anyone try and run the pump end clearance at .0015"? i just took my pump apart after 300 miles with the break in oil (did one oil change after 30 miles) which is joe gibbs br. i cut open both filters with a large tubing cutter and didn't look too bad at all. i had magnets stuck to the filter and there was only some slight "swarf" by the magnets, nothing much and a couple of silver flecks in the filter. i rechecked the pump clearance with plasti-gauge and it varied from just under .003 - .002. i have the shims to set it up .0005" less. just wondering if it's ok to set one up this close. hot off the highway oil pressure was around 15psi at 800 rpm's with the 15-50 break in oil. as soon as you hit the gas it will jump right up. cruising it's at 45 - 50 or so and if you hit the gas some it jumps right up to 60. rods and mains were set to .002 + / - .0002. it has a t/a cover and stock pump and a t/a adj. reg. i think i am going to use it with a white spring now after i read some of the other threads. thanks in advance, paul c. ---------- Post added at 01:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:35 PM ---------- oh yah, will be changing the oil today using brad penn 15-40w and a wix filter.
well, i did some more digging and found a thread where someone was running .0015 end clearance. so i assembled it and put my priming tool on the pump and it spun effortlessly, just put some petro jelly on the top of each gear to hold in place and some assembly lubeon the booster plate surface. had 70 - 75 psi on the priming drill. so i remember seeing a thread from board member "ick" and he had used a white relief spring with the t/a/ adjustable regulator. so i removed the spring it came with and installed a white one, left the adjustment where it was. hit the drill and it burried the gauge, ended up backing the adjustment all the way out and 90 psi. will be driving around tonight and we will se how everything goes.
Hello paul I'm using just the white spring w/o the adj. reg my oil pressure is very stable 20# @ 750 rpm & 70# @ 5500 rpm ,I won't use the adj. ever again on my engines .... ask JW about the white spring /adj. pressure reg.
i was going to take the adjuster off but i couldn't find a regular cap nut, i know i have one somewhere. i just backed it out completely.
I think I have the black spring and adjustible set at 30 idle and 100 at 6000 RPMS. I have .001 clearance with the KB aluminum booster plate and have modified the pocket in the cover for flow. My oil gauge looks like a tach when you rev it up.
Paul,did you get this cover with the pump already set up from TA? ---------- Post added at 08:33 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:32 AM ---------- ICK,what happened with the regulator and you wont use it anymore?
George, http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.php?253486-white-spring&highlight=white+spring+oil+pressure
george, i got the cover second hand from someone here on the board and was told with little run time. it was empty and i put it together.
i went out and took out my adjustable regulator that comes with the TA cover and out of curiosity i put the white spring in without the adjustable regulator i just put the stock bolt in,my oil pressure cold at 1500 rpms with the TA regulator was always about 80 lbs,with the white spring and stock bolt/nut its 100 lbs,im not sure i should leave it isnt that dangerous numbers?wont it cause cam bearing/distributor gear problems? Thanks
If I use a torque rotation wrench on my shaft of the oil pump gears, what is the torque setting?o No:
The torque setting for what? The oil pump cover to timing cover bolts? they are 8 ft. lbs. http://www.taperformance.com/PDF/Torque_Specification.pdf
No. I understand the torque of the cover bolts is 8lbs. I am speaking of the resitance of the spin of the pump gears. Is there a inch pound spec for this? Or shall I say " How freely are they supposed to spin"?
No there is not. You don't want it so tight that it binds, but too loose affects your oil pressure especially when hot. The end clearance can be adjusted with different thickness gaskets. The oil pump shim kit sold by TA Performance has an assortment of these gaskets. The preferred end clearance is .002. In an unworn timing cover in good shape, the gears actually protrude above the gasket surface of the timing cover. They should protrude about .002-.006. So, for instance, if you measured the protrusion as .004, using a .006 gasket would give you the .002 end clearance. As the oil pump pocket wears, the gears sink lower in the pocket increasing end clearance and lowering oil pressure. Another reason to change oil. There is a procedure in the Chassis manual to measure the gear protrusion using a straight edge and feeler gauges, but you can also set the end clearance using a dial indicator (if the timing cover is removed from the engine)
Folks, A few pointers here. First, The pump cover that comes with the TA pump assembles is the new style. DO NOT install a white spring in this cover. The white spring in the newer cover will lock the relief valve shut This cover takes the shorter springs. You may use the stock spring from your original cover but other than that spring you must use the orange, yellow or green. A stock spring from 1978 say through 1987 would be the same as the orange. The original say 1964-1976 stock spring will give more pressure than the orange. Recently we have been providing both the original (steel color) and orange spring with the regulators. With the new style pump covers I have found that the yellow spring works very well and I have since been putting them in our pump assembly's. The green spring which some of you may have is not always in the kits. Now this spring will kick the upper end oil pressure higher. I would say when using this spring, use caution. Thinner oil, larger clearances, then maybe this spring would be the one. Now if you ever install one of these heavy springs and the pressure does not move up, chances are there is an internal problem in the engine. Bearing clearances, bad bearings, oversize lifter bore, gallery plug came out, wrong or bad lifter. Or pump set up way wrong. Just had a customer call having trouble getting oil pressure on a 350. He had purchased the high volume cover from us, which is not one we machine in house. This cover comes with the longer gears as a kit. After some conversation I started to get the feeling that he did not have the longer gears installed. When asked, he said he purchase the gears from Summit and there were no gears with the cover that came. I said they were in the box, do you still have the box. He went to the garage, found the box and what was at the bottom, the gear set. I never seen or heard of this before, but as you see, things happen. Back to the pumps. The tightest I have ever set one up knowingly has been .001. I recently set one up that was between .001-.0015, been awhile since I set one that tight, normally .002-.003. .004 is the loosest I will go. But because this one was between .001-.0015 I did some testing. I froze the timing cover assembly to see if it would tighten up. It still spun freely and when checked frozen it still had .0005 clearance. I have built 100's & 100's of these oil pumps over the past 35+ years, but sometimes I need to walk back over my prints just to make sure. Hope this helps some of you. Regards,
Great info. Thanks so much Larry & Mike! I just don't want to take a chance and mess up in this very important area of oiling. Mike I may call you if I run into any snags. Thanks again guys:TU:
