Priming the LS6 oil pump....
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From: St.Louis, Missouri
Priming the LS6 oil pump.... Well, we're about ready to fire up my LS1... finally. We cranked it over tonight trying to get oil pressure but I about drained the battery doing this and never got any oil pressure on the gauge. We thought maybe the gage wasn't working right, but it is and I looked in the valve cover to see if oil was up there and it's not. Will I have to start it to prime the pump or what? I know I talked to alot of guys about this when I had the engine on the stand and they said that LS1's fire up and build pressure almost instantly... is that true or BS? I'm wondering if the starter just can't spin the motor fast enough to prime itself. Anyone????
Thanks!
Thanks!
I don't think the starter has enough ***** to build oil pressure. I have a heavy duty slp pump and I never got any pressure on the guage after about 15 serc on priming. I plugged my coil packs back in and fired it up and within 2 seconds it was sitting at about 50psi. If you start it make sure it doesn't go anymore than a few sec without oil.
plus if you think about it the oil pump spins at the same rate as the crank, I would assume the starter cant crank the motor at anything more than 100rpm tops so would think that the starter wouldn't be able to make 10psi at the pumpm, let alone the whole system. Since the oil pump sits on the crank i believe that it will build pressure within 2 seconds considering you have oil in the pan and you didn't f** up your pickup tube.
Hope this helps
Hope this helps
Thread Starter
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From: St.Louis, Missouri
Yeah guys, I know it is directly driven off the crank (I built the engine) and I figured it would build pressure almost instantly after startup... I just want to confirm this. I do have good assembly lube on everything so it should be fine for a few seconds without oil pressure. Guess we'll just try to fire it up and see. Hope the key shuts it back off right away if it doesn't build pressure... otherwise my *** will be jumping out of the car to disconnect the coil packs or something. LOL Wish me luck... should be running tomorrow night!
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TECH Resident
Joined: Aug 2004
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From: Portland Oregon
This is a big issue with LS1 engines. The pumps put out good pressure but they take forever to prime. I took out the oil pressure sender with a $5 socket from Napa, put a rubber hose down there and a small funnel and poured in a quart of oil. Put the sender back in, crank it with the starter (spark plugs out) ,, had 40 lb in about 8 seconds.
Put the plugs in and fire it up knowing that you will have pressure.
Put the plugs in and fire it up knowing that you will have pressure.
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Don't worry. What I did was 5 cylces of the starter for 15 second bursts, no spark plugs in the engine. I had to hook up a charger to keep the battery from draining. Never saw any pressure on the gauge, and I was worried about it. Gave up, went ahead and started her up. Oil pressure came up right away.
The starter only spins the engine at 40 rpm or so, not fast enought to make any pressure.
The starter only spins the engine at 40 rpm or so, not fast enought to make any pressure.
ive tried to starter prime my oil pump in the past...i dont see any oil pressure when i do this..nor do i see any oil coming out of the rockers...i think the best thing to do is assembly lube, and stating it
Originally Posted by racecar
This is a big issue with LS1 engines. The pumps put out good pressure but they take forever to prime. I took out the oil pressure sender with a $5 socket from Napa, put a rubber hose down there and a small funnel and poured in a quart of oil. Put the sender back in, crank it with the starter (spark plugs out) ,, had 40 lb in about 8 seconds.
Put the plugs in and fire it up knowing that you will have pressure.
Put the plugs in and fire it up knowing that you will have pressure.
One other thought on this matter, with the "non-sealing" gerotor in the oil pump, it would seem to me that the pump and the pickup tube would drain down after every extended shut down anyhow. Can't see how it would stop any drainback to the pan with the oil hot.
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I just finished my rebuild ....I also tried priming it but the Optima red top went dead after 6-7 times of cranking and no oil pressure was showing..so I just went ahead and fired it up. It had oil pressure in a matter of a couple of seconds. My opinion, I wouldn't worry to much about it but don't let it go more than a couple of seconds without any oil pressure. Keep an eye on the guage.
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I put a better battery from my GTP into the GTA last night and it cranked alot faster but still no oil pressure. I said screw it... we finished soldering all the wiring and fired it up. It would only run for a few seconds b/c the PCM is cutting fuel/injectors b/c of a few codes we need to delete/disable. It probably ran for 3-4 seconds and at 800 rpms or so it INSTANTLY was building oil pressure... more each time we fired it again. 
Thanks guys!
Thanks guys!
