engine prime lost?

[rmc]

Had the oil pan off for a week while doing the rear main seal.

Need to prime motor or will that be not necessary?

 

[dank GN]

I would unplug the Ecm orange wire. And turn it over and see if u have oil pressure. If not then yes prime it

 

[rmc]

I did that and it did build pressure.

 

[dank GN]

Then u r good

 

[GNONYX]

I did that and it did build pressure.

I know this is a dumb question, but what are you're using to claimed you have build up oil pressure?

 

[rmc]

After reassembly I had valve clatter and oil idiot light was on.... I was expecting pressure to build faster than it did.

That's when I pulled orange wire and spun motor with the starter. Then pressure built up. Light went out and valvetrain was quiet again.

I was not giving it enough time

 

[earlbrown]

Sounds like you had a large air bubble that had to be purged. The idiot light is rated at 4psi and valve clatter is a pretty good sign that the tappets didn't have any oil in them.

 

[NY Twin Turbo]

Sounds like you had a large air bubble that had to be purged. The idiot light is rated at 4psi and valve clatter is a pretty good sign that the tappets didn't have any oil in them.

I just had a similar problem today. After an oil change, I needed keep turning the engine with the starter about 4 times and for about 20 seconds each time before I started seeing pressure on the gauge. I started to get nervous. Then finally, the gauge came up slow and week at first, then on the next attempt it cam on strong. I was about to give up for fear engine damage would occur.

Question is......How bad is it to spin the engine on the starter for a long time while awaiting for pressure build? Also, to make it worse, the engine had not been started since last November. I was worried the cam and bearings were dry while I was doing this.

 

[earlbrown]

There's really no load on a bearing during cranking. The main issue with extended cranking is overheating the starter.


After long term storage (or anytime you expect they'll be extended cranking) it's not a bad idea to pull out the sparkplugs so it can spin faster and easier.

 

[whitehot1]

A habit i have always done before doing an oil change is to run the engine to get the oil hot before draining it. It also gets the engine bearings,rockers,timing chain,etc lubed and i know the engine is primed for the start-up after the oil change. I also do this before doing a rear main seal because i normally leave the engine sit for a week or sometimes longer for the RTV to cure before adding any oil to the crankcase. I've never experienced any type of engine noise upon starting the engine by doing it this way.When i'm done with whatever work on the engine i just start the engine like normal,nothing different as far as priming goes.

After a long sitting time in storage i would start the engine and run it before doing any work just for peace of mind knowing it's ok.

 

[1KWIKSIX]

Another option to prime your engine after an extended period of non use would be to pull your cam sensor and prime the engine using a drill and oil priming tool.

 

[NY Twin Turbo]

Another option to prime your engine after an extended period of non use would be to pull your cam sensor and prime the engine using a drill and oil priming tool.

Pulling my cam sensor is a real pain in the ass! That's why when I was cranking it I was praying it would prime on its own. I have an unusual set up that makes it difficult to get to. Also, I remember the last time I tried to get it out it was so tight I just left it alone until I brought it up to Cotton's for other work. With all the accessories removed from the engine, I still remember Brian saying it was still pretty tight and had to be pryed up very slowly.

I have a Dutweiler oil pump set-up. I was thinking that maybe if I removed the pick up from the oil pan , that maybe I could inject some petroleum jelly directly into the oil pump under pressure. I would connect a rubber hose to the AN fitting on the pump and the other end to a brand new and clean refillable caulking gun that we use for "fire stopping" in the construction business. if necessary I would have my girlfriend bump the starter a few times while injecting the petroleum jelly into the pick up.

This would have to work. No?

 

[No disintegrations]

Pulling my cam sensor is a real pain in the ass! That's why when I was cranking it I was praying it would prime on its own. I have an unusual set up that makes it difficult to get to. Also, I remember the last time I tried to get it out it was so tight I just left it alone until I brought it up to Cotton's for other work. With all the accessories removed from the engine, I still remember Brian saying it was still pretty tight and had to be pryed up very slowly.

I have a Dutweiler oil pump set-up. I was thinking that maybe if I removed the pick up from the oil pan , that maybe I could inject some petroleum jelly directly into the oil pump under pressure. I would connect a rubber hose to the AN fitting on the pump and the other end to a brand new and clean refillable caulking gun that we use for "fire stopping" in the construction business. if necessary I would have my girlfriend bump the starter a few times while injecting the petroleum jelly into the pick up.

This would have to work. No?

The least amount of disassembly, would be take off the oil filter. Pour or squirt oil into the center of the filter mount. You can rotate engine backwards half a turn or so. The oil pump will work in reverse and draw oil in. After that it should prime no prob. Also agree with removing plugs if engine is troublesome.

 

[earlbrown]

All this extra work won't hurt anything (outside of screwing something up due to operator error) but oil doesn't evaporate.


I've pulled down engines from a pile that got rained on for years.... bearings were still wet.


.....and that SMELL from pulling the main bolts! barf.