GTR Oil Pumps - Loose Backing Plate

[Mrshy32]

Picking up on what someone said about the Sinister bearing problem, There are two further R32 engines in pieces in Canberra which both had loose screws in the Oil Pump backing Plate.....! That makes 4 I personally know of....!

Mine had no bearing issues, but I did have an Oil Pressure Gauge that did wierd things. Up and down in pressure for no apparent reason - was thought to be a gauge problem and turned out to have loose backing plate screws......! Would have caused a mess if left for long, and would explain why Sinister could run a bearing a slow speed - if he has the same problem....?

OH - SHY32 is stripped. Not much damage, crank is OK, bore is fine. New Pistons, Rings, Bearings and back on the road soon with new N1 Oil Pump and N1 Water Pump.

Watch out for the loose Oil Pump screws guys.....?

Wayne

[Fitzpatrick Speed Works]

its not the loose screws that are the problem its what causes them to come loose the r32 crank drive is to small and vibrates the pump smashing the gears and as a result makes the backing plate loose!!!!

[Amaru]

Just to add, theres one other thing that could cause oil problems at such a low speed.

The R32 GTR oil pump drive on the crankshaft is physically too small and wears out causing screwey oil pressure. This was fixed on the 1994 models with the r33 gtr running gear.

Im curious as to what caused Richards to fail though.

[proengines]

The oil pump screws coming loose was always a problem on the RB30 engines as well. A dob of loctite fixes it though. Most early RB engines have one or two loose when you strip them but it's not as big a problem on an RB30 as they very very rarely have a conrod bearing failure. A combination of detonation and low oil pressure is a killer for conrod bearings though. An N1 pump is an expensive fix though as from what I've seen the gears are the same size and they just run a tad stiffer relief valve spring. you can do the same to the STD pump if the gears and housing are ok.

[oscar32]

Does this apply to RB20's as well??

[LTSJayce]

And the next question(Nik,Greg,Wayne:feel free to guide us through this one...):how easy/hard is it to get to said oil pump to check if said screws are loose or if the pump is ****ed? Do you go through the sump? Engine out? Or? I just don't know how it's done...

[Amaru]

Pretty sure its basically an engine out job (could be wrong though...)

[Stirlo_GTR]

Jayce I think what Nik is trying to say is... yours are fine...

[LTSJayce]

Jayce I think what Nik is trying to say is... yours are fine...

LOL! Yeah,I figured mine were OK...just getting a smidge paranoid!

[Amaru]

With good reason to be paranoid... besides the possibility of erratic oil pressure readings (which may or may not happen due to dodgy pressure sender units, and which people ignore for the same reason) it takes < 1 second for it to let go and kill the engine completely (just ask s13drifter).

From everyone its happened to though, it doesnt really seem to be a problem until 100,000+kms (and some people never have a problem at all).

[proengines]

Jayce, to get the oil pump off its a matter of removing the timing belt, crank gear, tensioner/idler etc and removing the pump. It's the bottom aluminium housing, the pump gears are in the back of it and the cover plate screws on from the back with countersunk screws. If you were replacing the timing belt its probably another couple of hours work after that. It's a bit of rooting around though as it's on two dowels and the sump bolts hard against the bottom of it with no gasket, only silicone so it might be a little awkward to fit it all back up. The only thing I'm not sure of is if the boss for the oil pressure relief valve would let the pump move far enough forward before it hits against the inside of the sump. Then again, if you were going to remove the sump to fit a baffle it would be dead easy.

Having said that, I wouldn't bother doing it unless you had a low oil pressure problem or erratic readings. The engine I just finished is an R32 and the screws were loctited in that from the factory and everything was all still tight.

[Stirlo_GTR]

Amen Nick, mine was very irratic and is dead now...

[DAN00H]

thankfully mine is good never moves.

[LTSJayce]

Jayce, to get the oil pump off its a matter of removing the timing belt, crank gear, tensioner/idler etc and removing the pump. It's the bottom aluminium housing, the pump gears are in the back of it and the cover plate screws on from the back with countersunk screws. If you were replacing the timing belt its probably another couple of hours work after that. It's a bit of rooting around though as it's on two dowels and the sump bolts hard against the bottom of it with no gasket, only silicone so it might be a little awkward to fit it all back up. The only thing I'm not sure of is if the boss for the oil pressure relief valve would let the pump move far enough forward before it hits against the inside of the sump. Then again, if you were going to remove the sump to fit a baffle it would be dead easy.

Having said that, I wouldn't bother doing it unless you had a low oil pressure problem or erratic readings. The engine I just finished is an R32 and the screws were loctited in that from the factory and everything was all still tight.

Thanks G. ! I figured as much...Mine seems to be one of the few perfectly running GTR's floating about. No weird oil pressures or temp's to speak of. Of course I've now jinxed myself horribly,and an engine meltdown is imminent,LOL!! Seeing that Ed' is about to fit up a sump baffle,oil cooler etc,I'll probably get him to eyeball it whilst he's "down there". Anyway,Pro Engines will be the (un)lucky recipent of my RB when it comes time to do the "upgrade"!

[Scooby]

Thanks G. ! I figured as much...Mine seems to be one of the few perfectly running GTR's floating about.

car looks pretty planted to me, thought it was just the driver that floated about...?

Heh heh