard Morris
Reply-to: "Richard Morris" <richard.morris@cox.net>
Sender: owner-mgb-v8@autox.team.net
From: Richard Morris [mailto:richard.morris@cox.net] 
Sent: Friday, June 02, 2006 10:17 PM
To: 'James Nazarian'
Subject: RE: Oil pump woes


Possibly 1 of 3 things.
1. your remote oil filter is draining between runnings. Mount it lower so it
doesn't drain. 2. your oil pump pickup is leaking air into it. This is most
likely where it is bolted onto the block (maybe missing the small gasket
there?) 3. The oil pump pickup is suctioning onto the bottom of the pan and
basically cavitating the pump. This can and does happen, but in your case,
you have to have had the pan or pickup get bent since rebuilding as you say
it used to work fine.

>From the symptoms, it really sounds like # 3 (pump cavitation would have
intermittent oil with bubbles as a symptom), but you need to pull the pan
off and do some depth measurements on the pickup tube. An internal leak at
the timing cover seems really unlikely since it would be hard to damage the
gasket in that area. Remember, the timing cover is located by dowels and the
gasket isn't subject to any sideways movement while the timing cover is
being tightened.

Did you have the oil pump base apart? if so, did you have the pressure
relief assembly out? (was the metric base used on the engine BEFORE the
rebuild?) If the pressure relief piston (or spring) was stuck or missing, it
could also cause these symptoms...

You can try swapping the hoses to the remote filter, maybe you have them
backwards... (this is something I would try before pulling the pan)

Richard Morris


-----Original Message-----
From: owner-mgb-v8@autox.team.net [mailto:owner-mgb-v8@autox.team.net] On
Behalf Of James Nazarian
Sent: Friday, June 02, 2006 9:47 PM
To: v8
Subject: Oil pump woes


I'm having some trouble with the oil pump on my recent rebuilt engine.  I'm
hoping the voice of experience can help me out here.
 
First of all, the engine is a rebuilt 215 Olds.  I did the work myself.  The
oil pump is a metric v6 pump with a remote filter mount on it.  The oil
system is carried over from the engine prior to the rebuild, so it used to
work fine.  However, it was all taken apart and cleaned during the rebuild
process, so the gaskets are all new.
 
The problem that I am having is that it takes a long time to build pressure,
once pressure is built it is low.  Takes a minute to make 10 or 15 psi.  I
plumbed a piece of clear oil line into the outlet side of the oil filter
adapter to check the quality of flow leaving the oil pump.  This line would
be going directly into the oil filter if it were mounted directly.  As I
suspected, I'm getting a lot of air in the oil coming out of the pump.
 
In a 1/2" ID oil line, the oil is intermixed with bubbles that are 1-2"
long, overall the volume of flow looks good.  Based on this behavior, I am
confident that the air is being drawn in before or at the pump, since a leak
anywhere else would cause oil leaks.  There is no external oil seepage at
the pump, so I'm inclined to say that it is not drawing in atmospheric air
at the pump gasket.  This leaves an internal air leak at the pump, or the
pickup to block gasket.
 
Is it even possible for an internal leak in the oil pump gasket to suck air?

 
Is there any air in this vicinity?
 
Does anyone have any other experience to offer before I tear the pan off of
the engine to check the sump pickup?
 
I don't like the idea of pulling the pan until I am confident that it isn't
the pump.
 
Thanks!
James Nazarian
71 MGBGT-V8
71 MGB Tourer
87 325es

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