motor losing prime when parked?

[turbosam6]

I've noticed that my oil pressure doesn't come up very fast when I start the car after sitting for a few days. I've been disconnecting the ecm, and cranking till the oil pressure comes up, to prevent wear, but what a pain in the a$$. It doesn't rattle or anything, but I'd say it takes a good 1-2 seconds for the pressure to come up. I have the PTE oil turbo saver, and use good oil filters, which shouldn't matter anyways, since the filter is vertical, it won't drain back. Whats up?

 

[gnx7]

I had a similar problem and it was the gasket between the front cover and the oil pump. (I assembled it after fresh machine work) It was weeping oil a little bit and I lost prime a few times which was not good. Swapped out the gasket and problem solved.

-GNX7

 

[turbosam6]

That would make sense, but mines not leaking there. Car doesn't leak oil anywhere now, knock on wood. Is it just normal? Is my oil too thick, could that be a cause? I run 10w40, and it takes forever for the oil to come up to temp. Maybe I should use 10w30 in the winter? Ideas? Thanks

 

[turbosam6]

ttt

 

[turbofish38]

I'm not familiar with roller lifter cams and turbo savers but 10w40 is not the oil to be using in a turbo car. It doesn't have the required detergents and friction modifiers like all the 5W30 and 10W30 oils do. That means your oil gets dirtier faster and the last thing you need is a coked up CHRA. If you still had the stock horizontal filter I would say the problem might be with the filter not having a drainback baffle in it. If you have had the problem since installing the turbo saver I would check to see if its installed correctly. Just my opinion.

 

[turbosam6]

The turbo saver is installed correctly (it only goes on one way). I don't worry about my oil getting dirty because I change it so often. I will go back to 10w30 because of the oil taking so long to thin out when its cold. But I run 10w40 in the summer for added pressure. Lots of guys run 20w50 without problems, so I think I'll be OK. My new theory is that since the oil filter sits higher than the block, the oil in the lines drains back when shut off. Then it has to "refill" those lines on fire up. Hows that sound? Any turbo saver users out there care to shed some light?