Oil pumps: High velocity, high pressure, both, neither?

So, if mellings is losing it's place as a high quality pump, what are the best remaining options?

Keep in mind that I am not racing. Just driving the CRAP out of this car....

Now that I think of it, THAT might be worse on the car than racing, because I do it all the time, everytime I drive it, not just on Friday nights for an 1/8th mile at a time...

 

On a clearanced race motor I've run a high preasure,on my "street" motors I run a Good standard pump,but I have found a high volume will just fill the valve covers with oil when you really turn the motor and make a mess,so I do not run a high volume,ever.(I've been known to turn a little Ford about out of the frame most of the time!)

 

So, how about Ford Racing standard oil pump?

Standard volume, etc...http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_10001_10002_217372_-1

I notice a lot of M's in the catalog number...probably just a Melling pump...

 

The Melling will work ok.
I just brought some info to the table as fyi.
Dammed if I would 'knowingly' choose a pump that might come apart in my $10k sprint car motor that gets raced every week.
You seem to always be hung up on details that have little value for hobby use.

 

I consider the oil pump to be a pretty important part of the engine, and would hate to buy a $36 model rather than a $45 model, and have it go out and screw up the entire motor.

A close and trusted friend had a bad experience with a melling and I wanted to make sure this wasn't a common issue with them. I am seeing that Mellings are not as reputable as they once were, but still are considered a trusted brand.

My main question was HV, HP, both, or neither...the brand was a side question during the thread...

Thanks for all input. My choices for my new pump have been narrowed down to 2 different models, as opposed to the 8-10 models before I asked this question.

 

I run a standard replacement Federal Mogal pump.On a 100,000 mile 302, 60 psi at 1500 rpm.No problems so far.

 

Ive always ran Melling pumps, standard volume

 

Melling standard volume here. So far no problems.

 

Been 5.50's in 1/8 on a standard Melling pump, never had any oiling problems. Just bought a new Motorsport a460 pump, open the box it has Melling cast into the pump.

 

I tend to agree.

Never in a million friggin' years.

This is the only post that has even remotely hit upon the problem of a high volume pump. If you do NOT have a deep pan a high volume pump will suck the pan dry and cavitate the pump. Dead bearings. For 9 out of 10 applications you will not need either a high volume or high pressure pump in a pushrod Ford engine.

And Mellings is just fine.

 

From the "What-it's-worth" Department.

I don't have near the experience a lot of guys on here have when it comes to engine breaking/building, so I have to depend on what the "specialist" advise me.

A long-time trusted SBF cam grind guru spec'd a High PRESSURE pump when I went to a bigger hyd roller cam.

I am in no way advocating the HP pump, just telling you what was recommended for my application (347 race-only .600/.605" lift hyd roller) - nor do I know the basis for his recommendation.


There. That oughta help.


p.s. I also have a hardened shaft :cuh huh: :cuh huh:

 

Rick, i was with you all the way up to this point...
a little more info than i needed...

RFF

 

A standard output will be fine, also will not have as much drag on the cam and dizzy shaft. Might save a little HP too. On the brand discussion, Melling has been my choice for 45yrs now and no issues. Had a Fed Mogul HP one time in a pinch situation, 110lbs of pressure and broke the pump and distorted the bearings after a few passes. Think I will start a new thread on the pro's and con's of using brand x or z and maybe clear up some confusion here.

 

If you didn't build the engine yourself and don't know what the actual bearing clearances are, I'd go with a HV pump. A stock volume pump works fine for a lot of engines but I like the HV pumps.

what folks fail to realize is that oil does much more than just lubricate! It also cools, provides a hydrodynamic "cushion", etc. The cooling is one of the most important things to look at. And of course a HV pump is going to move more oil past the same part, which pulls heat from that area quicker. Valve springs can last longer because a HV pump moves more oil to the top of the engine through the pushrods. The downsides of the HV pump are that they use a little more power to turn them. Some engines will lots of clearance issues (like excess oil clearances) can have a problem of pulling all the oil out of the pan (sucking it "dry") which leads to aeration and hot spots on parts, specifically bearings. In all the years of messing with motors, I've only seen it once...and I know what the problem was. Loose clearances at the cam bearings. I wouldn't even look at high pressure pumps. HV pumps for our Fords will provide about 65 psi on a Melling M68HV (302, 289) and 55-60 psi on 351w's. Plenty of pressure! Sometimes too much pressure can pop the galley plugs out of the block...Old Guy knows this from experience! 100+ psi will tend to do that.

The old saying that 10 psi per 1000 RPM...well...that's a misnomer. Maybe that's true for the Chevy guys but for most every Ford I've been involved with, 60 psi is PLENTY for everything up to about 750 HP and 8500 RPM. I run a Melling M83HV in the Maverick, M68HV in dad's fairmont and also in my Mustang. They've never let me down. I'd like to go to a dry sump for the Maverick, but that's some serious money and lots of plumbing...a little overkill for a turd stock-block 351w.

 

Melling makes the pumps for Federal Mogul. My federal mogul pump says m68hv stamped on it.