911 sump suction pipe

[fredmeister]

I have changed the oil yesterday in my 79 911SC and noticed that the suction pipe that leads down into the sump plate screen filter is slightly loose. That is to say that I can rotate it 5-10 degrees back and forth and in and out of the pump about 1/16 inch. I looked up at where it connects to the oil pump housing and noticed a heavy bead around this connection, but am unsure whether this is some sort of epoxy or other rubber seal.
My question is whether this should be loose like I found it or tight and not moveable? I can see that this may allow air to be sucked thru the pump at the connection with the oil housing rather than being a tight seal, cutting down on pump efficiency. Does anyone know if there is an o-ring seal or something internal to the pump housing that holds this pipe in place?
My car has the updated sump screen filter with built in venturi to stop the crankcase filling problem that plagued those cars when under track driving conditions. However, don' t know if the previous engine rebuilder got the rest of the pump assembly right.

[TimT]

The connection between the pickup and pump body should be tight. It can be repaired in-situ (ask me how I know).

Youll have to get it the pump housing really clean with carb cleaner, use a quick setting epoxy like 5 minute j b weld. that way you can hold the pickup in place untill the epoxy starts to set.
Then let the epoxy cure before you put it all back together.

[Wayne 962]

Odd, I haven't heard of this happening before. Could it be that the pump was previously repaired, and it didn't stick? There are no loads on the tube - it should not fatigue one bit.

This would cause me great concern, as the oil pump would not be able to scavenge all of the oil out of the bottom. I have heard of SCs running for many hours straight at high RPM that eventually ran out of oil because the oil pump couldn't scavenge enough.

-Wayne