I had to replace three oil pumps in less than 80 miles. I've put about 150 miles on pump number three and it's holding. No one seemed to know exactly what was causing the shaft to twist off...but now I have the answer, or hope I do. Early 5.0s had a problem with leaky valve cover gaskets as they were being over tightened at the factory or by the owner. Ford's answer was to put small metal disks or pucks in holes in the gaskets at a measured thickness so that the valve covers would not be over tightened. As the years went on and the gaskets got older, they deteriorated and were replaced. If the mechanic did not account for all the tiny pucks, they could get in the system and pass through the screen and end up in the oil pump...freezing it and twisting off the shaft. Fortunately, I only had to pay for it once. I learned of this phenomenon from a mechanic who works for Performance Auto Sports in Richmond, Virginia. They build and race Mustangs.
5.0 Oil Pump Failure
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dragnazz5.0
My "0" key d0esn't w0rk, s0 I have t0 use the zer0
how would that metal piece get past the oil pickup screen? id ask to see the pump and just take it apart and see why it went bad
TT91
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neikoblu
New Member
I have yet to figure mine out either. I builta 331 and put 500mi on her and the day before I left to go into basic training the pump took a ****. twisted the shaft in half. My brother fixed it while I was gone, and 1000mi later it did it again. I used a Ford Racing pump first, then a Melling, and back to the Melling once again. I changed the Pickup after the second time the pump locked up and I havn't had the problem since. It has been about 8 months now so I am hoping that was the fix.
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