Oil pump gear fails explained

[JeremyH]

What's interesting to me is I never heard of a 302/351 or even 460 oil pumps shattering like I hear the mod engines pumps do.

I would imagine its mostly tolerance related, the mod motor pump and gears have really tight tolerances and at rpm and load can flex the housings. With the increase of both volume and pressure for the 3v and gt500 I'm sure its even more critical. I thought the billet backing plate in 2013 was a step in the right direction. The flexing causes cavitation and loss of low. There is a video online somewhere, pretty interesting.

So basically 2 step limiters are death sentences for these engines?

Not necessarily, aftermarket "soft" controlled spark cut limiters and 2 steps I think are not as bad as the sock pcm hard limiter.

 

[RED09GT]

Has anyone seen a failure of a pump with a billet steel back plate yet?

The 302/351 and 460 pumps were driven off of the distributor rather than off the crank directly and the shape of the oil pump didn't allow flex like the flat shape of the mod motor pump so that is why you rarely saw failures that were not debris related. I've seen an oil pump drive shaft twisted up like a twizzler once in a machine shops's trophy pile-it was supposedly from a late 80's ford pickup.

 

[Heaten m90]

I think im going to have a panic attack after reading through this. Is there anything i can to Ensure this doesn't happen. Like billet titanium gears or something.... or what's that shit Wolverines made out of.....

 

[Wes06]

'13 gt500 pump housing with billet backplate. Tss billet gears. Do it

 

[702GT]

So basically 2 step limiters are death sentences for these engines?

As Jeremy stated, a legit 2 step is much different than hammering on the PCM limiter. A 2 step cuts spark, PCM cuts fuel. I can't prove it, as I no longer have my car or 2 step, but I'll bet if you pop the hood and engage the 2 step you can watch the tensioner and it'll barely react to the 2 step. The other nice advantage to a 2 step whether you're auto or manual, is you're loading up the motor before launch, which actually helps the tensioner. Launching without a 2 step may cause your tensioner to hammer as it tries to absorb the sudden shock. I'm not saying leaving the line at 6 grand on a 2 step is softer than trying to foot pedal 6 grand and dropping the clutch and mashing the gas, but when you leave the line your foot is already to the floor, putting as much load on the motor as possible before leaving. I don't advise observing a PCM limiter in action, but if someone were so inclined, I'd bet the PCM limiter would show more action at the tensioner than the 2 step. Also, the fact that you're cutting fuel is just retarded. Who wants to launch a car you've just been starving fuel from.

I think im going to have a panic attack after reading through this. Is there anything i can to Ensure this doesn't happen. Like billet titanium gears or something.... or what's that shit Wolverines made out of.....

Was06 said it all. Even as bulletproof as that oil pump Frankenstein is, it's only a layer of protection. Crank damper, tensioner, and a machine shop that gives a fuck about balancing your internals will add another 3 layers of protection on top of the built pump. After that, you're on borrowed time just like the rest of the big powa crowd.

 

[travelers]

You have to remember that the 302/351s oil pumps are driven off the cam shaft that doesn't receive the same shock loads as the end of the crank. The also have a cam chain, DS, before it gets to the gears.

Some also said the stock balancers last almost forever. Well with the rubber between the hub and the outer balancer does rot and have been know to come off.

 

[Heaten m90]

'13 gt500 pump housing with billet backplate. Tss billet gears. Do it

Hey man, if its not to much trouble can you post a link to a vender with theses

 

[Wes06]

Bought case through tasca. Just googled for best price on gears

 

[weather man]

Bought both of mine through JDM, a vendor on here.

 

[Heaten m90]

Perfect, thanks

 

[Wraith]

Pretty sure it killed my stock 3v tensioners in 8k miles. I have also heard that even with upgraded tensioners that you should really put a guide pin upgrade kit in due to just how much strain it places on thentiming components. I don’t use my 2 step for this reason anymore