Oil Pump Belt

[Silverbullitt]

I bought a ratchiting box end at Sears and put a small strip of duct tape to hold the bit on. I removed the access cover and it wasn't much help. I reassembled everything from under the car. No access hatch next time.

 

[Specracer]

I used the same short T27 bit, but held by a small pair of vise grips, vs the 1/4 wrench. Worked for me.

 

[The Grey Ghost]

I bought a ratchiting box end at Sears and put a small strip of duct tape to hold the bit on. I removed the access cover and it wasn't much help. I reassembled everything from under the car. No access hatch next time.

I used the same short T27 bit, but held by a small pair of vise grips, vs the 1/4 wrench. Worked for me.

I found a thumb wheel rachet that holds the bit. Gave me more room to work.

Haven't changed the belt, but pull the cover and check it every oil change.

Jeff

 

[RALPHIE]

For close in Torx or Hex bolts, I found that Snap-On 's Blue-Point Ratcheting Bit Wrench, (Reversible, 5/16" hex drive) works quite well. I posted this a long time ago, but maybe some of the later members never saw it. You can get just the wrench -

http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item...675776&supersede=&store=snapon-store&tool=all

View attachment 28828

or, you can get it with 4 triple square bits (6mm, 8mm, 10mm, & 12mm) & 3 large Torx bits (T30, T40 & T45) -

http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item...675776&supersede=&store=snapon-store&tool=all

Any 5/16" hex bit (Craftsman, Husky, etc.) will fit in it, which I find nice, as often different length bits are necessary.

 

[BlackICE]

Note that the correct size bit is a T30 for the cover bolts, not a T27.

 

[ultrasportracing]

once you have the cover off, change the torx bolts for hex head, I used a ford part with a 8mm head large washer and the same length. so much easier to get them out next time, especially if doing it from underneath.

 

[Indy GT]

You are correct about "this is not the car to learn on". I have been working on rotary engines mostly, but this is slightly different . But this is my first car ever to have a dry sump system along with an oil pump belt. And once again I stress that I will be doing most of the work on this car, because the local "mechanics" here I dont trust or have not shown very much promise at all. And working on my car is part of the whole experience IMHO.

Hydouken. As some of the long time Forum contributors have pointed out we have systems on our GT’s which can be somewhat different than typical cars. I applaud you for wanting to work on your car and understand your comment that the ability to work on the car is part of the whole experience. That is great! And many here on the Forum are ready to help with tips and pointers. But consider your options when dealing with a system (oil) which if it fails can ruin your day.

Sure you can do it yourself and get the thrill of knowing you can and did work on the car but do you also know to look at the oil scavenge pump drive spline interface with the drive pulley for signs of relative motion? This is unlikely in the maintenance manual as it was assumed during the manual write that this would never be a problem. However there have been owners experiencing fit problems between these two parts which led to spline strip-out and loss of the pump drive (and thus oil pressure). Thus if this condition is present and overlooked during your belt changeout you may be smiling one minute and wondering what happened the next.

And I certainly understand your reluctance to turn your car over to any mechanic or a Ford dealer who likely is unaware of these or other issues to look for. All us owners feel the same way. But there are several specialized “mechanics” here on the Forum who know our cars inside and out, perform maintenance on them frequently and understand/appreciate the specialness of the FGT. I would highly recommend to the new ownership ranks the services of Rich/Dennis (GT Guys in Michigan) and Kendall (Cooltech) in California. They know what to look for, have usually performed the service many times and likely can perform the service at a very reasonable price. They might even let you watch them do the service, and you will be impressed as how quickly they can do it. I know Rich and Dennis travel round the country performing requested services and often perform maintenance services at our rally’s. Perhaps Kendall does this as well. Consider this option when service is needed on your car.

We have experienced a significant ownership turnover from the "early days" when we all learned about our car through others experiences. For those new owners having questions on how to do something, check out the search function of the Forum. You will likely find numerous posts from owners who went through the same or similar experience earlier in their ownership.

Again, no discouragement is intended in your wanting to work on your car, just consider the options available to you.:biggrin

 

[Empty Pockets]

^ Excellent, informative post as usual...^

 

[nota4re]

FWIW, Ryan has also done a fair share of traveling to owner's locations to perform GT maintenance and modification (and inspections). It's not easy right now becaues of his college schedule but he really enjoys to meet new owners, but he enjoys doing it a lot. His email is ryan.e.pond@gmail.com if you ever need to ping him for help.

