Pump not priming

bowez

Registered User
Last night I pulled the oil pump, cleaned, inspected and packed with vasoline. I also partially filled the filter with oil. Today I put it back on and nothing still.

Must I pull the cam sensor and prime by hand or am I looking at a blockage. If I have a blockage will compressed air blown through the sending unit extension clear it?
 
The oil comes out the sending unit port. What are you doing to turn the motor, just at the crank? That's probably not enough.
 
The three engines I've primed required steady cranking (with battery, no fuel or spark) for about 70 secs b4 oil came out the rockers. I should mention that I have a remote oil filter and aftermarket oil cooler that adds about 12 feet of line though.
 
remove the spark plugs so you have less stress on the bearings and starter, trip the inertia switch and diconnect the coil pack and crank it with the key, or i use a remote starter button with the key on so you can see the pressure on the gauge if the valve covers are on. should take 5 to 10 secs to show pressure on teh gauge.

Why did you check the pump where u having a oil pressure problem?
 
Yes I have no oil pressure, even ran engine with out oil cap and no oil coming out, even ran with out sending unit on and no oil.

Just pulled it back off, am getting some oil but I think it lost prime before it could get enough. I'm going to repack and use my old front cover and prime/pack until the vasoline comes out.
 
I think you have a much more severe problem than that. Think of it this way, even after a couple of hours sitting, you can bet there is no oil really sitting in the oil pump for it to "prime" itself when you start it up. Its called leak down and the oil would have flowed back into the oil pan.
 
well for priming i think your best bet is an air drill, think of it like this your motor dont get full oil pressure till around 4-600rpms to get that to pump you gonna need a little more then then by hand and possible not even get a plug in drill to pump the oil up....

and just another little helpful thing i beleave the pump needs to go counter clock wise...
 
Is packed, but while I had it off and filling with my old front cover (off the engine) got vasoline to move.

If looking at something worse like what? I have my old timing set and intermediate shaft/Cam sensor.

Every time I've pulled the pump back off the gear set has moved all the vasoline out of the sump.

I was thinking of drainning the pan, pulling the cam sensor out and refilling through the cam sensor hole, in an atempt to fill the pump before anything else, or just repack and use a drill?
 
You remember that it's a counter clockwise spin to prime that right?

I didn't use any lube in my oil pump. I turned on the drill in the reverse direction and in about 5 seconds I had oil squirting out the oil pressure sensor hole I forgot to plug. So I plug the hole, and it ends up being much harder to turn as oil quickly starts coming up into the heads.

I didn't look for any pressure, I just wanted oil going through all the journals, once I had good oil up top, I called it a day and installed the cam sensor in the proper position.
 
I need two drills when I did mine the first one was fast to pull the oil then I need one with lots of TQ to pump the oil all the way up to the top.
 
I'd pull the oil pump off the timing cover and take a look. It should just work. Did you put a new relief valve in?
 
Is this a fresh rebuild? If so did you bolt on the pickup tube & screen assembly?
Do you see oil on the dipstick?
 
Don't pack your oil pump with anything, it isn't necessary. You need around a 700 RPM drill to get an effective result. Whenever the pump starts pumping oil you can hear the drill bear down and feel the resistance as well.

Make sure you have enough oil, too.
 
Now have 6qts of oil, old relief valve. Pump has come off numerous times.

Thinking of pulling front cover, is there a way to pull crank pulley w/o removing the tranny?
 
If you have tried spinning the pump directly the problem can't be anything in the engine. The usual problems with an oil pump is the relief valve (broken spring, not seating, etc.) or the oil pickup. Any air leak from the pump to the bottom of the pickup will prevent the pump from pumping oil. Try pumping oil out of a pan just covering the bottom of the pickup using a drill. You should be able see if the relief valve is open or air is getting in somewhere (either the gasket to the pickup or a cracked pickup
 
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