progess on my engine, couple Q's

mywhite89

mywhite89

Registered User
Well I have spent the last couple weekends putting my engine back in my car, getting ready to buy an intercooler and a bunch of other stuff. I'm trying to figure out the best way to get oil pressure up on this thing.

I bought a different oil pressure sending unit, the one that is supposed to give true readings. I have not done the mod to bypass the resistor on the instrument cluster yet. I've cranked the engine over probably a total of 20-30 seconds to see if I could get oil pressure reading on the gauge. Nothing yet. I did fill the oil filter with oil before installing.

I don't trust my oil pressure gauge anyways, is there a way to hook a volt meter to the sending unit to check pressure numerically? (If so, what is the typical voltage readings for normal pressure?) Not sure how that all works.

By the way, I don't have the blower on yet or injectors but I'm pretty sure the oil should prime anyways, no?

chris
 
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I would pick up a cheap mechanical gauge and hook it up to get a true reading on your oil pressure.
 
jackpriceisgod-I thought maybe I would get lucky and be able to run it without injectors, but I was wrong.:D J/K I am just trying to build oil pressure not start it yet.

Tickler-the new sending unit had some teflon or something equivalent on it already.

Thanks for the quick responses
 
When I primed my engine I used an old distributor shaft on the end of a drill and just spun the oil pump for a little while. worked really well, its what my machine shop suggested. I'm not sure what kind of reading if any you'd get without running the engine. Hope this helps.

Rick
 
Rick Mink said:
When I primed my engine I used an old distributor shaft on the end of a drill and just spun the oil pump for a little while. worked really well, its what my machine shop suggested. I'm not sure what kind of reading if any you'd get without running the engine. Hope this helps.

Rick
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Hey you just turned the lightbulb on above my head.:D I just need a shaft without the gear and I can prime it that way. For some reason I was thinking I couldn't prime it that way because of the distributor gear on the cam, Duhhh!!

Well, i'm gonna do that gauge mod and possibly buy a mechanical oil pressure gauge to check if I am not seeing any pressure on my stock gauge while cranking the engine over. If I'm not seeing any pressure at this point, I don't really want to just keep cranking the engine over, so I'll do the drill and old shaft routine. Should have done that to start with.

Thanks for the heads up Rick
 
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mywhite89 said:
Hey you just turned the lightbulb on above my head.:D I just need a shaft without the gear and I can prime it that way. For some reason I was thinking I couldn't prime it that way because of the distributor gear on the cam, Duhhh!!

Well, i'm gonna do that gauge mod and possibly buy a mechanical oil pressure gauge to check if I am not seeing any pressure on my stock gauge while cranking the engine over. If I'm not seeing any pressure at this point, I don't really want to just keep cranking the engine over, so I'll do the drill and old shaft routine. Should have done that to start with.

Thanks for the heads up Rick
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Autozone and Advanced Auto in my area both have the oil priming tool and will loan it to you.

David
 
It's a hex shaft. I borrowed one from a friend who said he made his from a caulk gun that had a familiar looking shaft when he was browsing home depot one day.

to prime the motor the shaft needs to go counter clockwise. Make sure you take it easy too if all you have is a 3/8" drill. Mine started smoking after trying to push the oil uphill for a while.
 
Called around, can't rent any oil pressure priming tools around here. I did get a mechanical oil pressure gauge so I'm going to see if I have pressure.

How much pressure should I see at the low revolutions that I am able to crank it over?

Mike, thats a good idea I'll look into that
 
I doubt anything other than an air powered drill, or a 1/2" drill is gonna be able to spin it fast enough to show you much. I'd just shoot for seeing oil make it up to the valve train and call it good.
 
If you can't rent a priming tool then buy one. They are cheap enough. You should be able to see 80-90psi just using a normal drill. A 3/8" drill won't do it very long before it starts to smoke but it will get full pressure for you. Don't crank the motor. If you can't get full pressure before starting the motor then don't start it.
 
I'll find something by the end of the week. All the parts stores I called were pretty clueless like they had never heard of anyone wanting one of these priming tools before, so i'll probably have to order one. I didn't crank it over long enough to hurt anything i'm sure, but its better to be safe then sorry.

I did the oil pressure gauge mod tonight. I pulled out the cluster and it turns out mine is one of those different setups where the resistor is in-line right next to the sending unit. Oh well, I pulled the whole cluster out just to put a zip-tie on the boost line I guess:rolleyes: The good word of the night is no vaccum leaks, haha.
 
Hex Rod Oil Pressure Primer (Shaft)

Auto Zone sells a new Oil Pump shaft for about $4, part # is IS-137.
 
Got the engine primed, everything went well. I hooked a mechanical oil pressure gauge up just see the pressure reading but after I built oil pressure you could definitely feel the difference.

chris
 
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