hey fender there are plastic gears in the oil pump and they have rounded themselves which is quite common in the 1500 motors .
there is a guy in the states that has designed metal ones but he is proving very hard to get hold of .
the shop has contacted him and got a reply via email but hasnt replied to our follow up emails for his bank details and the like .so its a waiting game at the moment .if it wasnt going to save me $8-900 i would just get a new pump