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Thread: Prime the oil pump

  1. #1
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    Question Prime the oil pump

    Hello, is it any one who has tried to prime the oil pump backwards? Nailhead 425
    When I took down the screen and oil pump I was putting Vaseline in the pump so it could “pull” the oil thru the pump and up to the engine, did work great!
    Next time I was only removing the screen (I need that to dismount the oil pan ( engine still in the car)) and now after assembling everything there will be no oil at all in the engine!
    My thought was to fill oil to the pump thru there the oil filter is mounted.
    What do you think, is that a possibility?
    Best Regards!

  2. #2
    starting the engine after it's been sitting for a while is pretty much the same for the bearings whether the pump is primed or not.

    it's going to take a couple of rpm after the engine starts running in order to get the oil pressure up and pressurize the bearings.

    the usual solution in a race car is to put an additional switch on the ignition so you can spin the crank over with the starter motor until you see good oil pressure on your gauge ( < 5 seconds ) and then you light the engine off. usually a race car will actually have two switches, a momentary switch to run the starter and a rocker switch or toggle to turn the ignition off and on.

    for a street car like you've got in which you're only trying to make sure you've got prime on the pump again and you're only going to do this once in a blue moon, pull the spark plugs out and at least one of the valve covers off.

    removing the plugs gets rid of compression and makes the engine much easier for the electric battery / motor to spin the crank. it also gets rid of the spark so the engine can't fire off.

    pulling the valve cover allows you to verify when the rockers are getting fed with oil. the rockers are both the highest oiling point in the engine and also the furthest out in the oiling circuit so by the time that the rockers are taking a good amount of oil you can be sure that the whole system is primed and pressurized.

    spin the crank for ~30 seconds and check the valve train for oil. repeat as necessary.

    once you've got oil feeding, put the valve cover back on and your plugs back in and you're ready to go.

    The way to crush the bourgeoisie is to grind them between the millstones of taxation and inflation.
    Vladimir Lenin

    Government schooling is about "the perfect organization of the hive."
    H.H. Goddard, Human Efficiency (1920)

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by bob k. mando View Post
    starting the engine after it's been sitting for a while is pretty much the same for the bearings whether the pump is primed or not.

    it's going to take a couple of rpm after the engine starts running in order to get the oil pressure up and pressurize the bearings.

    the usual solution in a race car is to put an additional switch on the ignition so you can spin the crank over with the starter motor until you see good oil pressure on your gauge ( < 5 seconds ) and then you light the engine off. usually a race car will actually have two switches, a momentary switch to run the starter and a rocker switch or toggle to turn the ignition off and on.

    for a street car like you've got in which you're only trying to make sure you've got prime on the pump again and you're only going to do this once in a blue moon, pull the spark plugs out and at least one of the valve covers off.

    removing the plugs gets rid of compression and makes the engine much easier for the electric battery / motor to spin the crank. it also gets rid of the spark so the engine can't fire off.

    pulling the valve cover allows you to verify when the rockers are getting fed with oil. the rockers are both the highest oiling point in the engine and also the furthest out in the oiling circuit so by the time that the rockers are taking a good amount of oil you can be sure that the whole system is primed and pressurized.

    spin the crank for ~30 seconds and check the valve train for oil. repeat as necessary.

    once you've got oil feeding, put the valve cover back on and your plugs back in and you're ready to go.

    Sorry did forgot to tell that I am using a driver drill to run the pump thru the hole for the distributer, I´m not cranking the whole engine. And yes I'm looking at the rockers, but nothing......

  4. #4
    nailheads oil by weeping from the rocker shaft. you've got no oil feeding or running down at all?

    remember, without the rockers and pushrods moving, you're not going to have any splash action going on. oil will drain directly from the weep holes to the drains back into cam valley.

    here's the 67 engine manual.

    http://www.teambuick.com/reference/l...files/60-c.php

    the section on oiling starts on page 60-102


    the Nailhead oil pump detail is here

    http://www.teambuick.com/reference/n...d_oil_pump.php
    The way to crush the bourgeoisie is to grind them between the millstones of taxation and inflation.
    Vladimir Lenin

    Government schooling is about "the perfect organization of the hive."
    H.H. Goddard, Human Efficiency (1920)

  5. #5
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    Angry News from the Nailhead


    Today I did remove the oil filter (and the bracket for it) to fill the oil pump with oil backways. What I did see was that the oil filter was filled with oil!?
    But I did fill some more to the pump anyway. Then I put the bracket and filter back on place again and started to run the pump with my drilling machine but No oil at the rockers this time either. I did measure the oil pressure switch and it indicate no pressure. But then I did remove the oil pressure switch and run the pump I could see the oil splashing from the hole. The oil filter was new this time also.
    Any idea what’s wrong??

  6. #6

    oil

    Are you turning clockwise or counter clockwise? How fast is the drill turning? Does the drill sound as if it is under a load?

    Ben

  7. #7
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    Dear Ben,

    I’m running itclockwise (yes, I've tried ccw once, nothing else did help) about thespeed: I've tried 400-1400rpm with same bad experience and no it don’t soundsthat it is under a load

  8. #8
    You could try putting in several more quarts of oil and see if it picks up. Then drain them back out, leave it a couple of days and see if it picks up at the correct level, if not it could indicate an air leak. Maybe incorrectly assembled, not torqued evenly, bad surfaces or ?


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  9. #9
    You could try to turn the pump CCW & at the same time pump oil into where the oil sender switch goes. Of course you have to remove the switch. This MAY suck the oil backwards into the pump. You may have to attempt this a couple/few times. Eventually it WILL suck oil into the pump to initially prime it. Then you could turn the pump CW & see if it now pumps oil. Hopefully this will save you from having to remove the oil pan & filling the pump with oil or packing it with Vaseline.


    Tom T.
    Tom Telesco
    Classic and Muscle Automotive
    12 Cook St.
    Norwalk, CT 06853-1601
    Day Phone 203-324-6045 ET
    NailHead Mini-Starters '53-'66
    Adjustable Roller Tip Rocker Arms - All NailHeads
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    "If I can't get it, you don't need it!"

  10. #10
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    Does the distributor housing have to be in place for the oil to continue through the oil galley up to the rocker arm shafts like a Chevy V-8? ( I know on a Chevy the oil continues to the lifters but the distributor housing has to be in place so the oil does not just flow back to the oil pan).

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