PSA for anyone with a Boundary oil pump
 

First off let me say that it's nice to have a company that will build you a bulletproof pump. However, after I built my engine I noticed a small oil leak from the pump. After investigation it was the Allen head plug that seals the high pressure port. Boundary doesn't use the correct plug, and they don't use sealant. Mine was leaking. I took the OEM plug out of my old pump and it's tapered where the one boundary gives you is not. Installed the oem plug with liquid Teflon, and viola no more leak. Hope this helps someone building an engine, check this plug before you install it.

I also noticed on shibby's car that the threads felt parallel, which could keep tightening until it was recessed in the housing.

Thanks for the heads up.


@Shibby oil drops?

1/4" npt?

Yessir that's exactly it, the plug boundary gives you is just straight threaded the OEM is pipe thread I believe . You might get sealing with the boundary plug if you use sealant

I believe so, the plug head OEM is 1/4" hex, the boundary plug is 6mm. Not 100% on the thread pitch

This is what you're referring to right?

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yessir

Good to know I'll have to vehck mine

It'd be really weird if they shipped with a set screw instead of a tapered threaded plug. If BE keeps the stock thread size, it's actually 1/4BSPT, which may look straighter if you're comparing to a 1/4" NPT. There is such a thing as BSPP, parallel threads, but they require an O-ring to seal, so I can't imagine they'd even make BSPP plugs.

I don't have a side by side picture but I can tell you whatever BE sends you keeps threading in never seems to tighten, the OEM plug definitely gets tight and it's tapered. The BE plug definitely leaks pretty bad.

Mine was loose too. Used the BE plug but with sealant. And tighten.

NPT and BSPT are the same taper angle, 1" diameter per 16" of length. The threads are different, though.

Just pulled my NIB pump out of the box and confirmed I have the same plug based on appearance alone. Pump has not been removed from the bag yet.

I would pull the plug off your old OEM pump and reinstall on the BE pump with Teflon paste and win at life

Sure, why would anyone think the only 2 parts (plug + seal), other than the gear that were replaced could possibly be sub-standard.

Totally man it makes ZERO sense. I love the pump but I mean WHY use a shitty crank seal and some random plug? Makes no sense to me at all

Likely it is done by their supplier to save money without letting Boundary know. Either that or they were told "It'll work and save money"

I have a question while this post is about the plug. I got my Boundary oil pump and I was cranking the motor to get oil pressure prior to the first startup and I received none! I looked at my oil filter, no oil. I looked at my pump and the screw or "plug" is threaded down in the pump a good amount. I'd say probable close to half an inch. I was wondering if this plug prevents oil from traveling down the channel or what. Could this be why I have no oil pressure? If so PLEASE leave a reply. If all I have to do to get oil pressure is loosen a screw, I will be so happy. Thanks :)

I don't see how that plug could be your issue, but I couldn't build enough pressure with the starter to register pressure on my OEM dummy gauge.

How are you measuring oil pressure?

I assume you are talking about the plug on the left side of the pump right to the side of the alternator? What I suggest doing is removing the plug, putting a long funnel in, then pouring oil down it until it starts to come out the plug hole. Then put in the plug, remove spark plugs and unhook injectors. Spin the motor with a battery charger on it until you build oil pressure.

Ok thank you, I will try that :)

I am just using the stock oil pressure gauge on the dash as of right now. I will more than likely upgrade to an innovate gauge sooner or later :)

Apologies in advance for the slight necro, but this feels a relative topic for the "Boundary Pump PSA".

In addition to this plug issue, I've heard from multiple sources, including an engine builder here in MN, that the pump internals are mfr'd extremely sloppy. Burrs, shavings, etc. I have another friend that had his engine grenade and the root cause was determined to be the boundary pump seizing. Boundary denied any accountability even when sent pictures of the pump internals showing the poor mfr quality causing the issue. The builder I referenced above said that if you get one, crack it open and clean up the burrs and shavings on the components and you should be good to go.

All this in mind I went to search for similar issues. Curious what the hive mind thinks about these other issues.

That's not real because that's not how we execute warranty. At the very least, every customer gets to purchase the gear at 50% of retail value under the racers warranty program. Most people do not perform clean assembly, then they claim the engine exploded because the pump stopped pumping. The only problem with that is, if the pump stopped pumping, how did it suck fresh debris into it?