 

[DakotaGT]

Yes, the more I read about the oil pump spline issue, the more I think that the strange metallic "grumbly" noise coming from my car is from that very issue. At first I thought it was maybe coming from the supercharger. It's had it since the day I bought it last year, and I've only put about 100 miles on it- seems to run fine, but I will sure keep a close eye on the oil pressure until I decide if I want to tackle it myself, or give the professionals a call...

 

[Kayvan]

Re: strange metallic "grumbly" noise

Search here for: rattle-snake buzz, "neutral roll-over", brake pad squeal, clutch clatter, chassis feedback, etc

Their are alot of metallic noises on GT (and Viper, ZR1 Vette, etc) that are unique to the hi-performance nature of the car and 100% normal

 

[Xcentric]

^^^Have you ruled out normal transaxle noise? The transaxle is so noisy when warm, it seems to me it would be somewhat difficult to isolate noises from other components.

 

[nota4re]

Yes, the more I read about the oil pump spline issue, the more I think that the strange metallic "grumbly" noise coming from my car is from that very issue.

First, I don't think there's an "oil pump spline issue". An anomaly, in my opinion. That said, if you have even the slightest suspicion that a strange sound is coming from the area of the oil pump, I wouldn't even start the car let alone drive it. Have it checked out by another GT owner as a first step. The last time I bought a GT motor from Ford it was $40K. Like everything else, it's probably gone up since then.... While I'm in a ranting mode, I wish owners would be a little more insistent on the care and prudence of those entrusted to work on these motors. We have a GT in the shop now and we pulled and checked the sparkplugs as part of some relatively routine maintenance. They had obviously been recently replace. Just makes sense to me that a little anti-seize between the threaded steel shank of the sparkplug and the aluminum head is very inexpensive insurance. There was none. Also, while maybe you don't use a torque wrench when throwing a new plug in a $200 lawnmower, common sense just says that you should use a torque wrench on your GT. The passenger side bank of plugs were all hand tight. If one of those had backed out a little further, the GT engine under boost would just spit that thing out and take a few threads with it!

 

[DakotaGT]

Re: strange metallic "grumbly" noise

Search here for: rattle-snake buzz, "neutral roll-over", brake pad squeal, clutch clatter, chassis feedback, etc

Their are alot of metallic noises on GT (and Viper, ZR1 Vette, etc) that are unique to the hi-performance nature of the car and 100% normal

Thanks for the suggestions. I am fairly mechanically- inclined and also no stranger to performance machines. This noise may be common, and may not be a symptom of anything serious, but I venture to say it is not "normal".

 

[DakotaGT]

^^^Have you ruled out normal transaxle noise? The transaxle is so noisy when warm, it seems to me it would be somewhat difficult to isolate noises from other components.

Yes,but thank you for your thought.

 

[DakotaGT]

First, I don't think there's an "oil pump spline issue". An anomaly, in my opinion. That said, if you have even the slightest suspicion that a strange sound is coming from the area of the oil pump, I wouldn't even start the car let alone drive it. Have it checked out by another GT owner as a first step. The last time I bought a GT motor from Ford it was $40K. Like everything else, it's probably gone up since then.... While I'm in a ranting mode, I wish owners would be a little more insistent on the care and prudence of those entrusted to work on these motors. We have a GT in the shop now and we pulled and checked the sparkplugs as part of some relatively routine maintenance. They had obviously been recently replace. Just makes sense to me that a little anti-seize between the threaded steel shank of the sparkplug and the aluminum head is very inexpensive insurance. There was none. Also, while maybe you don't use a torque wrench when throwing a new plug in a $200 lawnmower, common sense just says that you should use a torque wrench on your GT. The passenger side bank of plugs were all hand tight. If one of those had backed out a little further, the GT engine under boost would just spit that thing out and take a few threads with it!

I can't tell where the noise is coming from. After reading some more posts (and keeping in mind the noise that I hear) , some of the plausible possible causes that have been the culprits of others' noise gremlins include supercharger, tensioner, oil pump drive, ? Other. I wish it was as simple as going for a ride with another GT owner to see if this noise is "expected", but 1) there are probably only a handful of GT owners in South Dakota and I only know one, and he is over 200 miles away, and 2) GT driving-weather here is still about 3 months away.

The fact that I recently found out that the previous owner had the supercharger completely disassembled doesn't leave me with a warm fuzzy feeling. On the other hand, I bought the car from Shelby, so if he drove the car at all, he probably would have recognized an abnormal/problematic noise.

 

[nota4re]

The fact that I recently found out that the previous owner had the supercharger completely disassembled

Ahhh, probably much more likely as the suspect with this info...

