Who is it for? 2011-up 5.0L Coyote, Mustang and F-150, plus the 5.2L GT350 and 5.8L GT500.
Why do you want it? Because two powdered metal parts buried in your timing cover can take the whole engine with them, and replacing them costs a fraction of a rebuild.
We have all seen the pictures online, heard the horror stories, or had it happen to us. Engine failure. It is not fun, it is not pretty, and it gets expensive fast.
When you are adding power to a Coyote, whether that is a supercharger, a turbo kit, or an all-out naturally aspirated build that revs to the moon, the oil pump gears and the crank sprocket are two of the first things you should be thinking about. They almost never make anyone's mod list. They should.
Watch Jared Explain It
Jared walks through when and why the OEM parts fail and what the Boundary replacements change. If you would rather read it, keep going.
Why Replace the Oil Pump Gears
The factory oil pump gears are made from a powdered metal that is weaker and more brittle than it needs to be for a modified engine. Add horsepower, add boost, or raise the rev limit, and they become one of the more likely things in the engine to let go.
Here is why it matters more than most failures: when the oil pump gears break, your engine stops being fed oil. Not reduced pressure, not a warning light and a limp home. No oil. If it is not caught immediately, the failure goes from a cheap part to a short block.
Why Replace the Crank Sprocket
Same material, different failure, arguably a worse one. The OEM crank timing sprocket is a similar powdered metal, and it is part of the timing chain assembly. When a timing component breaks, it does not break politely. Heads, valves and valvetrain all pay.
Look closely at a factory sprocket and you can see the problem designed into it. The keyway groove lines up with a deep groove cut into the teeth side of the sprocket. Where those two features meet there is very little material left. That is a stress riser sitting exactly where the load is, and it is where these things crack.
When Should You Upgrade
- When you add cams or a manifold that raise the rev limit. More rpm is more cycles and more load on both parts.
- When you are making roughly 600rwhp or more. That is the number we use as the practical threshold.
- When the engine is already out or the timing cover is already off. This is the big one. The parts are inexpensive relative to the labor to reach them. If you are in there for any reason, do this while you can.
Why Boundary
Boundary machines their gears and sprockets from cut and heat treated American 4340 chromoly billet steel. Not powdered metal, not cast. That is a genuinely different class of material from what came out of your engine, and it is why these are some of the strongest pieces available for the platform.
They also back them with a lifetime warranty. Boundary has not seen one break, and if one does they replace it free. That is an easy warranty to offer when the failure rate is zero, which is rather the point.
What to Buy for Your Engine
The combo kits are the simple answer: gears and sprocket together, matched to your engine, one part number.
Gears and sprocket together
Lifetime warranty
Covers S550, S650 and GT350
Lifetime warranty
Same billet construction
Lifetime warranty
Gears Only, and the Upgrade Tiers Above Them
If you already have a good sprocket, or you want more than the standard gearset, Boundary sells the gears on their own in three levels.
The baseline upgrade
Step up from the standard gearset
The top of the gear range
MartenWear treated
Sprockets Only
No keyway weak spot
Billet construction
Billet construction
Same teardown as the gears
Billet construction
Building an F-150 rather than a Mustang? Boundary makes a gearset specific to the 2011-2014 and 2018-2020 F-150 5.0L. The failure mode is identical, and truck guys tend to find out about it towing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do factory Coyote oil pump gears break?
They are made from a powdered metal that is brittle relative to the loads a modified engine puts on it. Add boost, power or rpm and they become one of the more likely failure points in the engine.
What happens if the oil pump gears fail?
The engine stops being fed oil. If it is not caught immediately, a cheap part becomes a destroyed engine.
Why is the OEM crank sprocket weak?
The keyway groove lines up with a deep groove cut into the teeth side of the sprocket, leaving very little material at exactly the point that carries load. It is a stress riser in the worst possible place.
At what power level should I upgrade?
Around 600rwhp is the practical threshold we use. Also upgrade any time you add cams or a manifold that raises the rev limit, regardless of power.
Do I need to do the gears and the sprocket together?
They are separate parts with separate failure modes, but they live behind the same cover. If you are in there, do both. That is why the combo kits exist.
What is the difference between the standard, MartenWear and Dual Rotor gears?
Standard is the baseline billet gearset. MartenWear adds a surface treatment for wear resistance. Dual Rotor is a high flow, high rpm design and sits at the top of the range.
What are Boundary parts made from?
Cut and heat treated American 4340 chromoly billet steel, and they carry a lifetime warranty.
Can I do this without pulling the engine?
It is a timing cover job rather than an engine-out job, but it is involved either way. The real point is that if the cover is coming off for any other reason, this is the moment to do it.
Keep Reading
Not sure which combo matches your engine? Call 877-2-LETHAL or email us.
Cheap Part, Expensive Failure
Billet 4340 gears and sprockets with a lifetime warranty. Do them while the cover is already off.
