Lubricating oil pump service life?

[Rawze]

I, personally would have taken that tech's word with a grain of salt. It may be acceptable for warranty purposes, but I would tend to disagree when it comes to least wear vs. oil viscosity.

0.007" and less, is definitely below the typical gear lash clearance for the size gear + viscosity oil being used in the engine. As a general rule, that size gear would dictate 0.010" - 0.016" if I had to guess at it based on my many years and overall experience dealing with industrial machinery.

just my own opinions/thoughts any ways. That low of a clearance would also likely cause some gear whine out of it too. Hopefully its clearance is not at the bottom end of that scale. if i owned it, I would have shimmed it anyways (and ensured there was no problem with doing so) if it were less than about 0.010" gear lash, but that is just me.