gisbradokla

I have been reading about drive gears being worn. I have just experienced the same. I would like to know what you are to do when this happens. The part is just 6 bucks. I will try to post my photo but suffice to say there is metal missing. With so much metal obviously in my oil is just an oil change enough? Should I replace the part, then pull the pan? Is there a way to otherwise flush the oil system?

mr.beachcomber

It's hard to say w/o knowing how many miles are on the engine and when was the last time you checked your oil pump's drive gears. The gears will wear over time. That's a given. The question is all this wear occurred in what time period, short or long. Normally, your maintenance oil & filter changes will clean the system of excess wear metals.

I would only be concerned if the wear developed in the last few thousand miles. Then you need to check for the reason all that wear occurred in such a short time frame and
change the oil & filter on a short (~3K mile) OCI to flush the oiling system of any residual metal. Adding a magnet to the oil filter wouldn't hurt either.

gisbradokla

I just bought the car two months ago.
I was driving down the highway when pressure dropped to 0.
prior it ran 55 steady.
My main concern is the big pieces that are missing.
I just changed the oil three days before the incident.
Would you change the oil again anyway?
What about the new filter. Change it again?
One tooth looks like it broke off.
Thanks for the pointers!

mr.beachcomber

From your description, the gear must have sheared during your trip down the highway. Hopefully, your oil should have been warmed up to the point that none of the oil was by-passing the filter. Therefore the missing portion of the gear should be inside the oil filter housing.

Changing out the oil filter should remove most of any remaining metal from the oil pump so I would definitely change that first. (Many individuals I know are using a filter magnet that attaches to the oil filter housing to prevent errant metal in the oiling system from going any further than the oil filter.

Since you just changed the oil, just do a shorter than normal oil change interval (OCI) if you're concerned about any residual metal in the oil. You should be okay. (I would wager that the missing gear was ground up in the oil pump and never went any further than the oil filter.

Good Luck!