Hello everyone, I am currently trying to solve a low hot oil pressure problem on my Buick 350, so I installed Melling kits P-20I and K-20I. I am attempting to prime the oil now, but there is some sort of hitch in the gears where something seems to be catching. It doesn't exactly bind (assuming binding means completely stops spinning) and I can continue to spin the pump with my drill, but it doesn't sound right. I have a video on this here. I measured the gears to sit above the cover surface at about .0025" and the 2 gaskets from the individual kits measured to about .0045" and .005". I did use the priming tool (AZ part# 27060) before I opened the oil pump and got 50 pounds max, smooth spinning with the drill, making sure I knew what to expect with the tool when needed to prime the oil. I went back and redid the installation, petroleum jelly and all, with the slightly bigger gasket and same result with the pump catching. I attached a picture of the gears that have some sort of wear marking in the middle from the short time I spent trying to prime the oil. I still have the old gears and I was more interested in getting the plate installed with the 60lb white spring. What could my issue be? I don't have a lot of time with engines but I'm trying to learn. Thank you Oil Pump Gears middle section worn on install by LowOilPieces posted Nov 5, 2023 at 1:14 PM
Are you getting any oil flow? It may be riding on the top of the input shaft, but the tool may not be engaged, so it is just dropping that small amount every revolution and making that click. Another way is to allow the drill to turn the prime tool 90 degrees, then see if the input shaft has moved 90 degrees.
I agree with Michael. It is making one full rotation when it makes that noise, though...so that is suspect as well. LowOilPieces....nice A VGG shout out..
Thank you both for your replies. Hmm, I do see your point but when I used the tool, I did make sure to engage the shaft. I can try it by hand and I get the same hitch. I'm not sure if pressing down would help? I did not try getting oil pressure because I'm not sure what damage I can do if I just ignore the problem.
Ok thank you guys. Will report back tomorrow. Side note, does anyone know about how much oil I lose dropping the oil filter?
Uhh, 0. lol 40 cold idle, down to about 15 at temp sitting, 0 after driving for about 10 minutes. Still shoots up with revs. No smoking, no ticks or knocks. Hoping this helps a little bit. I'm running 15w40, planning an oil change to 10w30 soon, the oil got dirty already.
That sounds like your drill making that chunk noise. Best thing to do is assemble the pump DRY, gaskets, cover, etc. THEN spin the gears by hand, they should spin freely, it’s called mocking it up. If all is good, disassemble pack with Vaseline or drizzle oil in the pump cavity and reassemble.
Ok seems like I just wasn't using the tool right. Spinning by hand with a screwdriver was good. Spinning by hand with the tool, I got the same hitch/bump. Pressing down on the tool while spinning had that go away. I will have a go at it soon, torquing down the housing and filter, and install a new radiator before I can run the car again. I will report back if and when everything is fine again.
You should use the 60 psi relief spring and have around 80psi at cold idle and around 20-30 psi warm idle if your bearing clearance is not excessive. The later Metric covers use different length springs than the older covers.
That cold idle pressure seems a bit excessive, no? I do have the white 60lb spring installed, but there was another 60lb spring, yellow. I think I went with the white because it was closer in length to the OEM. And I was going to be happy with 5, 10psi warm idle. I set my standard low so I can be pleasantly surprised.
These things will idle at 2psi all day. And even if your gauge read zero, as long as there is no valve train noise at idle, and pressure responds accordingly with RPM, you're probably fine.
Wow, the new gears really take some force to spin. I gradually increased my drill speed while priming, at max speed the pressure went just under 70psi. (Versus 50 before). It had my drill smoking from the housing lol. Would anyone be able to tell me or just reassure me the white 60lb spring is fine? Reading the instructions that came with the kit, I thought I had a B housing (bottom diagram), but the original spring was most similar to the plain spring in the kit? (Indicating housing A application).
