Oil system myths

I just sat through a webinar that featured Tim Foster from Melling (another name drop...never met the man or talked to him but some think that’s a name drop) and the lecture covered many areas of oil pump and oil system requirements.

Three things stood out to me that were myths he debunked.

The first one was a high volume oil pump “sucking” the pan dry. As most of us understand, the system has a volume of leaks built into it from bearing clearances and clearance between the lifters and the lifter bore.

Once those clearances are set, the volume of oil the engine uses does not change, no matter how much oil you try to force through the leaks.

A high volume pump can not “suck” the pan dry.

The second was about lubrication for the timing chain. He pointed out several OEM’s are now specifying pumps that have a built in spray hole to put direct pressure oil on the timing set. He mentioned the OE’s doing it and I don’t recall exactly which engines they were but IIRC one was the late model Hemi.

The third thing he said that I found interesting was his discussion about oil pump mounting surfaces. Tim Foster said the surface of the main cap where the oil pump mounts and the surface of the oil pump should be as flat as possible to maintain any kind of seal.

When asked the question about using a gasket between the cap and the pump if one was available his unequivocal answer was YES. Since a SBM has a gasket available, and according to Tim Foster of Melling that gasket SHOULD be used.


The upshot of all this is get the correct pan to pickup clearance according tone pan you are using, get some pressurized oil to the timing set, and use the gasket between the pump and the cap.

I think by Friday the webinar will be posted online, but I’m not sure if you didn’t listen to it today that you will have access to it.