priming new engine

[ole39]

hi guys, my new 8ba is ready to fire, but, thought i would leave out the plugs and turn it over to get some oil pressure before i started it. have cranked it several times and watched the tube going to the gauge, plus watched the needle, no movement at all. didnt rebuild the pump as it and the gauge worked fine, didnt take pump apart, only cleaned it. whats up? thanks guys!

[Walt Dupont--Me.]

I don't think you've cranked it enough. I pressureize all my engine with a pressure tank, that fills all the oil lines and everything. A poor mans way will work, take a guart plastic bottle like you bye rear end oil in, with the long dink on the cap. Remove that top fitting where the pressure guage goes, fill the bottle with whatever oil your useing, stick the dink in the hole and squeeze the bottle, that will work alright. Walt

[41ford1]

Sounds like the pump lost its prime. If you can easily get to the sender a small pump garden spayer works quite well. The type with the pressure pump in the top of the sprayer. $10.00 at most hardware stores. Cut the nozzle assembly off the hose. Adapt the hose to the port for the sender Put a couple of quarts of oil in the sprayer tank. Pump it up and then release the pressure before the tank is completely empty. If you cant get to the sender use Ol' Rons method and spin it over with a 12 volt battery with the plugs out.

[uncle max]

Originally Posted by Walt Dupont--Me.

I don't think you've cranked it enough. I pressureize all my engine with a pressure tank, that fills all the oil lines and everything. A poor mans way will work, take a guart plastic bottle like you bye rear end oil in, with the long dink on the cap. Remove that top fitting where the pressure guage goes, fill the bottle with whatever oil your useing, stick the dink in the hole and squeeze the bottle, that will work alright. Walt

...Thought I was reading the lyrics of a new Sex Pistols album.

[Walt Dupont--Me.]

Originally Posted by uncle max

...Thought I was reading the lyrics of a new Sex Pistols album.

At my age all I can do is try to remember what we used to do.lol Walt

[Shadetree]

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Good idea Walt! I have a couple of those dinks lying around with a small amount of Lucas Oil in them. Anxious to hear my 8RT run when it first comes to life.

[JM 35 Sedan]

Do the priming that has already been suggested, install a known good mechanical OP gauge in one of the rear block ports, and spin it up again with plugs out until you are sure that you have given the pump enough time to get the oil up through all the oil passage ways. If you don't get a reading on this try, I would be thinking something is wrong enough internally that will unfortunately require going back inside the engine, finding the problem, and making the necessary corrections. That's just my opinion after going through this same problem with a fresh built 21 stud, 221 ci engine a few years ago. In my case I decided to fire the engine anyway and was extremely lucky I did not cook all the bearings. The next FH engine I built, 284 ci, 59 series, I was able to bring the oil pressure up a few #'s by turning the engine using a large socket and strong bar fitted to the nut in front of crank pulley. Once I knew I had a few pounds of OP, I spun it faster using a 12v battery and got over 30 psi. Keep us posted on what you do to get oil pressure in this engine.

[G.M.]

Put a little oil in each cylinder, cover with rags so you don't make a mess. Spin the starter with 12 volts and in less than 30 seconds you should see the oil pressure you will have driveing the car. G.M.

[ole39]

hey guys, thanks for all the ideas, went with pulling the op fitting and pouring in some oil, then cranking w/o plugs, 30lbs op just cranking!. should be on the road in a few days! will give you an update! thanks again.

[G.M.]

JM as you stated in your post you only had to turn the crankshaft a few turns to get some oil pressure. We found with the oil screen in a pan of oil the pump will pump a full flow of oil by turning the pump drive gear about 2 turns. It looks good but don't get fooled. We had one when Skip rebuilt his engine that he turned by hand and it looked great. I said we have the test unit lets check it anyway. As soon as we put a slight resistance in the pump output the pressure dropped to almost zero. This is why I feel that as important as the oil pump is and the amount of work to change after the engine is installed it's not worth chance. Plus if there are pressure problems you pretty well know it's not the pump. G.M.

[JM 35 Sedan]

George, I am planning to make an oil pump test rig using some plans that were once either posted here or maybe on the old Fordbarn. It will be made out of standard size readily available PVC water pipe material of different diameters and lengths. It may even be a design that you came up with. Another Fordbarner sent me all the information that I believe he copied from the FB archives. I'll probably make a couple of them while I'm at it. If I run into any problems making these, I may want to consult with you some on how yours is made and works so I am not spending a lot of time trying to reinvent the wheel

[G.M.]

I promised someone I would test their pump so when it comes I will take a few pictures. It needs to have a heavy wall so you can put a 1/8" pipe fitting into the side. It has to be bored 3 or 4 thousanths over the 2 ODs of the pump. This confines the pumped oil and the oil output comes out through the theaded hole in the PVC. The tight fit allow you to tap it on the pump and tap it back off so it seals good. G.M.