I recently found out that my oil pump has gone bad. I bought this new oil pump under recommendation from someone at a local parts house.. Its a Melling oil pump, M-55HV, I haven't put it in yet mainly because of 2 things. 1st thing is I need a New Intermediate Shaft, says it needs a Pinned Steel Sleeve.. I have no clue what this is talking about, its got ther regular drive shaft type it seems on the oil pump its self and its came with a spring and a little thin medal piece. Can anyone tell me exactly what this is and if I need to get it? It says this is a high output oil pump.

Also, this is for a 1989 Chevrolet Camaro 350 s.b. TBI

TIA.

 

you have to replace the shaft because the stock collar on the intermidiate shaft is plastic and with the high volume pump it can break cause your pump to fail and damage your engine, so you replace it with the steel one peice shaft. I picked one up at NAPA for it think it was like 15 or 20 bucks. I just told them i needed the steel shaft for the mellings hi-vol pump and they knew what to get. Also kragen/checker/shucks may have it if your local one has the performance area. But yes definatly get it do not put the pump on without it.

 

Should I assume you are mechanically inclined? You do realize where the oil pump is don't you? My advice on something as extensive as this is if you don't know where it goes or how to do it, enlist the help of someone who does, or pay to have it done. Changing the oil pump on a camaro is a hard job. If you have a high mile motor, you should seriously consider this as a good time to make the re-build. Going through the hassle of changing the oil pump and then re-building months, or even a year or two later is counter-productive. Make no mistake you have your work cut out for you.

 

---has the M-55HV in the 355. It's a damn good oil pump.


First off Blown is right this is a hard part to change...you have to unbolt both motor mounts and jack the engine up about 4-6" just to get the pan off to get TO the oil pump. It's a lot of work and if you're close to needing a rebuild you might as well just go on and do it cuz you're already gonna have the engine halfway out.

As far as the pump: go to Napa for the steel-sleeve shaft you have to have it dont try to get around it. The pump comes out of the box in a high-volume, high-pressure configuration. The spring and pin are to change the pump over to high-volume, standard pressure. Whether or not you do this is entirely up to you, but keep in mind if you have a lot of miles on the engine then the bearings won't be able to maintain the 70 or so psi that a high-press config will stabilize at. And if I were you I'd get a deep oilpan to put back on, cuz high-volume pumps DO suck more oil. You don't wanna run the pan dry and torch your rotating assembly. Also it's a good idea to tack-weld the pickup onto the pump so it won't vibrate it's way out. That will kill your engine too.

 

Thanks for the help guys.. I do know what I am doing.. I just did alot of major work to the top end of the engine, had heads machined and replaced push rods etc, whole works, but then I noticed I wasn't getting enough oil.. I have replaced the seal on the oil pan before so I know whats envolved but I haven't replaced an oil pump before..

Thanks for the help guys.

 

I just thought to add that Im runnign the same pump and I like it a lot. AutoZone had the shaft, of course I didnt know I needed it until I got home. The shaft didnt lock in place like the stock one did, but I dont think theres room for it to go anywhere between the dist. and the pump.

 

Well, Im wondering If I should take that one back and get the stock one. I'd like to have the extra psi but I don't think I want the trouble that comes with it. That other guy was saying that I would need a deeper oil pan, among other things, which I really don't feel like replacing right now. So I may just take that one back and get the stock one they had so that I don't have any other problems..