V8 Oil Pump Drive

[John042]

Hi just a general info question. How's the oil pump driven on a Wedge 350i V8? The reason for the question is that I've just been reading a tale of woe of an oil pump drive failure on a V8S. Seems the oil pump is driven by a spigot from the bottom of the distrubutor? Is this the same on 350i Wedges please? I know the Cologne 2.8's had a shaft from the bottom of the distrubutor to the oil pump. Thanks J C.

[adam quantrill]

Yes it's the same.

Therefore - revvng the engine hard when the oil is cold will wear the drive gear.

If the drive fails you also lose the dizzy so the engine should stop fairly sharpish.

[John042]

Thanks Adam, obviously didn't stop the V8S owner from possibly trashing his motor? Maybe lucky if he can retrieve all the bits.

[adam quantrill]

How long did it run for on no oil? I had a Rover P5 that spat out all its oil and ran for about 3 minutes after.

After filling it up, and running for 10 minutes, all the tappets filled up, it quietened down, and ran fine for many thousands.

Probably serves me right for doing 120 up the M11 on the way back from buying it (way out of statute of limitations now, m'lud!)

[John042]

True Adam, amazing what these V8's will survive. Ran one with hardly any coolant for considerable time; always wondered why the heater wasn't effective! Who needs a modern euro box. Cheers J C.