New WBX vw oil pump cover

[itchyfeet]

It appears painted, should I remove the paint on the pump side or fit as is?

thanks
Paul

[dave friday]

Well that's very worring[sp] what if the paint breaks up?!! how to get the paint off without scratching the surface,thats the problem!

[itchyfeet]

It may be just oil blacked, it does look thin
I'm leaning to fit as is

[dave friday]

Try scraping a bit off a non working area ( at the side where it's bent back?)

[itchyfeet]

Looking at the gasket it's 0.15mm, whatever the finish it's thin so won't have an effect, going to fit as is.

Pulled the old pump this arvo, cover looks good and pump endfloat is less than 0.1mm so not sure the new pump will make any difference, got a new spring & pressure relief valve also.

looking at the wiki there is a wbx oil pressure survey which shows many are below the min 2bar (29 psi) at 2000rpm at 80 degrees C that Bentley states. ( Wiki hot 2krpm 15-35 psi 1.03-2.41 bar)

Mine is 1.5 Bar hot at 2k measured with wet guage

[silverbullet]

FWIW, those oil pump gasket that come in the kits are far too thick. 0.15mm is approx. 6 thou in old money, which is more than the allowable end float on the oil pump gears. It should be more like 0.05mm which is what the OEM "baking paper" ones are closer to.
Excessive end float means low oil preasure because of oil bleed over the ends of the gears.
You would be better off cutting a gasket from BR bog roll

[itchyfeet]

Thanks SB

I have read about gaskets that are too thick but never seen comment on what's right.

the gasket that was on is 0.15mm and comes from an Elring set
the gasket I just got from VW heratige is the same at 0.15mm

I was thinking the same, what's the point of a 0.1mm end float limit if you have a gasket that 0.15mm

Just measuring some alternatives,
printer paper 0.1mm
grease proof paper 0.05mm
sprial notepad 0.07mm

thinking I should be making one now... where's my scalpel

[silverbullet]

Yes the Elring and Reinz ones have a stupid thick pump cover gasket, along with a felt seal for the crankshaft spigot that is too big to fit in the flywheel... no excuse for it really.

[itchyfeet]

Where do you get the right ones from?
do you think making one from greaseproof paper at 0.05mm will be ok?
I have the yellow elring sealant for head nuts I could use also.

thanks for your help it's appreciated

[silverbullet]

Give it a go? If it leaks you will soon know, but a thin gasket is less likely to leak or blow out.
I modify the pumps to take an O-ring in the front, then the special sealing nuts are unnecessary.

[itchyfeet]

Thanks will try it and report back

[marcus_asparagus]

Can you not just use a smear of sealant and no gasket? Being careful not to get it inside the groove?
Just a thought like.

[silverbullet]

Can't answer that. I do know that the O-ring mod works.

[itchyfeet]

Maybe but what sealant?
many sealants need a minimum thickness to work.
Yellow Elring head nut is very thin and may be ok but I'd sooner see a 0.05mm bit of paper in there.

[colinthefox]

I've moaned to Brickwerks about this a couple of times, but have not got a satisfactory reply apart from "That's quite worrying", and "we'll look into it".

One big problem with the thick gaskets is that the pump won't self prime, because with the huge end clearance it won't suck up oil when it's empty. You could run the engine till it blew the bearings and it wouldn't pump oil. I imagine that could happen if left unused for some time too. Good for selling more gaskets though!

It seems totally ridiculous that these are being sold when the right gasket would cost no more to produce than the wrong one.

I just used a THIN smear of Reinzosil (Silicone) sealant, and it self primed instantly and worked OK.