oil priming procedure !

[the-sleeper-z31]

i have a 1980 280zx. is there a better way to prime my oil gallerys, than taking out my plugs and cranking the engine over.>?????

Edited June 4, 2009 by the-sleeper-z31
forgot model year

[the-sleeper-z31]

this is initaial oil priming after rebuild. had to use a 1972 240z oil pump .... could that be the cause???

[HowlerMonkey]

If you didn't get oil pressure after cranking it a bit, your pump may have lost prime and won't pull from the pan.......or the pump is bad.

 

When priming a car, I usually pull the oil pressure sender and see if oil comes out when cranking.

 

If it doesn't in a pretty short time then it is most likely that no amount of cranking will get you flow.

 

There are two ways to "prime" the pump.

 

One is to remove it and turn it while filling one side with oil until you end up with both holes filled.

 

Also....put a bit of oil down where the shaft goes in.

 

Another way is to take off the filter (put back on the pressure sender) and stuff a hose connected to a funnel into the galley that extends forward from hole that feeds the filter (not the center hole).

 

That's the one toward the front of the car of the center hole and if you look at it carefully, you can see how you would be able to stuff a soft clear hose of 1/2 inch outside diameter into it enough to get a good seal and have the other end attached to a funnel.

 

Put a bit of oil into the funnel and hand crank the engine backwards (or have someone else lie on the ground and crank it from below) while you watch the oil.

 

You should immediately see a column of oil being sucked down into the galley which leads from the pump output (remember cranking backwards makes the pump draw through that same galley).

 

Once you've run about half a quart into it that way, you should be able to spin on the filter, crank the engine and get pressure right away.

 

If not then your pump is bad like mine was.......or you have a leak between the pickup and pump or between pump and front cover drawing air rather than oil.

 

After this method failed in a recent engine build, I tried another pump that had been laying around for 10 years, did the same prime routine and got immediate pressure.