Oil pump thrust plate

[87gninpa]

Posted this on the other board, but not much traffic over there anymore.

Finally got an oil pressure gauge on my newest TR and its looking a little low for my liking. At startup I get 60 psi which is good and at hot idle Im at 10 psi in drive, which I can live with as well. At 65 mph cruise (~2000 rpm) I am at 30 psi. This is at 180 degrees with 10w-40 oil. Car has 135k and has never been opened up, runs 100% otherwise. That seems to follow the 10 psi per 1k rpm rule just fine and it goes up nicely when I touch the pedal. Should I even be worried?

Just for peace of mind I was thinking about installing a thrust plate on the pump, can this be done with the front cover on? I know it will help the pressure, but dont really want to get into the front cover at this point. Also dont really want to run 20w-50 oil.

 

[turbodave231]

You can definitely install a thrust plate with the cover on the car. You want to be sure to measure and adjust oil pump gear end play to get the most pressure out of your pump. If the clearance gets too big oil pressure just bypasses internally and you know the results!

You can adjust the clearance by using different thickness gaskets (a nice kit is available from TA Perf). You can use plastigage to measure clearance. I like to set them up with .002-.003 end play on the gears. Melling make a replacement gear set that will give you fresh gears in case yours are worn.

Of course removing the cover will allow you to port the cover which will help remove oiling system restrictions and make the pump more efficient. Removing the cover makes the job of measuring clearance a bit easier too.

Dave

 

[turbofabricator]

If you do install the thrust plate, be sure to use new gears. Set the thrust clearance as tight as you can and still turn the pump. You'll have to remove the can sensor to be able to turn the pump by hand (screwdriver). I personally feel that anything over . 0015" is too much clearance for a Buick V6. As the timing cover heats up it increases clearance a TON, because its aluminum and the gears are powdered metal. (steel). Two different rates of thermal expansion. I spend alot of time setting oil pumps up. Time well spent in improving efficiency. The current Stage II timing cover I am building I even trued the pump cavity on a mill to ensure I had parallel surfaces between gears and TA pump cover with external lines/hoses. Does it help? I dunno, but so far I have not had an oiling problem in the last 15yrs. I use to have alot of oiling problems back 21 yrs. ago.
Will all this bring your oil pressure back up? Only doing it will tell. Good luck.