oil pump gear clearance set at .004. OK?

[Six_Silver]

I know the target clearance is .002, but when I had it set at .002 one of the gears binded on the pump cover. I used a thicker gasket and measured between .004 and .0045. Is this going to be ok? Is 2 thousands really that big of a difference? Is my oil pressure going to be noticibly less?

 

[FJM568]

Is the timing cover on the motor or are you assembling it on the bench??? If it is on the bench, set the cover in a vice and put a indicator on the top of the oil pump shaft and move the pump shaft up and down and read the movement on the indicator...That will tell you exactly what kind of clearance you have in there...

Believe it or not, the paper gasket compresses a little, so measuring eveything before you put it together will still get you some tolerance stackup...Also sometimes the gear pockets are not always perfectly square after torqueing the pump cover back on...The alum casting distorts some...