No oil pressure while cranking
Thread Starter
On The Tree
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 145
Likes: 5
From: Lima oh
No oil pressure while cranking Haven’t fired engine yet as of new build.
pulled spark plugs on ds.
allen plug by timing cover pulled on da and hooked up my 1 gallon priming tool. Backfed the oil galleys in an attempt to prime pump.
I don’t have an oil pressure reading at the moment 1/8” port above the filter while cranking engine with a reliable mechanical gauge.
loosened the oil filter and put pressure to the port from the priming tool and got oil out of the base of the filter .
did everything correct to my knowledge.
-would the oil barbell possibly being left out by the machine shop cause it to not build pressure ?
- leery to fire motor without verifying pump is working. Any insight at all is much appreciated. Been a very long drawn out process to reach this point.
pulled spark plugs on ds.
allen plug by timing cover pulled on da and hooked up my 1 gallon priming tool. Backfed the oil galleys in an attempt to prime pump.
I don’t have an oil pressure reading at the moment 1/8” port above the filter while cranking engine with a reliable mechanical gauge.
loosened the oil filter and put pressure to the port from the priming tool and got oil out of the base of the filter .
did everything correct to my knowledge.
-would the oil barbell possibly being left out by the machine shop cause it to not build pressure ?
- leery to fire motor without verifying pump is working. Any insight at all is much appreciated. Been a very long drawn out process to reach this point.
Last edited by thedetroitkid; Jun 19, 2024 at 09:23 AM. Reason: Correction
Best tool out there for priming an engine is one sold by Summit Racing, which I invented myself almost 15 years ago. It is basically like a timing chain drive gear without the gear. Which makes it an oil pump drive gear. With a Sunnen hone, I opened up the I.D. of an older timing chain/oil pump drive gear so it would spin on the crank. Cut off the drive gear, and slid it in place from the front of the engine to drive the pump. NOTE!!!- You can't have the timing drive gear on, or this wont be able to slide into the pump to drive it. Put some grease or clean engine oil on the crank and inside the drive sleeve to prevent scoring on the crank. I prefer grease. Drive the sleeve with a drill motor. Summit sells them for around $75. Yeah......I coulda made some good $$$$$ DAMN!! NOTE-again!!! Oil goes everywhere up top from the rockers!!! Don't ask me how I know!!!!!!!
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 3,891
Likes: 1,137
From: Grand Rapids, Michigan
I don't think you're going to see oil pressure while cranking on a new build. No matter whether you prelubed it or not, you're still going to have air in your pickup tube and the engine will likely need to fire to spin the pump fast enough to prime it. Hell, I have seen a lot of engines with some miles on them not build pressure until they fire up.
Prefill the oil filter and fire it off. If you don’t see oil pressure on the gauge in 2-3 seconds, shut it off. It honestly should be instant pressure as long as oil filter is pre-filled.
