Sunday, I had my car blessed. MUCH smaller than the California show. I've been having a bit of trouble tuning my first engine build, so I let him sprinkle the holy water on my engine. Anyway, we left. As I was running it through the gears (NEVER exceeding the posted speed limits) it died & backfired. After pushing it the mile home with my girlfriend driving & my 4-yr-old nephew working QC, I found I'd sheared the dizzy gear roll pin. -For the second time. I don't know. I'm no expert. Any hints? 351W. Melling hi-flow oil pump. Edelbrock Performer RPM cam. Mallory UniLite dizzy with the gear from the original re-build dizzy.
Damnit, i've heard of this happening before, but I can not remember the reason! I think it involved something with clearances, maybe in the dizzy body itself? Have you googled it, maybe someone else has had the same problem and posted about it somewhere...
I'm with Mojo in that I've heard something about this before. I think it has something to do with the high volume oil pump. If I remember right, I read somewhere that SBF engines DO NOT like high volume oil pumps. I don't know where I read it, or really any more than what I just wrote, but I do remember that I made a mental note to NEVER put a high volume oil pump on one of my Ford engines. Maybe someone can confirm what I've just said???
the first thing i would try is a thinner weight of oil.if you're running 30wt. maybe try 5W-20. what kind of oil pressure did you have when the engine was running at idle? why does it have a high-volume pump? did you have low oil pressure? there is NO reason to have one otherwise.low oil pressure is caused by worn and/or incorrectly sized connecting rod and main bearings.
Now that you mention it, it seems like it was high volume oil pumps! Maybe you could try a stock type oil pump, and see how that works for you?
Yeah. I just heard back from mallory. They said the oil pump was causung it & they put a spiral roll pin in the new ones (mine had a spiral pin.) I guess I should get a cheap-o oil pump. Thanks
On second thought, what would a race engine that NEEDED the extra flow use? I'm borderline. Melling's website says the regular oil pump is good to about 4000rpm. I rarely exceed 4000rpm, but the cam is good 1500-6500rpm. I'd like my engine to fully use the cam. I just heard from Melling. They think something (particle)blocked the gearotor(tm). But it has a fresh oil change this time. Yesterday, I put a big magnet on the bottom of the oil pan. Maybe it would make a difference. Maybe it won't. It would make sense that I should be able to use a hi-flow oil pump if I want - or if my motor needs it.
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