According to Ford, the SC is not a serviceable part. This doesn't mean it can't be done, but the previous owner was "on his own" in replacing any parts, etc.

Use an Allen wrench and unscrew the fill/level pug that faces the rear glass. With the car level, oil should just want to ooze out of this fill hole. If it doesn't, add SC-specific oil until it does.

A not uncommon leak for the OEM SC is out the front seal. To determine if your seal is good, make sure the engine is OFF, and run your fingers along the underside of the snout - from the pulley back to the body of the SC. It should be dry. It you get any oil on your fingertips, its coming from the front seal. If you felt anything, grab a small flashlight and stand on the driver's side of the engine bay. Shine the flashlight down at the intake manifold directly under the snout. If it looks like a big waffle iron, you're looking at the right spot. The valleys of the waffle iron shouldn't have any butter... errr, oil in them.

If the oil level is fine and everything is dry, then I'd use an automotive stethoscope and listen in particular to the bearings at both the front and back of the SC. In my experience with the SC's failing, it is more common for the needle bearings to fail. These are at the end of the SC closest to the rear of the car. Typically, when these bearings develop a little bit of play, they let the SC rotors make contact with each other (ouch), and it can grumble as you describe.

 

[DakotaGT]

Ahhh, probably much more likely as the suspect with this info...

According to Ford, the SC is not a serviceable part. This doesn't mean it can't be done, but the previous owner was "on his own" in replacing any parts, etc.

Use an Allen wrench and unscrew the fill/level pug that faces the rear glass. With the car level, oil should just want to ooze out of this fill hole. If it doesn't, add SC-specific oil until it does.

A not uncommon leak for the OEM SC is out the front seal. To determine if your seal is good, make sure the engine is OFF, and run your fingers along the underside of the snout - from the pulley back to the body of the SC. It should be dry. It you get any oil on your fingertips, its coming from the front seal. If you felt anything, grab a small flashlight and stand on the driver's side of the engine bay. Shine the flashlight down at the intake manifold directly under the snout. If it looks like a big waffle iron, you're looking at the right spot. The valleys of the waffle iron shouldn't have any butter... errr, oil in them.

If the oil level is fine and everything is dry, then I'd use an automotive stethoscope and listen in particular to the bearings at both the front and back of the SC. In my experience with the SC's failing, it is more common for the needle bearings to fail. These are at the end of the SC closest to the rear of the car. Typically, when these bearings develop a little bit of play, they let the SC rotors make contact with each other (ouch), and it can grumble as you describe.

Thank you, Kendall. I will follow your advice. These are the threads I am referring to (previous owner of my car). I wish I had researched the car more before I bought it. Reading his old threads makes me squirm a little.

http://www.fordgtforum.com/forums/s...-Heat-Related-Questions?highlight=Josh+morken


http://www.fordgtforum.com/forums/showthread.php/18640-Supercharger-knock?highlight=Josh+morken

 

[nota4re]

I read the old posts you referenced. Looks like the previous owner replaced the needle bearings in the back of the SC but no one can say for sure that this was done correctly. Subsequent to this replacement, the previous owner was once again posting about a noise from the throttle body end of the SC (where the needle bearings are). The trouble with these needle bearings is that they're responsible for precisely aligning the very tight tolerances between the two rotors inside the SC. If there's any play or misalignment, then the rotors contact each other. Not pretty. Trying to help diagnose from afar, I think that there's a real possibility that this is your problem.

You need to address it as soon as possible. The concern is that if any metal fragment is dislodged, one of your cylinders is going to try to digest it. The good news here is that the OEM intercooler makes a damn good filter to keep the big chunks out, but you don't want to take any risks.

My recommendation would be to try to find a low-mileage OEM SC for sale and simply swap them. You can even keep the snout of the existing SC if you'd like to keep the pulley upgrade. Removing the OEM SC is VERY easy - we can do them now in about 10 minutes. Give yourself an hour for your first one, and you'll have it off with plenty of time to spare. If you need any help, post or PM me.

 

[twobjshelbys]

Yes, the more I read about the oil pump spline issue, the more I think that the strange metallic "grumbly" noise coming from my car is from that very issue. At first I thought it was maybe coming from the supercharger. It's had it since the day I bought it last year, and I've only put about 100 miles on it- seems to run fine, but I will sure keep a close eye on the oil pressure until I decide if I want to tackle it myself, or give the professionals a call...

I had that sound too - well maybe since I can't hear yours - and it was leaking S/C oil. It turned out the bearing seal at the snout had failed. I sent it to PSE Superchargers in Oklahoma City for a rebuild.