yesterday my car ran perfect . this morning i started it and the lifters wouldn't quiet down . i look at the "oil gauge" NO pressure . i shut it down. No damage to motor. it's a 1997. after doing some research i find out 97s have oil pump problems . specificly the pressure relief valve sticks. Its going to be a bitch to change.

if you were me, would you pull the motor, or drop the subframe to change pump?

What brand of pump would you buy?

 

buy the billet gears/pump from miataraodster( https://www.miataturbo.net/forums/member.php?u=2108 ), and just pull the motor alot less work trust me esp if you have a lift that tilts and a good work enviroment ie garage. remember to replace all of the seals WP and timming belt etc while it is all out to save some trouble later. GL man.

 

i would check the oil before i did anything

 

check the oil level and refill if needed, see if the pressure isn't back....

 

$500 for those ******* gears...god damn. Is that **** really worth it? I've never heard anyone here bitch about the oil pump.

 

they say the billet gears aren't needed until 350+ hp. i wouldn't sweat it for your build. what is your goal, 275 whp?

 

I had the oil pump fail in my old 99 as well. Same thing, the pressure relief valve would stick open and bypass all the oil pressure. It unstuck itself twice while troubleshooting the problem, but would always stick back open.

Dropped the subframe, pulled the pan and replaced the oil pump with another stock part (new). Pain in the ***, but it had to be done.

Some told me to pull the motor to do the swap, that may have been nice but I had access to a local shop (family friend) where I could put the car on a lift and drop the subframe and work that way. Seemed like a LOT less work that way IMO.

 

HP doesn't effect your oil pump and pump gears don't control volume or pressure if there the same size as the OEM. Unless your running high RPM I don't see the ($500 -cough-) point. I'd get a replacement pump then shim the spring with a washer. (= more pressure)
$.02

 

They are cheep sintered metal gears and htey fail with excessive vibration. If it wasn't for the 2-3 week wait for a set i woulda done it on mine last time i pulled the motor for sure.

 

first thing i did.


how much to shim? mazda pump or is there a more trustworthy brand?


can the pressure relief valve be axcessed without dropping the pan?

 

If you caught it in time, it should be OK... but, you might want to consider pulling the motor, just so, you can check everything out at the same time, bearings, and the rest of it. Just to make sure you haven't missed it before (remember the 95+ have stupid oil pressure gauges). IIRC, a buddy with a '97 swapped a motor, since when he checked, the compression was down on a few of the cylinders.

You might want to do a compression/leak down before you go any further. My buddy's original plan was to just do the oil pump.... compression said otherwise. <VBG>

Dave,

 

no it can not. it is right beside the oil inlet of the pump. get a melling or Other replacement pump. I think they are 100 or so $ but i am not sure. Also dont shim it to much or you will blow your turbo's seals out search m.net for oilpump shim for more info.

 

I installed two standard height SS washers from lowes, I want to say they were 1/4" ID washers and 1/16" tall each. That boosted my oil pressure from 35-40 psi up to 55-60 psi. I'm pretty satisfied.

 

got the f*&%ing pump out what a nightmare from hell. it would of been easyer to pull the motor, but i did it the hard way dropping the sub frame.

When i pulled the pump apart the relief was stuck. in fact when i tried to pry it out the end of my screwdriver broke.

 

oh that does not look like fun....