Guest Jason Posted January 29, 2004 Share Posted January 29, 2004 Should I prime the oil pump before starting a used engine? My LT1 has been sitting for about 3 years. According to the yard, the car had 33k miles before it was wrecked. I know priming is an important step on a new engine, but I would think my engine's internals would still be coated in oil from when it was last run. Any oil that drained away probably would have done so within a month. I also can't see an easy way to prime an LT1. -Jason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A. G. Olphart Posted January 30, 2004 Share Posted January 30, 2004 I wouldn't fire an engine dry after that long... Pull the plugs and spray a batch of oil into each cylinder. If it turns freely, consider leaving the plugs out, shorting the high voltage to ground, and then spinning the engine with the starter until oil pressure has been up a while. Then you can wash the oil from the inside of your fenders, put the plugs and wires back on, and fire it up. Downside of this is still no lube on the cam lobes. Depending on your mood, you could waste a couple of intake manifold gaskets in order to squirt a bunch of oil/assembly lube on the cam before initiating the above procedure. Maybe this post will draw out an expert to tell you how it really should be done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest autocroos76 Posted January 30, 2004 Share Posted January 30, 2004 I need some help with this reply. Can you buy an oil pump priming driveshaft for his motor? The normal costs are about $20. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
80LS1T Posted January 30, 2004 Share Posted January 30, 2004 The only way to use a oil pump priming tool on an LT1 is to have the intake off. I think if you do what is suggested above you should be ok. It would hurt though to lube the cam up if you had the intake off. Put some thick grease on it so that it stays lubed up while you put the intake back on. Then start it up. Guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest shane280z Posted January 30, 2004 Share Posted January 30, 2004 You can always pull the distributor and use a drill to turn the oil pump and increase/get oil pressure up into the engine. But this could be too extreme for you. Cheaper then valve cover gaskets if they are hockeypucked down and if removed then destroyed. Goodluck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
80LS1T Posted January 30, 2004 Share Posted January 30, 2004 Shane280z this is on an LT1 engine. There is no distributor that goes through the intake...its on the front of the engine below the water pump and on the timing cover. There is no hole in the intake either to use a priming tool like a Gen 1 SBC. Guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A. G. Olphart Posted January 30, 2004 Share Posted January 30, 2004 More on lubing cam (if you want to try it)... It isn't quite as simple as my earlier post indicates; if LT1's are like 1st gen SBC's, the valley area is solid- no holes through which the cam may be seen. Besides pulling the intake you will also have to pull the valve covers, loosen the rockers, and take out each lifter to butter it's bottom. (No mixing of lifters or push rods please). I know it is a lot of work, but I (personally) would do it to limit the possibility of wiping a cam lobe and sending bits of metal through the engine. That could get expensive. At 30K the cam and lifters have been mated, so it might be safe to fire it up without fresh lube... I can't swear either way. The higher the spring pressure the bigger the chance of killing the cam. Good luck- Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jason Posted January 30, 2004 Share Posted January 30, 2004 LT1's have roller cams, so I probably don't need to worry about the cam lobes as much. I'm more concerned about the bearings, but I would think they'd still be coated with oil from when the engine was last run. I'm tempted to try connecting a diaphragm pump I happen to have to an oil filter relocation kit. The pump should move oil. Any thoughts on whether or not this would work? The external pump might have to draw oil through the engine's oil pump (a large restriction), so I don't know if it'll help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A. G. Olphart Posted January 30, 2004 Share Posted January 30, 2004 You aren't going to suck through a gear pump, not like you can a fuel pump. If you hook your pump to the 'go back to the engine' side of the adapter, you could feed it from a gallon jar or such. Fill the engine and prelube at the same time, assuming the pump builds enough pressure. Would require ABSOLUTE cleanliness to avoid putting trash directly into your bearings. . Might take a while. I'd still squirt some oil into each cylinder before firing and just turn it by hand to get everything wet. Oil does stay in tight places, so you likely would be safe just starting it up... but I'm cautious by nature. I prefer the 'spin the engine with the plugs out' method as it has less chance of adding trash. No/very little load on the bearings without compression and firing pressures.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmyntti Posted February 1, 2004 Share Posted February 1, 2004 I once got a remanufactured engine and it dame with a pressurized can of oil for priming. I just hooked it up to an oil galley plug and opened the valve on the can and it oiled everything. I am not sure how effective this is but I did not have any problems with this motor. Maybe you could find one of these cans and use it. On my LT1 I intend to prime with the pump using a drill as I alredy have my intake manifold off for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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