IH 444 oil pump problem

[David Wayne]

I have a 444 that loses oil pressure when engine warms up. I removed the oil pump to find the gasket blown out and the pump cover
bent about .020 between 2 of the bolts. Anyone else have this issue, or know a good fix?

 

[DJ54]

It sounds like too thick of oil, in too cold of weather, and unless the oil pressure valve stuck at one time for some reason, the cover gasket was the weakest link, and blew out.

Not to send you off somewhere without an answer, but here's where I go for my tough IH questions:Red Power Magazine Community Use the General IH board, and bet you find the proper answer.

 

[David Wayne]

I did some research and it seems to be a common problem with this pump. I flattened mine and filed it but my gasket is too thick to get the correct end plate to gear clearance. But it did help raise the pressure, just cant leave it idling.
So I called my dealer to find it is no longer available through IH but he can get one after market for ONLY $1600.
I have a used one coming $125 from a company that can get after market for $1300. I will install the used one and then rework the end
plate on mine to get the required clearance and put it up for a spare.

 

[IH3444]

New Oil Pump for Case International 2424 424 with BD154 Eng | eBay

 

[David Wayne]

I seen that, I should have stated that I have a gasser with the C-153 engine.

 

[IH3444]

You should also pull the pan, and replace the connecting rod bearings, as well as the main bearing. This is do able. I did this on my 3444 BD154 engine. Replaced oil pump gears, dealer parts, $150, rod bearings, $40, main bearings, $50. Polished the crankshaft also. Lied on my back for about 8.5 hours. 45psi when hot at idle now, 15w-40 Shell Rotella.

 

[David Wayne]

I will do rods & mains if a good pump doesn't solve the problem. The one I ordered came yesterday & I never even put it on. I took it out of the box & could see the end plate was warped and the gasket was blown out. Called the company & they are sending me another one. If it is bad I will
make a reinforcement for the end plate on mine to keep it from warping, and set the clearance to spec of .0025-.0006
Thanks
David

 

[IH3444]

Check the backlash between the gears installed in the case with bottom cover removed. it should not be more than 0.020". With the warped cover problem I would make myself a thicker hardened cover. That seems to be the problem with those pumps.

 

[David Wayne]

There is a known problem with this pump bending the end plate. I thought I would share what I have learned and how I have fixed mine.
First I got rid of the oil light and installed gauges so i would know what the pressure is. The first 2 pics are idling, cold and hot.

The next shows my pump

So I put emery cloth on a flat surface and ran the end plate across it to show where the bent area was. next was to get it straight as I could without breaking it.

After straightening it was just a matter of using the emery cloth until it was as flat as I could get it. I went more after the pic was taken to get rid of the last low spot. then made a support out of 1/4" steel. I had to grind a small groove for the web that runs on an angle from the middle bolt, that doesnt show in the picture.

 

[David Wayne]

The next was to cut a gasket, I used 1/64" and bolted it back together. I checked the end play and got lucky it was .002 (hope I wrote that right) with the dial indicator. reinstalled and was happy with the results-- idling/ cold and hot.


I hope this can be of help to someone sometime, this was after getting two pumps from a salvage company that were as bad as mine.