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Hi, I'm building a turbo 5.3 for my 68 Camaro, it has all the goodies, god rods, pistons, CNC heads etc..my question is about the oil pump. i've been reading a lot and there's a lot of different opinions regarding which oil pump should people use depending the oil pan used, in my case I have a Holley Oil Pan and it will be a single turbo engine. which one is the best oil pump I can use Melling HV/HP, STD/HP, Stock Volume/Stock Pressure?
Hi, I'm building a turbo 5.3 for my 68 Camaro, it has all the goodies, god rods, pistons, CNC heads etc..my question is about the oil pump. i've been reading a lot and there's a lot of different opinions regarding which oil pump should people use depending the oil pan used, in my case I have a Holley Oil Pan and it will be a single turbo engine. which one is the best oil pump I can use Melling HV/HP, STD/HP, Stock Volume/Stock Pressure?
thanks in advance
I recenty did a turbo 6.0 for a buddy. Stock pump/standard volume pump with the pressure regulator shimmed up. 65 psi cold and about 50 psi hot at ilde. No need for an aftermarket pump. You can get a high volume pump for a DOD application and shim the pressure regulator BUT ONLY IF YOU HAVE A HIGH CAPACITY OIL PAN (7+ quarts). Otherwise you can suck the pan dry and spin rod/main bearings. But if you MUST have a Melling pump, get the high pressure unit. Only get the high volume if you have a high capacity oil pan.
HV/HP pump here, stock pan, S484 turbo, extra 2 quarts of oil in the pan, shifting around 7,200 rpm, no issues.
Also know some of the fastest 5.3 guys in the country use stock ported oil pumps with the relief spring shimmed with a couple washers.
You really need to log oil pressure to see what the "issue" with an OEM pump is. Pressure falls off with RPM and is not easily seen on a mechanical gauge. I'm not saying an OEM pump won't work well up to a certain RPM for in MANY applications. But if you are going to rev the motor, you want an aftermarket pump.
The acceptation to the rule here being the DOD pump. It has thicker veins and pumps a lot more flow than the standard oil pump. I'm seeing 80-90psi at 7500 with mine.
The other issues is the oil drains back to the pan slowly in an LS and big volume pumps can cause the pickup to become uncovered. Esp with hard acceleration. So Where ever your full line is, I'd suggest adding another qt minimum. I run 7.5 qts in my 6qt pan. Also ran 7.5 qts in thw Fbody pan. You really need to log your oil pressure. If it drops drastically add oil until it doesn't. Windage hasn't been an issue. I saw no difference in ET/MPH all the way up to 8qts in the fbody pan.
HV/HP pump here, stock pan, S484 turbo, extra 2 quarts of oil in the pan, shifting around 7,200 rpm, no issues.
Also know some of the fastest 5.3 guys in the country use stock ported oil pumps with the relief spring shimmed with a couple washers.
Not that I've noticed, pressure has been solid on the gauge however I will be logging it moving forward.
Even static with an extra quart, the oil level only comes up to the pan rail iirc, running with an extra two quarts is something a lot of guys do with success until their 60' times start getting really short.
Not that I've noticed, pressure has been solid on the gauge however I will be logging it moving forward.
Even static with an extra quart, the oil level only comes up to the pan rail iirc, running with an extra two quarts is something a lot of guys do with success until their 60' times start getting really short.
You really need to log oil pressure to see what the "issue" with an OEM pump is. Pressure falls off with RPM and is not easily seen on a mechanical gauge. I'm not saying an OEM pump won't work well up to a certain RPM for in MANY applications. But if you are going to rev the motor, you want an aftermarket pump.
The acceptation to the rule here being the DOD pump. It has thicker veins and pumps a lot more flow than the standard oil pump. I'm seeing 80-90psi at 7500 with mine.
The other issues is the oil drains back to the pan slowly in an LS and big volume pumps can cause the pickup to become uncovered. Esp with hard acceleration. So Where ever your full line is, I'd suggest adding another qt minimum. I run 7.5 qts in my 6qt pan. Also ran 7.5 qts in thw Fbody pan. You really need to log your oil pressure. If it drops drastically add oil until it doesn't. Windage hasn't been an issue. I saw no difference in ET/MPH all the way up to 8qts in the fbody pan.
Would you agree when your 60' start getting below 1.5 sec. is when the limits of the F-body are reached regardless of how much oil is added?
Usually when guys start getting into 1.4/1.3 60' is when they start making the change to a dedicated rear sump pan from what I've read.
I'd like to move to a dedicated pan but they seem to be made of platinum and priced as such lol.
Hard to say what's acceptable and what isn't. I've yet to see any of my 12+ motors stay rock solid pressure wise across the entire run. I've run several types of pans and tried lots of diff overfill amounts. IMHO all drag setups should run an oil accumulator. Then you wouldn't need to band-aid the issue by overfilling. (not that I take my own advice, but i should!)
Although I see no issues with windage ET/MPH wise. Common sense tells me I have to be cavitating the oil. But I think that's the lesser of the two evils when compared to losing oil pressure completely. I still see my oil pressure drop in the to 55-60 range in the middle of a run under hard accel... then back up to the 80-90 range by the end of the run. I noticed if I'm "underfilled" I lose pressure on the launch though, and pressure would drop down to what I consider unsafe levels. I don't seem to do that once its overfull and the pressure drop is much less. I'm guessing I have aerated the oil by overfilling. Whats odd is this happens with the Fbody pan and center pick up. As well as with the Holley pan with the rear pickup. I can't be uncovering the pickup... so it must be air. Defiantly not ideal. Instead of spending the extra cash on aftermarket pans and trap doors etc. I think money would be better spent on an accumulator.
At $289 its likely less than the cost of a nice baffled aftermarket pan, and you add 3qts of oil to the system to boot. I think this along with a slight overfill would basically eliminate the problem. But I'm bench racing... Def on the "to do" list one of these days. Just hard to justify when I pay $500 for a long block.
Thanks a lot for all your time replying this thread with real data loaded with a lot of expertise. I think this oil pump Pressure Vs Volume VS Oil Pan type is a topic that a lot of people struggle (like me) because the misinformation that can be easy gathered from non trusted web sites.
Keep the info flowing so others can read, learn and take the best decision based on whatever his circumstances are.
Would you agree when your 60' start getting below 1.5 sec. is when the limits of the F-body are reached regardless of how much oil is added?
Usually when guys start getting into 1.4/1.3 60' is when they start making the change to a dedicated rear sump pan from what I've read.
I'd like to move to a dedicated pan but they seem to be made of platinum and priced as such lol.
thanks for your reply, i have a question, does the DOD pump works on a Gen III engine?
thanks for your reply, i have a question, does the DOD pump works on a Gen III engine?
thanks in advance
They do. So semi recently I went through a L33, and couldn't get the idle oil pressure to a point the owner was happy with, and the long and short of it was I swapped to a Melling M365 pump. It's a DOD pump. So it's not considered a high volume or a high pressure pump, but the gears are a little deeper. Here's a pic comparing a M295 vs M365
I'm thinking I'll probably run these M365 pumps from now on, definitely in aluminum blocks.
I'm running a Melling pump, can look up the PN for you, suggested by my combo/tuner/guru. I'm running a 302-2 oil pan. I'm running a mix of Rotella oil.
I'm running a Melling pump, can look up the PN for you, suggested by my combo/tuner/guru. I'm running a 302-2 oil pan. I'm running a mix of Rotella oil.
I would guess you have a 10295. But nothing more than a guess. Little more expensive pump.
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Oil Pump for a boosted 5.3 
