I was snooping around the forums, and the craiglist.
I see quite a few "oil pump" failures on the 225's.
I was told these were pretty good engines, and lasted a long time.
Am I just misunderstanding something? I see it quite often when reading through things.

Aftermarket oilpumps have a drive gear that are not hardened correctly and supossedly fail. I had a oil pump in my motor before the rebuild, gear looked totally fine. But i bought a gear from doc here for my build and put it on a melling.

Even the strongest chain has a weakest link.

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"When you find a big kettle of crazy, it's best not to stir it." - Pointy-haired Boss

1964 Valiant V200, 225/Pushbutton 904
BBD, CAI, HEI, LBP, AC, AM/FM/USB, EIEIO

The cast iron oil pump drive gear found in the SL6 is relitivly small and rides directly on the mating camshaft gear so the design is somewhat "troublesome" to begin with.

Add-in low quality gears that are found on most of today's aftermarket oil pumps and gear failures become more common.

I'm not sure if SL6 oil pump "offerings" are more common then, say, SB Cebby or even BB Mopar oil pumps... I also see a lot of those oil pumps for sale on the web.

I do know that a bunch of SL6 oil pumps were "fire-saled" for "dirt cheap", out of the distribution system, a few years back. That may account for the high number of pumps we see for sale these days.
DD

oh great,. Well my 41 year old car has 69k on it right now. Is this something I should be changing? I am having no problems. Runs great. But I am wondering if I should replace the oil pump to be safe?

The old original gears are usually fine. Old cams are usually good too. If it's been in service for that many miles leave it alone. Problems arise when new, soft gears are used. New cams with improperly finished gears are used. Or when high volume pumps or high engine speeds are used.

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Joshua

Thanks. Guess I got paranoid. What started this is when I was trying to get my oil pressure switch off to install aftermarket gauges. Well I couldnt get it off. Ugh!!
Started doing some reading and thats when I was seeing oil pump failure. Kind of alarmed me.
When Greg and I just adjusted my valves I did notice my top end was not squirting oil hard. But rather just dribbling it out. I am wondering If my engine needs flushed which makes me nervous to do. My oil pump is original. Although my car sat for 15 years. Seems to run very quietly.

Anyway to ID a good pump from a lame pump?
I have a no name, made in USA pump here and it looks good, but ???
Anything to look for?
Hardend gear can be bought from??????
Thanks

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Hyper_pak

i'm glad to see this thread. 30 years ago, i had a 70 dart w/ 225. i began to notice the oil light starting to glow when i would pull up to a stop. i ended up getting rid of the car when this problem continued after i had changed out the oil pump.

my problem was the bearings had enough wear that the oil pressure was dropping when i'd stop. changing the pump was a waste of my time and money, at that juncture.

the reason i post this is, i'm thinking that if you're not having a problem and quality replacement parts are an issue, i'd recommend leaving it alone.

Yes, absolutely leave it alone and don't worry about it a bit. The factory setup is/was pretty bulletproof. It's only when you swap to a late rebuilt pump that you are likely to have problems.

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

I won't mess with it for sure. I just hope when i replace the sender, tomorrow, that it don't snap off in the housing. It is giving me a hard time and don't want to come off. ugh!!!

As an FYI...
Hopefully you have the special socket made to remove the oil pressure sending unit.
Ask around, may-be you can borrow one or just spend $6 to 8.00 and buy one at most auto parts stores or tool trucks.
DD

Thanks. I did see advance sells them. I hope I didnt round it off with the pliers trying first. Ugh...