Best oil pump?

[topgunn]

The 6.9 should be back from machine shop end of next week. Bore 30 over, balanced and will be ready to put together. Picked up cam from Russ this morning, so now focus on best pump. Any problems with any make?
Thanks ahead of time for input!

 

[typ4]

Check the end play on the old one , pull the cover and if it isnt gouged up and the end play is good re use it. I put a new Melling in mine and I am not happy with it. There is nothing to go wrong in them except wear.

 

[icanfixall]

Usually what the market has to offer is only the Melling oil pump. They sometimes have a clearance problem just as Russ posted but. He knows how to fix that if its a problem. Otherwise the oil pump from International is the best pump. It will have the Intenational name cast into the body.

 

[Devilish]

Usually what the market has to offer is only the Melling oil pump. They sometimes have a clearance problem just as Russ posted but. He knows how to fix that if its a problem. Otherwise the oil pump from International is the best pump. It will have the Intenational name cast into the body.

The oil pump has 2 gears that are pressed onto a shaft. The common failure of the aftermarket oil pumps is shaft working loose from a gear. I personally saw this in a truck I bought that had been overhauled and had an aftermarket pump installed. In this instance there's no replacement for original.

 

[david85]

As others have mentioned, replace the pump only if needed, not just to have a new one. I was asked if I wanted to replace my pump when the engine machinist was on the phone with the parts guy and I said no. Heard too many horror stories of defective melling pumps and poor service when things to go wrong. My understanding is they do not make checks on all of their pumps and claim to only do random testing.

Not good enough for me.

I don't consider oil pumps to be wear parts and unless there has to be a pretty catostrophic failure, they will typically last at least as long as the life of the engine block itself.

 

[topgunn]

My machinist told a simular story about new pump spinning on shaft. It wasted the rebuilt engine by the time it was shut down. I think I will stick with the old one and just pop the plate and check for wear. I plan on using my 7.3 heads with the 6.9 studs. Anybody see any problems, like maybe getting different washers.

 

[david85]

My machinist had some 6.9 heads ready to go, but they were drilled out for 7.3 style bolts (long story). After seeing the washers that came with the head studs, he recommended against using the heads he had. His concern was that the washer might not be able to transfer all of the clamping force down across the larger hole. I honestly can't say one way or another how likely a failure would be but I ended up getting genuine 6.9 heads with unmodified bolt holes. Those heads are probably still in their shop for all I know.