oil pump prime before pan goes on?

nitrouspete

nitrouspete

Forum Member
i was thinking about priming my oil pump before i put the pan on to make sure i had pressure. cons to this other then making a little mess?

( bought a junk yard engine before building this one, put it all in, and found out it spun a main and had zero pressure.)
 
I'd just put the pan on to prevent the mess. Just put it on with a few bolts and no silicon so you can pull it back off
 
Put the engine together as normal. I have a 351W priming tool you can use. Put a PSI gauge in the port on the driver's side. I even have an old set of steel valve covers with the tops cut out.
 
OldbutNew said:
Put the engine together as normal. I have a 351W priming tool you can use. Put a PSI gauge in the port on the driver's side. I even have an old set of steel valve covers with the tops cut out.
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i have the priming tool and gauge for the port. more just a question on if i should be worryed. it killed me when i started her up last season at the end and it was knocken and no pressure. haha
 
Umm... Yeah. That would suck. Did you prime it last year? Did you have it all the way apart like this engine? Sounds like it was a junkyard dog that you didn't know the pedigree on. This is different. It's YOUR engine and you know what's in it.
Come over and get my set of cut-out covers. Plug in the drill and pump until you're pushing oil at every rocker and showing pressure on the guage. You'll be fine.
 
OldbutNew said:
Umm... Yeah. That would suck. Did you prime it last year? Did you have it all the way apart like this engine? Sounds like it was a junkyard dog that you didn't know the pedigree on. This is different. It's YOUR engine and you know what's in it.
Come over and get my set of cut-out covers. Plug in the drill and pump until you're pushing oil at every rocker and showing pressure on the guage. You'll be fine.
Click to expand...

PM me your number again...lost it
 
Why the heck are you putting valve covers on while priming? You need to see the rocker arms. The drill is only gonna spin 300rpm or so. Even a running engine (idling) won't squirt oil out of the rocker. Run the drill a while and every minute or so rotate the engine a 1/4 turn to open the rest of the oil galley, and get oil to all rockers. Probably have to rotate the engine completely over 1 or 2 times.
 
camaromann said:
Why the heck are you putting valve covers on while priming? You need to see the rocker arms. The drill is only gonna spin 300rpm or so. Even a running engine (idling) won't squirt oil out of the rocker. Run the drill a while and every minute or so rotate the engine a 1/4 turn to open the rest of the oil galley, and get oil to all rockers. Probably have to rotate the engine completely over 1 or 2 times.
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Please re-read. These covers have the tops cut out so you can see the rockers. Also, anyone ever using a high volume pump can tell you that it's possible to pump enough oil to the valvetrain to overwhelm the drainbacks and cause a mess.
 
OldbutNew said:
Please re-read. These covers have the tops cut out so you can see the rockers. Also, anyone ever using a high volume pump can tell you that it's possible to pump enough oil to the valvetrain to overwhelm the drainbacks and cause a mess.
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Ask me how I know. LOL
 
OldbutNew said:
Please re-read. These covers have the tops cut out so you can see the rockers. Also, anyone ever using a high volume pump can tell you that it's possible to pump enough oil to the valvetrain to overwhelm the drainbacks and cause a mess.
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Ya I re read. Oops, sorry. But I've still never seen an engine need covers on for this. Even on all my Big Chief stuff where drain backs are supposedly the worst of all. Are fords that much shallower in the outer cover rail?
 
camaromann said:
Ya I re read. Oops, sorry. But I've still never seen an engine need covers on for this. Even on all my Big Chief stuff where drain backs are supposedly the worst of all. Are fords that much shallower in the outer cover rail?
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Depends on the heads. Some of the ones with raised exhaust ports have almost no lip there at all. And some raise the drainbacks so that the valvesprings get a little oil bath to help them cool. If you're running a full mechanical valvetrain, the restrictor will help a lot. If you're running hydraulics... Like Superstang90 said: It CAN add up to a mess.
 
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