After carefully considering the sage advice offered by this list on
oil pump replacement, I completed the project Saturday night. Thus far the
results are quite favorable and may be of some interest to those of you with
less than optimum oil pressure.

I decided not to use the high volume pump purchased from Bus Depot as this
could mask underlying bearing problems (per Stewart) or cause leakage and
consumption problems (per Dennis). Instead I simply rebuilt the original pump
with a new stock plate and gear from my local VW dealer. Surprisingly the
cost for these new parts was less than $20.00.

The job is a rather difficult one with the 2.1 litre engine.
It requires removing the muffler, large heat shield, engine mounting bracket
and etc. Also, the engine must be supported
once the mounting bracket is removed. I had previously planned to replace the
muffler and tailpipe so this was an excellent opportunity to accomplish both
missions. It is also a good opportunity to replace a few of those difficult
to access coolant hoses.

I was not surprised to find noticeable wear on both the old plate and gear
after 152,000 miles. I had seen this on many air cooled beetle engines in the
past. However, I was a little surprised at the improvement in oil pressure
which resulted from the rebuild.

Since oil pressure is very much a temperature dependent phenomenon it
difficult to make meaningful measurements without an oil temperature gauge.
Nonetheless, I have observed
a 2 to 3 psi improvement at idle (now 10-12 psi after extended driving) and
about 10 psi improvment at highway speeds (now 40 psi).

This gives me new confidence for my upcoming trip to Florida in December!

Mark Smith
87 GL
West Virginia