In bringing this old car back to reasonable working order, I tried to clean out the black charred crud sludge under the valve covers (it was blocking the oil drain holes). I ran several oil changes through the car (w/ ATF as a detergent) in the garage. During one of those oil changes, I lost oil pressure (see http://www.squarebirds.org/vbulletin...ead.php?t=3687 ). A tiny piece of hardened sludge made its way into the gears of the oil pump and locked the pump. The drive shaft snapped. I replaced the pump and shaft (and cleaned the intake screen).
Several months and a tank of gas later, the oil pressure light came on about 1/8 mile from the house. I idled the car back to my garage, dropped the oil pan and found another snapped oil pump drive shaft. Opening the oil pump revealed the same problem - tiny particles of hardened sludge. There were several larger pieces of the crud in the bottom of the oil pan. So now I'm a little nervous about driving the car at highway speeds. The oil pump is an easy fix, but I'm a little concerned about another failure.
Anyone have any suggestions beyond installing a new pump and crossing my fingers? Would placing another filter with a smaller pore size over the intake screen reduce my risk going forward? There's a hole in the intake screen that does not appear to be filtered - should that hole be plugged? Short of pulling the engine, is there any way to wash any remaining crud from the engine (i.e., compressed air, etc.)?
Sorry for the long post; thanks for any suggestions.
Several months and a tank of gas later, the oil pressure light came on about 1/8 mile from the house. I idled the car back to my garage, dropped the oil pan and found another snapped oil pump drive shaft. Opening the oil pump revealed the same problem - tiny particles of hardened sludge. There were several larger pieces of the crud in the bottom of the oil pan. So now I'm a little nervous about driving the car at highway speeds. The oil pump is an easy fix, but I'm a little concerned about another failure.
Anyone have any suggestions beyond installing a new pump and crossing my fingers? Would placing another filter with a smaller pore size over the intake screen reduce my risk going forward? There's a hole in the intake screen that does not appear to be filtered - should that hole be plugged? Short of pulling the engine, is there any way to wash any remaining crud from the engine (i.e., compressed air, etc.)?
Sorry for the long post; thanks for any suggestions.
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