Oil pump - Lifespan?
 

Being new to this engine, how long have your oil pumps lasted? I pulled my pump off today and not only do the seals look good, but both rotors look almost new. The engine has just over 60K on it, but it has been sitting for few years. I can seal the seals drying out, but would the pump go bad? I can see doing the preventative maintanance (and I will definately replace the seals) but it might be unnecessary to replace the pump. Opinions?? :confused:

The filters are routinely replaced, but I have not heard much about the oil pumps needing to be replaced.

According to Beav the oil pump shouldn't need to be replaced. Just the seals. Alot of people replace them (me included) when doing the timing belt but apparently it isn't necessary.

Engine oil pumps have a excessive amount of capacity. It takes a lot of bearing clearance or other issue for them to not be able to keep up with demand.

There was a situation with Legacy or Loyale pumps in the past that caused them to push the front seal out and crate a leak, but as far as I know it was never an issue for the SVX. I suppose some dealer techs just remembered the problem and mindlessly decided the SVX was included in that TSB or maybe they just thought a leaking o-ring or seal was good enough excuse to hose the customer for a pump.

It's really nice to be a part of this site that has such technical expertise. I think I will just replace the o-ring and front main seal and put the rotors back and re-use my oil pump. When I get the engine up and running I'll know if I screwed up.
I've read about people using RTV when sealing their pumps (I cleaned some off today), but my semi-worthless Chilton's manual says to just use a gasket. :confused: What do you guys recommend? Seems like a small bead of RTV might be the way to go. Thanks

Subaru oil pumps (those not attached to Loyale's) are bullet proof. It's very rare we have to do one at the shop. My 95 SVX has the original oil pump with almost 160,000 miles now. My mom's 93 Legacy has the original oil pump with 140,000 miles. It is common to replace the crank seal though.


Dave