Any tips on priming an oil pump?

Post by **DJpowerHaus** » Sat Apr 22, 2006 2:08 pm

I've been trying to prime my oil pump for about 5 hours now. Starting to get a little pissed. Any advice?

Mike · Post by **Mike** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 12:42 am

How are you trying to do it?

I would take the timing belt off, and spin the oil pump gear in the correct direction with an air tool or drill. Did you at least pack the pump, sump, and filter with grease? If not it will take awhile for the oil to fill in the filter and get to the head. You should be able to tell when it is primed as it will be a lot harder to turn.

Sigmaproject · Post by **Sigmaproject** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 6:39 am

I had a similar problem with a 4G54, I dont know if they are similar?

Easy method. Remove the oil pressure sender switch and pump oil into the hole while getting someone to wind the motor over by hand BACKWARDS.

I couldnt get at the pressure switch (wastegate in the way)
What I had to do was jack up the rear of the vehicle as much as I could ,to give a downward attitude at the front. Take off the oil filter and there is a small oil hole in the oil filter location recess. This runs from the pump.
What I had to do was get a flexable oil can ,or any other means of getting oil into this hole. Wind the motor backwards with a socket. Take about half a oil can to fill the line from the oil filter location to the sump.

blue1 · Post by **blue1** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 9:37 am

Aussie trick! If you have a compressor, seal off motor "PVC", oil cap on, remove the oil filter and put an air line into the valve cover breather 'tight fit' this will pressurise your crankcase and the only way the air can escape is to force oil up the pickup and out the filter and there you have it! oil pump full of oil. i know it sounds stupid but it does work!!!

Post by **DJpowerHaus** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 10:33 pm

Guess I'll need to fix the dip stick just to get this to work.

Post by **DJpowerHaus** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 3:36 pm

I've got a hole in my dip stick tube from my earliest attempt at welding.

With some help from Woody we finally got the transmission on (what a pain.. not sure what made this time so hard compared to the other times). Then I hooked a booster to it and spun it for a little while. I had the nut at the back of the head off to see if I was getting oil up to the head and then I look over and my oil cooler line is almost giving me a 10W30 shower. Looking good. Buttoned things up and started getting some other things done in the engine bay.

Swapped out the crossmember with one I cleaned up (the one I had in it was slotted on one side a little and I just wanted to put in a "normal" one before I make a 3rd attempt at making mounts). Also ground down some little things to make the adapter plates bolt on a little safer. Needed to cut down the sleeves for the crossmember bolts so that the nylon on the safety nuts would engage.

Also I sanded and painted some stuff so it wouldn't rust until I get some real paint later this summer.

Robert Venable · Post by **Robert Venable** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 12:22 am

DJpowerHaus wrote: Then I hooked a booster to it and spun it for a little while. I had the nut at the back of the head...

What do you mean by booster and what "nut"???

Post by **DJpowerHaus** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 9:47 am

By booster I mean battery charger box and by nut on the back of the head I actually mean bolt.. sorry. The bolt that I have blocking off the stock turbo oil feed hole. Once oil comes out of this hole you konw you have oil to at least the head.

jeffball610 · Post by **jeffball610** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 5:11 pm

All this sounds too complex. All you need to do is spin the oil pump with a drill or the like. Do not use an impact tool! If the valve cover is off, there are two small holes near the cam gears that spit oil. Once those are flowing, you have oil in the whole engine. You might keep going just to make sure everything is oiled. Put the timing belt back on and start her up.

jeffball610 · Post by **jeffball610** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 4:56 pm

You can. Obviously you need clearance on the timing side. In my DSM you just have to pull the driver's side wheel off. Of course, all of this is easier when the engine is on a stand. Ever tried to change a timing set on a DSM in a cold drive way?

jeffball610 · Post by **jeffball610** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 5:03 pm

Here's a timing belt install article. It says 2G, but the 1G (6-bolt) is the same. The only real difference are part #'s. There is another write up, but it's not as in depth and doesn't include as many pics. Check out www.VFAQ.com.

http://www.vfaq.com/mods/timingbelt-2G.html

Bill Hincher · Post by **Bill Hincher** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 11:06 pm

before you spin a motor that hasnt been started in a while, you prime the engine by filling the oil filter before you spin the oil pump..it saves time on how long it takes to fill the oil passage ways.....on the older engines, I used to leave the timing cover off and watched how much oil moved out of the pan.......its amazing to see how low the oil level goes when you spin the pump with an electric drill....it helps you see the value of a well designed oil tray/windage tray and oil pan.
Jeff is very correct in what he said about spinning the oil pump before spinning the whole engine if your concerned with the flow

Post by **DJpowerHaus** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 11:42 am

jeffball610 wrote:All this sounds too complex. All you need to do is spin the oil pump with a drill or the like. Do not use an impact tool! If the valve cover is off, there are two small holes near the cam gears that spit oil. Once those are flowing, you have oil in the whole engine. You might keep going just to make sure everything is oiled. Put the timing belt back on and start her up.

How do you get a drill on the oil pump? I've never seen a chuck on a hand drill big enough for that nut. And with a balance shaft elim, there is no way to remove or reinstall this nut.

Also, I always turn the motor a few times with the ECU off. A great benefit to a push button starting system with an ignition toggle switch.

jeffball610 · Post by **jeffball610** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 4:49 pm

Just get an adaptor to put a 14mm (i think) socket on the drill. You can use an old extension from a socket set and cut the piece off that fits the socket wrench. You might have to go with 1/4" or something, but any shaft will work as long as it fits your drill. Or you could just use a fancy air wrench.