oil pump problem

[spitefire1]

i bought a 1991 eagle talon tsi with a built 2.0 the ohter day and thealls the car needed was cams so i started to take aprt the timing cover and as soon as i took it off i noticed that the oil pump nut on the gear was missing! so i auto maticly think there is something wrong with it!

what are symbols of a bad oil pump. like it still spins like a regular one ive had but i just wanna make sure there is nothing wrong with it before i go ahead and dump all this money itno it! can any one help please thanks

 

[pneumo]

Look for excess freeplay in the pump shaft. Spin it and feel for any sticking or resistance. I'd also turn the crank by hand and feel for resistance, but pull the sparkplugs out first so you're not feeling the pistons making compression.

 

[DoyoFCT]

What makes you think it only needs cams? were they missing? what's the history on this motor?

It's hard to say if the oil pump is good or bad, typically you would want to just spin it, and if you can feel excessive slop its probably bad. you might hear a tapping sound from gear to gear when its excessive.

 

[spitefire1]

i bought the hole engine with everything into it without cams. so i made a deal with the guy bought the engine. as i was taking the engine apart meaning timing cover to time the engine i noticed that the oil pump sprocket was missing the bolt to hold the sprocket on! so i assume that their was something wron with the oil pump and he didnt tell me about it. that y i was asking is there any signs of a bad oil pump when the car isnt running yet..

does anyone have 272 cams for sale?

 

[pneumo]

OH wait, that's a totally different question.
If the nut came off the oil pump sprocket, then there could be other problems. The sprocket could have slid off the shaft, letting the timing belt slip, which would let the valves hit the pistons, at best this would cause a nasty loud tick, at worse the motor would have zero/low compression and run terribly.
It's also possible the engine was run and the oil pump wasn't turning, starving the engine of oil.

Since this is a built motor, I assume the balance shafts were removed? If so, you'll need to remove the oil pan to get the nut tightened properly.