New to the updated forum. Well I am most of the way through my 16v Small Port (Hi Comp) 4A-GE (3rd gen) Red Top rebuild. Just as I put the timing covers on and installed the crank pulley I noticed that the pulley was rubbing on the lower timing cover. So off came the pulley and I removed the timing covers to find out why they were sitting out from where they should be. It was then that I held the grimy old metal filled oil pump up next to my new shiny freshly installed Aisin one. What the @#$% the right edge where the lower timing cover meets was not the same shape. Okay now I know why the timing cover won't sit as far in as it should.
I have done tons of research on the various 4AGE's so I knew about 3 or 4 different versions of the oil pump. Well I went back to my notes and realized that this might not even be a 4AGE pump. The (reputable) online vendor that I bought it from messed up my rings and rod bearings, sending me 4AFE ones (from what I gathered). I finally sourced the correct ones and now it looks like they also sent me a 4AFE oil pump. They do not use conventional (see also: real) part numbers like RockAuto etc, so this took some legwork to find out that it was an early to mid 90's AFE oil pump. Okay that makes sense that it would bolt up and not be apparent until the stage I got to considering is is almost the same block.
Now the FSM that I am working from covers both the AFE and AGE logically and lists oil pressure for both as being the same. Now I know that pressure does not equal volume, nor are the 4AFE's usually as high revving as the AGE's. Plus being a 3rd gen it features the oil squirters. I have searched high and low for specs on what the differences may be between the AFE's oil pump and the AGE's oil pump with no success. All I have found other than pressure are the rebuild tolerances and descriptions of different gear designs.
Having just sealed the pan and hoping to deliver this car in the next week, I thought wouldn't it be amazing if the specs were the same and all I had to do is either modify the lower timing cover or source the one that fits this pump. This is just a stock rebuild for a daily driver, not a track car or powerhouse running at the top of its potential. That being said, I am not one to cut corners or half ass things.
Does anyone have definitive info on these two different oil pumps and their specifications? I have a feeling that I am going to have to backtrack and get the correct pump in there, as anything less would be too easy and convenient. I would love to know from those of you who know whether I have options on this or if the 4AFE's pump is either too low flow or too flimsy for the 4AGE. Exchanging it will be a major PITA not just because of the work I will have to redo but also because it was purchased quite a long time ago and they still list the same pump as the correct one on their parts look-up. So even if they refund me, I have to source a new one elsewhere, as I have lost all confidence in this site's technical knowledge and error margin. So if I DO indeed have to tear it back down and swap it out, I would love part/casting numbers for the correct (best revision) of the 4AGE Aisin oil pump.
I look forward to all your feedback and thank you all in advance for the assistance and surviving my long winded post.
