Morris Minor Owners Club

As the engine is stripped down and I'm unlikely to have the same opportunity again to replace it, how do I tell if the oil pump is in need of replacement? It appears fine to my untrained eye, but I thought I'd ask before I put it back together.

Open it up and show us the pictures please! But as your engine has been running without benefit of oil filtration - it's highly likely a new pump will be a good idea.

OK, I'll take a pic tomorrow. Thank you. I should stress that I've never run the car - it's as I bought it (well, hopefully now it's better than when I bought it)

for all the price of it, a new pump is a good idea

For £15 its a no-brainer, fit new if the engine is out and you don't know the history of it.

Sorry for delay - bonkers couple of days. Not sure what this can tell you however[frame][/frame]

It doesn't tell me it's worn. Just tells me that now it's off the engine you should buy a new one

Undo the screw and let's see inside.......

I would stick a new one on as a matter of course,would't even bother to examine the old one,unless you are curious.Or you know that its done v ery low milage,Tom roys advertise original type (Don't know what that means) £18.and copy £13.50,

Well that's somewhat better than ESM's £25 plus VAT. I was curious as I had never seen inside one before. Anyway here are the pics[frame][/frame]

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I am normally of the 'just fit new' brigade - but actually - that looks very good and should be fine for re-use. Later pumps are '5 lobe' but whether that is actually any better than the 3 lobe pump is debatable. Frankly - I think it will be fine to re-use it!

Yes it does look OK, it depends on state of mind,will you never think about it again when driving,or will you be thinking should I have put a new one in. OH dear you will now sorry

It's fine -don't listen to the doomsters.....

A good clean and stick it back in. I'd love one in that nice a condition for my pre-war Minor.

I do worry about some of these new parts - I mean a new pump for £15 and at least two people are making a profit it on it. It must be made from re-cycled Lancias in a back street in Kowloon. That one has proved itself sound.

Andy

Ah well - I wouldn't touch the '£15' pump with a barge pole. A decent pump from a good supplier - with carriage and VAT will be £25/30 . I have to say - from that picture it doesn't look like the engine has been running 'unfiltered' - are you sure the oil filter support plate is not stuck to the base of the old filter? Another possibility is that some filter cartridges have good 'steel' end faces, and since your spring was still present - the filter may have been held in place well enough to do the job even without the plate. Be sure to prime the pump with oil and a little grease on assembly.

That's great news. I'll bung it back on. I'll also check the base plate isn't stuck on the filter, as I still have the old one.
Thanks all again.

I would never refit an old oil pump (unless I knew for certain that it had had very little use).

The pictures show quite a lot of scoring marks (they were not there when the pump was new), so time to replace.

Good lubrication is essential to reliable engine working, so a new 'good quality' pump and good quality oil as well - others will disagree I am sure! Don't forget that the pump ALWAYS sees unfiltered oil, other than the very coarse pick-up strainer, so will usually wear out quicker than the rest of the engine.

The original 948 engine in our Minor had a rebore at 30,000 miles with its first owner, and an exchange crank at 47,000 miles with us as the second owner. Not untypical of its time and the quality of oil that was available then.

At 50,000 miles it was bored out to +0.060" and flat top pistons fitted, with a CR of around 9.5:1, along with all sorts of mods.

We always used the best quality oil that was available, and finally the engine was replaced with the current 1380 at 99,000 miles, still with the same crank and pistons, with virtually no signs of bore or crankshaft journal wear. It is now doing good service in a Frogeye Sprite, after sitting in our garage for around 12 years - still the same pistons and crank.

Honestly - there is VERY little wear on that pump, only some micro scoring - you should see what comes out of a Mini engine !! Yes the oil is 'unfiltered' - but only once round - as long as there is a working filter in the system the oil is essentially 'filtered'. You need to note 'swampy' that Richard always comes over with the opposite view to me......