Bullet Proof Engine Part 4

[FRP]

Oil Pumps, Pans and Crank Dampers.
This will be a short and easy post as it is a very straight forward part of the engine.

Oil pumps should always be disassembled and internal clearances and condition verified. Pumps can be perfect with very high miles or very imperfect at only moderate mileage depending on oil change intervals and whether any debris has been circulating in the bottom end. High performance engines don't tolerate a compromised oil delivery system so pay attention to internal clearance wear and look for any galling or evidence of metal transfer or debris embedment. Replace the pump if you doubt its
condition.

A lot of oil pumps present easy opportunities for flow improvement with carful internal porting and polishing with the most obvious areas being the rounding and radiusing of sharp corners in the intake and delivery ports and passages.

Pumps should have their internal parts coated in a light assembly lube to assure vacuum will be produced on start up. Retaining bolts and their female threads should be clean and oil free on reassembly. I use a small drop of medium strength (blue) thread locker on these bolts.

Oil pumps containing the front crank seal should always get a fresh seal and the seal should always be lubed before installation.

Internal style pumps driven by shaft or chain should have close attention paid to the drive mechanism
and sprocket retaining bolts etc. Again, use thread locker on any parts critical to your engine's survival!
When installing front mounted pumps make sure the seal slides cleanly over the seal race as being rough with this process can damage the seal. I always add a little extra "gudintite" to the torque on any oil pump mount, drive and oil pump pick up bolts since I find most factory torque specs a little less than confidence inspiring. Just don't over do it - obviously.

When installing oil pick ups be sure that the bolts and receiving threads are dry and get thread locker.

* On pump pick up flanges which utilize a paper or composition gasket as apposed to an o ring, I always do a pre assembly without thread locker and let the joint age overnight to compress the gasket. Then I do a final assembly the following day using thread lock compound. Always tighten the pick up flange bolts before any pick up brace bolts so the tube is in its natural position and not stressed between the brace and the tube mounting flange.

When installing pans just make sure everything is super clean, make sure there is no improper interference between the bottom of the pick up and the oil pan and put pan gaskets on dry without any sealer. Pan gaskets are an engineered system designed to work as they come out of their packaging.
I always re-torque pan gaskets over a couple days upon motor completion (same thing with head gaskets as we will discuss later) to allow for gasket "settlement" so the torque does not diminish.

Crank Damper installation should always be done according to factory specifications in the specified
manner. Be sure if your engine uses a torque to yield fastener (fasteners) for the damper that these are replaced with new bolts.

On our Audi 5 cylinders with their unique damper mounting the re assembly of the damper to the crank
is critical and requires factory or aftermarket factory style tools to complete the proper torqueing of the huge 18 mm bolt. Make sure that the cam belt drive cog is in good shape and inspected closely for any cracking around the alignment key. This piece is an "investment casting" due to the shape of the cam belt teeth and is prone to cracking if there has been any looseness in the damper to crank nose joint. Use thread locker on the bolts that mount the cam drive cog to the balancer hub.

With regard to the trouble prone (on high HP engines) joint between the crank nose and the damper, it is critical that the crank nose, balancer mounting face and the friction washer are in good condition without evidence of galling on any of the mating surfaces. The crank nose, if suffering from galling or cold welding, should be addressed while the crank is out of the motor. They can usually be cleaned up with a judicious and careful application of a flat abrasive pad on a small 90 degree grinder applied very squarely to the nose of the crank. The friction washer should be replaced if you can source one. If you can not then you will need to flat sand it on emery cloth laid flat over a piece of glass or machined steel until the profile is smooth. I then recommend glass beading the washer to add a little "tooth" back to its surface. Treat the butt end of the damper as the crank nose if it is galled.

To properly re install the damper assembly you need the factory style crank holding tool that engages the lug in the damper hub and bolts to the block, and a 3/4 inch drive torque wrench.

The crank holding tool or "brace" as it is referred to in the factory manual is tool number 3256. There are aftermarket equivalents that do the same job. There is another factory tool that extends the torque wrench called a "spanner" which is tool number 2079. The crank damper is installed with the cam belt in place and the brace bolted to the front of the block being careful to seat the damper hub against the crank nose with the alignment tab in the cam drive cog mated with the notch in the crank nose.

At this point apply blue thread locker liberally to the bolt threads and hand tighten it while supporting the damper pulley with your other hand. (You can also run it in lightly with an impact - again supporting the pulley until the bolt tightens enough to square the damper up).

Double check the tightness of the crank holding tool as it needs to be bolted very firmly to the front of the block so that it can not twist with the massive torque you are about to apply. Now, using the spanner you torque the bolt to 350 NM or 258 ft. pounds. If you are not using the spanner and the socket is attached directly to the torque wrench then the spec is 450 NM or 332 ft. pounds.

This procedure can not be done on any normal engine stand. The engine needs to be in the car or be bolted at the bell housing flange to something really heavy and stable and there needs to be a support leg placed under the front of the block . I have a mounting plate bolted to a
huge sheet metal sheer in my shop that I bolt these engine to in order to accomplish this task.

* Do not try to do this job without these tools as it will not be sufficient and there will be movement between the damper hub and the crank
nose with all sorts of bad consequences.

Next post will be cylinder heads. Cheers!

[JasonNorin]

Yeah I need to learn a lot of things about Cylinder heads as mine is starting to wear off.. Looking forward to the next post.

[FRP]

I am going to get back on this thread and get it finished very soon. Sorry for the long delay.

[All_Euro]

Love all the detail you're including the these processes - tiz greatly appreciated