Seized Oil Pump...

[tca7291]

So I did this write up over in the squeaky, but thought it would be nice to share with you guys too.

Okay, so here we go. As most of you know, I suffered oil pump failure last weekend in the stang, and drove it home without any pressure, about 5 minutes, and about a mile and a half. I drove on assumption that my stock gauge was acting up again, and figured it was just that. Found my oil pump seized after pulling the distro.

So, now worried as all hell that I've burned bearings, scarred the crank ect., I borrow a dolly to trailer her over to my man's shop 90 miles away. Get her there Sat. morning, push his 90 gt out in the driveway and push my 87 in. Get to work!

Engine wasn't making any more than a valve tap last it was shut off, so I was hopeful. Removed old oil pump, and opened for diagnosis. It's my own damn fault. A wire from the wire brush I used to clean the gasket surfaces of the block when I did my timing set a few weeks ago found its way through the pickup screen and tube to the pump and lodged its way between the rotor and body.FML. Well, might as well pull a main off while I got the engine up, and pan off.
Rear main:

Crank:

Looked pretty okay to me! Bearing is worn, but nothing abnormal for an engine with 122K on it. Torqued the cap back down, installed the new oil pump, and ARP shaft, blah, blah, put her back together, and fired her up. No odd noise (besides open headers), no smoke, I have about an hour of idling time without any problems. When hot, she is holding about 23-25 psi, according to my new mechanical oil pressure gauge.

(Picture taken not at operating temperature)
So, all in all, I think I'm going to be okay, but still a scare. I still have her over at the shop, we started loading at 8:45am Saturday, and this picture was about 2 this morning, non stop. I am very tired, and decided to take the day off, as I still have a bunch of loose ends to button up before I bring her home. Anyways, WOOT!!!

 

[jrichker]

Waiting for the other shoe to drop...

You'll ride around for weeks maybe even months listening for strange noises until you rebuild or replace the engine.

 

[tca7291]

Given it's my DD, I'm going to go ahead and put her back together and into service. In the mean time, I've already started looking for a decent short block to start building, so I can do the swap, and rebuild this guy. I know exactly what you mean, I'm always going to be waiting (listening) for something else...

 

[Gearbanger 101]

You had the engine out and the bottom end partially apart and you didn't instal new bearings?

 

[mikestang63]

or a new rear main seal?

 

[tca7291]

Never had the engine all the way out. Just jacked up enough to drop the pan and get in there a little. Cooling system, fuel lines, bellhousing, ect. never got disconnected. Like I said, she is my daily, so getting back on the tarmac is very important. I'm going to start building a new engine, and hope this one last long enough for me to build, and swap.

 

[elarm1]

Should have at least put some bearings in it since you were right there. But water under the bridge now. Good work getting her back on the road

 

[mikestang63]

Couple of suggestions.

Measure the distance from the pickup screen to the bottom of the pan. From memory it's about 3/8 tp 1/2 ". I like to tack the pick up tube in place on the pump but you can just bolt it in place. I pack the inside of the pump with oil and coat the gears with assembly lube- coat the hardened oil pump shaft with lube as well. You are using an ARP shaft right?

make sure you prime the new oil pump. You can use a 1/4 socket on a long extension- tape them together and put it on a drill- spin the pump counterclockwise to prime it. When you see the pressure build up on the guage or oil coming out the pushrods you are good to go.

 

[tca7291]

ARP shaft, yes. Prepped pump, yes. Primed, yes. ~35 psi cold primed. Never had access to all bearings to change out. Trying to get her back on the road asap. If the engine decides to go, then so be it, I'm planning to build a new engine very soon. All I'm getting at is I figured she would be down for however long it took to find a new engine, build, swap, on very limited funds at this time, ect., and now I believe I can get some more run time out of her while I prep a new engine with at least borrowed time to do it.