Everyone looks for a scapegoat when an engine goes wrong, but at this point, we CMM every single gear, on top of an in-process CNC inspection and an after-process hand blueprint inspection. I'm not saying there aren't failures, but out of the thousands sold yearly, the return rate is less than 1/1000 for this line.

PSA we don't machine copper here at Boundary. Also, the super dark fuzzy steel is block machining swarf.

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I believe it. I tried to return my gears that had manufacturing defects but was told it was normal and to run them. Weird that the pics of the gears on the website didn't have the normal marks on them. The BE pump will be the only part in my new engine with "only visual" manufacturing defects.

I know exactly who you are because I see every complaint or return.. You were told you could return the gear for a full refund or get another one. We also told you the replacement would likely have the same vice clamp marks on the inside due to how we've been machining the part for the last 20 years, and it never caused an issue. We never heard from you again.

But sure, come beat up on my company with six employees including myself who manufacture their product under our roof and stood behind this community for 20 years. Do it long enough, and there won't be any of us left.

I had to deal with Fab9, my email directly to your company was not answered IIRC. They told me what you told them. I believed you and took your advice to just run them. Obviously swapping one set for another with the same visual defects is pointless so I skipped that.

Still think you should update the pics on your website to reflect the normal marks that you have been machining for the last 20 years. Or mention it on the website, or in the instructions that it's normal for BE gears to have marks on the drive flange.

FWIW the gears I bought were pristinely clean, and the measurements I took all looked great. Certainly, no metal shavings.

I will come to bat for Boundary any day of the week. There is zero reason to slander them over a visual imperfection.

When I first received my pump I also had the same mark. Anyone with a reasonable understanding of these cars would conclude that a mark there would not matter at all. It's on the inner edge by the crankshaft, never crosses over the pump housing, and is not against any seals. The ONLY reason I contacted Fab9 over this was to confirm if it was an outlier or not. As soon as they told me it's a mar from their manufacturing process it made total sense. I wrapped up my rebuild and ran the engine. Nearly 6000 miles of regular redlining later the engine still runs great. The secret to my success? keeping things CLEAN and verifying all clearances.

I won't name names, but nearly every aftermarket part I received from Miata focused companies has had swarf and burrs. And I'm talking about mainstream companies adored by this community.

My boundary oil pump was the only component I didn't have to thoroughly deburr and clean.

My Boundary has always been fine. Years of boosted track abuse hasn't killed it.

I have a few comments about the Boundary pumps. In the past I thought and posted that the Boundary pumps were based on the OE pump casting. After recently comparing them to several pumps including OE, I have come to the conclusion that I was incorrect. I believe they are based on the aftermarket ITM pump.

Since ITM does not manufacture a 2kyr+ BP6D pump with the thicker 10mm gears, it requires Boundary to mill the pocket for the gear rotors .5mm deeper. Mazda does still offer both pumps (9.5mm &10mm thick gear rotors) new. The OE pumps cost about 2 &3X more than the ITM. Some aspects of the OE design are better. The main being the pressure relief system. I tested the hardness of the gears because that is a factor for strength and service life. The OE were about 5Rc and the Boundary were 32-35RC which I have to give props to them for that aspect. As far as I know there are no other options for high strength gear rotors and the OE's are just too weak for performance use.

I recently replaced my front seal because of a small leak. I'm running the stage 2 Boundary pump. The stage two is built on the dimensions of the 01-05 VVT pump with the 10mm thicker gear rotors. As I have mentioned that the pump used for these is an aftermarket 91-2k pump which in standard form has the 9.5mm thick gear rotors, so it requires them to bore the housing deeper. Initially I thought this was an ok concept, but now after much examination I believe it is marginal at best. When boring the housing deeper the rotor minimizes the return passage between the seal and the gear rotor. This passage is to prevent pressure build up on the seal. There is also another issue with the pressure bypass having a narrower passage and ultimately only 1 release port vs 2 on the OE pumps.

For the average build and output the aftermarket design seems to work. If I were building an engine for track use, I would by the Boundary gears and a new 2K+ OE pump. FWIW There are further improvements that can be made on ports of the OE pumps.
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