Date: Sun, 7 Mar 2010 00:59:33 -0500
Reply-To: Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@HOTMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Now what have I done.... Flashing oil light??
In-Reply-To: <4B92F658.6090305@pottsfamily.ca>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
Oh what fun!
Did you actually swap the complete pump assemblies or just the gears? The
main wear part of the pump is the body. The cover is steel and rarely wears
or gets damaged. Seizing or galling on the cover is a sign the pump was run
dry, the cam thrust bearing is really worn and the can is being pushed into
the pump, or something got past the pump inlet screen and the pump had to
chew it up.
The clearance on the end of the pump gears is critical. The gears and pump
body should stay as a matched set. The clearance can be measured before
installing the pump cover. When putting a pump together some oil or grease
is needed in there so the pump gears can "seal" until oil gets in there. The
pump will not pump air. If priming is needed, remove the oil filter and
using a pump type can pump some oil into the outer hole of the case (or oil
cooler) to get some oil into the pump cavity.
Make sure you used the correct pump cover gasket. It is really thin, almost
see through. The gasket that goes between the case and pump body is much
thicker. If the thick gasket is used for the cover even if you get the pump
to work the pump will not be efficient and you will have hot engine low oil
pressure problems.
Dennis
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
Greg Potts
Sent: Saturday, March 06, 2010 7:42 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Now what have I done.... Flashing oil light??
Hi Volks,
I spent what I thought would be a productive day out in the driveway and
was able to solve the leaking oil pump cover.
As it turned out, the pump cover gasket had come apart and there was a
section missing from one side of it, which was probably the cause of the
leak. But I also noticed a sizeable smear of galled metal embedded in
the pump cover that had come from one of the pump gears. Not a good sign.
Now, as it happens I do have a pair of surplus 1.9L longblocks here
awaiting teardown and disposal. So I pulled the oil pump out of each of
them and compared it to the one from my van... One cover plate was only
slightly better, the other was near perfect. So I opted to install the
near perfect one, along with the pump itself.
I fished a fresh cover plate gasket out of my spares pile and set to
getting it all back together. As usual, getting the exhaust back in
place was pretty frustrating, but eventually I was able to get it all
back together, top off the fluids and turn the key.
It's ticking like it has a sad lifter. No worries, that will pump up and
go away soon enough. It's also steaming a lot as the spilled coolant
burns off the exhaust pipes. But then I notice the flashing oil light on
the dash, and I shut down the engine.
Turn the key to ON, and the light flashes. Start the engine, and it
still flashes; it doesn't go away with more RPMs.
I double-check the pressure sender wiring, and it's intact. Kind of a
longshot, as I never touched it today and it was fine yesterday. I
suspect something might be wrong with this oil pump; though I can't
imagine what. I didn't have oil pressure problems with the donor motor
before it was pulled, and the gears and plate looked to be in better
condition than what I had. But this is new territory for me, and there
might be more to this than I expected.
I checked the archives and don't see anything directly relating to this.
I have an VDO oil pressure gauge set-up attached to my baywindow van; I
am thinking that tomorrow I will remove the sender and intall it on the
vanagon and see what's really happening back there.
If anyone here has any helpful advice I'd REALLY appreciate it.
Happy Trails,
Greg Potts
Toronto, Ontario Canada
1973/74/79 Westfakia "Bob the Tomato"
1987 Wolfsburg Weekender Hardtop
www.busesofthecorn.com
www.pottsfamily.ca
