Oil pump priming

Gentlemen, I have forgotten to prime the oil pump (no comments...) is it possible to prime the oil pump with petroleum gelly without taking the timing cover off in order to dismantle the pump? - I was thinking of feeding the pump through the distributor with warm gelly. I cannot dismantle the pump in situ as the bolts are not all accesseble. Do I have only one option: taking the timing cover off? - Please advise... Christian Varming
 
I made up a short rod with a blade on the end and put it in an electric drill.

Then pop the dizzy out and spin it up with that until you get some pressure

Richard
 
^^^^^^^^ What he said . Done it numerous times , you can buy a tool from Rimmers , and other places , but easy to make one . :D
 
Thanks Richard and Stina - I'm not quite sure I got this right - with the rod on the electric drill you rotate the pump gear - is it without the petroleum gelly? and how do I know there is a pressure? Resistance? - What do you call this gadget from Rimmers Stina?
Sorry for my lack of skill....
Chris Varming
 
chris varming said:
Thanks Richard and Stina - I'm not quite sure I got this right - with the rod on the electric drill you rotate the pump gear - is it without the petroleum gelly? and how do I know there is a pressure? Resistance? - What do you call this gadget from Rimmers Stina?
Sorry for my lack of skill....
Chris Varming

Hi . It's just listed as an oil pump priming tool . Although as i said i made one up myself . You might want to buy the tool if your not totally sure what we're talking about . All you do is remove the dizzy and engage the tool into the slot that drives the oil pump ( this is normally driven of the tag on the bottom of the dizzy you've removed ) then just spin it up clockwise with the drill . You'll know when it's primed you'll feel and hear the load on the drill ( it'll nearly pull it out of your hand when it loads up ! ) If your rocker covers are off you'll see the oil flow too , and it'll gurgle and hiss to let you know it's alive :D Stick the dizzy back in and away you go . At that stage you can remove the king lead and wind the motor over till the light goes out if your paranoid about it . Don't worry with the vasaline now it's back together , the drill will prime it up . Post back if your not sure , or when you got her going :D
 
Thats one way via the dizzy .
My trouble with that way is you will have to piss around with removing the dizzy and all its correct settings /timing being lost .. I broke my rotor in the process ,so double whammy for me .
I took the base plate off the oil pump and back filled with vaseline/pet jelly . A drop of oil down my arm was all I got from doing that , and then back on with the base plate and turned the motor over with the main lead OFF until the pressure came up - all whilst listening to Led Zeppelin in the car .
Both systems work . Don't be afraid you'll be OK
Gerald
 
Thanks for the advise Gerald. - Being danish sometimes result in not understanding the basic words correctly, you mention the base plate? is that the blanking plug (No.29 in Haynes exploded view of oil pump) ? Regards, Chris Varming
 
Hello Chris
I don't know whether you are V8 or 2000 , but am assuming you are V8.
I removed the oil filter and then the 4 bolts that hold the base plate on . In with the jelly , plate back on , topped up oil filter back on , main dizzy lead off , and then crank her over whilst you watch the gauge .
If you are 2000cc , Im not to be listened to as I don't know the 2000 . Im barking up the wrong tree .
Gerald
 
You don't say what work you have undertaken in your original post . If it is " substancial " and you go with filling the pump with jelly method you could be turning the whole revolving mass over for a while before it gets oil ! With the drill method you are only rotating the oil pump to prime it , not the whole engine . Removing and refitting the dizzy in the same place is a simple task described in the W/M :D
 
Aha!! I've seen the light and have already fabricated a rod to go with the electric drill (a female rod as I have a SD1 engine)- thank you Stina. Regarding the base plate and the four bolts I'm still in the dark. My engine is a V8 and I'm puzzeled with the 4 bolts you are refering to Gerald. What is a base plate on the oil pump? Regards, Chris Varming.
 
Its the last piece of the oil pump that is bolted up . Made from cast steel if I remember . It may have five short bolts as against the four I suggested .
I don't have a WS manual in front of me so can't give you the part #.
Anyway sounds like Stina's way has got it sorted for you .
 
I've primed A series engines before with a oil syringe and a bit of pipe via the oil pressure switch hole. Wouldn't a similar set up work on the V8?.
 
hairyrover said:
I've primed A series engines before with a oil syringe and a bit of pipe via the oil pressure switch hole. Wouldn't a similar set up work on the V8?.
A few years back during an oil change on my V8, circumstances meant the oil filter was off for a few weeks..
I did something very similar. I used a large grease syringe and tube and pumped vasoline into the pressure relief valve, with the spring removed of course.
Did the trick for me.
Jim
 
Sorry to revive this creaking old thread! In terms of running the drill to get oil pressure up, how long would you expect to have to run it for? I couldn't get any sense of success after several minutes, which I'm guessing is long enough something's wrong!
 
A few seconds, 5 at most I would say. You should get a change in tone of the drill as more pressure builds up, the gauge should show pressure and if you have your rocker covers off, you should also see oil coming out of the rocker shafts.
 
A few seconds, 5 at most I would say. You should get a change in tone of the drill as more pressure builds up, the gauge should show pressure and if you have your rocker covers off, you should also see oil coming out of the rocker shafts.
That's unfortunate, I thought you'd say that! Will take it all apart and see what's going on. The oil gears spin freely enough on the drill, but nothing changes and there's not even a drop of oil in the pump after a couple of attempts. I'm going to redo the gaskets and try to fill it from the return hose (it's got a remote filter and cooler as the original filter would have hit the axle when fully compressed). Thanks.
 
Sorry to revive this creaking old thread! In terms of running the drill to get oil pressure up, how long would you expect to have to run it for? I couldn't get any sense of success after several minutes, which I'm guessing is long enough something's wrong!
several minutes is way too long. i just primed a freshly built engine, it took about 4 seconds to show oil pressure.

what i have done with engines that have gone "dry" and wont prime on a drill without repacking is take the oil switch out and pump oil into the gallery whilst spinning the drill BACKWARDS to get the oil pump gears nice and wet, then ran the drill forwards and pressure came up nicely
 
Did you pack the pump with Vaseline, and spin the pump the correct way ?
Yes to both!
several minutes is way too long. i just primed a freshly built engine, it took about 4 seconds to show oil pressure.

what i have done with engines that have gone "dry" and wont prime on a drill without repacking is take the oil switch out and pump oil into the gallery whilst spinning the drill BACKWARDS to get the oil pump gears nice and wet, then ran the drill forwards and pressure came up nicely
Worth a try!

Thanks ;)
 
In case its useful, note that the gauge sender thread is 1/2-20 UNF tapered, and the idiot light switch is 1/2-18 unc(?) tapered. If you could find a barb or tail with the relevant thread it would be easy (and tidy) to pump oil in with a piece of hose.
 
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