Oil pump flow rate testing

[Troutfrea]

Greetings,

I need help determining if my oil pump is doing its job. I’m not convinced it is. I just rebuilt a 2012 600 that seemed to have been starved for oil. My oil level doesn’t seem to be going down nearly enough so I need to determine if my pump is bad before I blow the rebuild.

Also, I’ve posted other threads, but the motor shutdown when my daughter was on it. My buddies mixed oil in the fuel and added oil to the cylinders in order to get it home.

Once home we used a hanger to open the pump wide open. There were many air bubbles but I could see them moving. They all seemed to be gone so is it possible the pumped needed to be purged? I find this hard to believe as I filled every tube with a syringe and bled it during the rebuild but somehow air bubbles didn’t make it to the distribution lines. Any ideas how this would happen?

FYI , I did turn the screw up during the rebuild so I don’t need that info.

What I want to do at this point is bench test the pump (which I pulled off the motor today). I bought a used pump and my thought is I test both and see if there is a significant difference. I am struggling with how to do this but I will try to figure something out. My thought is to use a drill for the same amount of time and see which pump produces more oil. I also want to watch each port to see if I notice any problems or a lack of oil from any of them. Does anyone have any other ideas? I would really like to confirm that the pump I am putting in is good. I wish I would have done this initially.

Does anyone have any other ideas? Why is this motor not using oil like it should be?

I look forward to your help and ideas.

 

[ditch1000]

https://www.snowest.com/forum/threads/2014-pro-rmk-mag-side-low-oil.460154/

This was my experience. The ports have different flow rates, so note that.
When I had my problems; I talked to a long time engine builder here in BC and he said he never seen a polaris oil pump fail. He said they’re pretty bullet proof.
Maybe get a measuring cup and time the test with your phone to get a flow rate.
Also, I found using a drill with a short piece of 5/16” fuel line to drive the pump works slick!

 

[volcano buster]

I actually had the oil pump "go out" on my '99 700. When they go out, they go full "ON". meaning over oiling, smoke and draining the tank. I was fortunate to see the low oil light and limped back to the truck. I tore that pump apart since it was apparently junk to see how it worked. That is how I found out that as these pumps wear, they just add more oil instead of less. It seemed to me that as these pumps wear, the metal particles just stay in place and accelerate the wear. On my '05 as described below, I pulled the pump apart and flushed the contaminants out to make the pump last longer.
Anyway, I bled my pump on my '05 700 and I believe the pumps haven't changed so hopefully this helps. As you can see, there are different flow rates off the pump by port that you need to keep track of. High rate ports to throttle port injection and low rate ports to crank bearings. I used a 1/2" dowel, notched, and a zip-tie to make a drill adapter.

 

[Troutfrea]

Thank you for these replies. I’ll mess with both pumps and see if one performs significantly different than the other. I will also ensure the lines are routed correctly (although I’m sure they were). If the pumps don’t perform different, I don’t k know the heck to do.

 

[Troutfrea]

I just tested both pumps; my original as well as a used one I bought off of ebay. I used a drill and ran each one into a bowl for 60 seconds. They are seemingly the same, both in weight and via the eye test. So with no notable difference, I feel my oil pump isn't the issue. I was actually hoping that was the issue. Now I'm back to the drawing board.... I am wondering if my pump somehow lost it's prime or was never primed correctly when I rebuilt it. I felt I did it correctly, but maybe I made a mistake. Unless someone has other ideas, I may put it back together, run it, and see if she is consuming oil.

Also of note, the tubing idea was fantastic and a great way to connect the drill to the pump. I used a small piece of tubing (I believe 3/16) from my kegerator, slid one end over the pump and the other over a quarter inch drive that was attached to my drill. Thank you Ditch1000 for that idea.

 

[ditch1000]

You bet!! Works like a hot damn!! I stumbled up on that one when thats all I seen close on the bench!! The drill doesn’t vibrate the pump that way..

 

[BeartoothBaron]

I was just testing/priming my oil pump today - I'm putting everything back together after having the crank gone through - and I wish I'd tried the tubing trick. I found a 9/32 12-point socket works, but it's a pain trying to hold the pump just right (and probably not good for it). One thing I've found is that getting the air bubbles out of the line from the tank to the pump is really tricky. Back when I did the top end, I opened the bleeder, let it dribble until it seemed steady, and thought I was done. The line had that black corrugated cladding around it, but somehow I noticed later it looked like there was air in the line. I ended up blowing into the oil tank with the bleeder open to get enough pressure to push all the air bubbles out. Maybe it's something with the oil I'm using. I wonder if thicker oil would bleed more easily. I'll have to see if I can put the cladding on after I do the final bleed; it's just so easy to end up with an air bubble you can see, short of removing the bleed bolt and anointing the belly pan with a pint of oil!