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Need help with oil pressure on startup of engine!!

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Bruce_B

Bruce_B

Jedi Warrior
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Just went to begin the startup procedure of my rebuilt engine in my '58 BE. A 1275 engine with 5 speed rivergate trans.

As per instructions I'm using, put a teaspoon of oil into each cylinder (plugs out of course) and turned engine on starter until I saw oil come out of the opening where the oil gauge connects to. Should take 15 - 20 seconds....nothing. Unscrewed the oil filter and put it some oil, tried again still nothing.

Now...what else can I try? I know the engine runs, started it up about two weeks ago for about 15 seconds. But how can I tell if oil is getting through the engine...it's a new oil pump, and the pick up basket was cleaned and in good shape. And yes...there is oil in the car.

Ideas...suggestions. Right now I just stopped and am having a beer (couldn't hurt..)

thanks
 
A remedy I have heard of for this is to loosen the banjo bolt on the oil pipe and use a funnel to "force" oil down the pipe while you turn the engine backwards by hand. I have never had to do it myself but I've heard other people say that it helps to do this as it restores the pump's prime.
 
Banjo bolt it is, fill it till it will fill no more and you will have instant oil pressure. It fills the pump and the lines. Only takes about a shot glass of oil. Use a kitchen turkey baster to fill it.
 
So I'll uncrew the big banjo bolt that connects the pipe that comes up from the oil filter into the block. Are you saying to fill up that Pipe or to squirt oil into the oil that the banjo bolt screws into?

Just want to make sure.

thanks
 
Fill it up wait a bit and top it off. That's all. You want it to go into the block hole which goes directly to the pump but it will go into the tube as well, not a big deal.
 
Put oil into the hole that the banjo bolt goes in. tightened it back up, and ran the starter motor. Still no oil comingout of the oil pressure gauge orifice.

I know I had oil pressure, because when I first started the motor up, I had an oil leak because the t-bolt was loose where it screwed into the engine.

Any other ideas? Could I have the rockers blocking the oil feed, I was really careful about that.
 
I had the drive between the camshaft and oil pump fail on one rebuild I did. Had to pull the engine and replace parts.
 
Start the engine now that you have primed the pump. Have the oil pressure guage hooked up. twinty seconds only please unless you get oil pressure, and you should.
 
Fire it up and you should have almost instant oil pressure after you have primed with filling through the banjo. If you used assembly lube during the build, I would not make this into too big of a deal.
 
Undo flex line that goes to OP gauge at the right rear side of block, squirt a pint or so of oil down thru hole to backfill the oil pump, reattach flex line and and hopefully you should see good OP on startup
 
Michael,
This thread was last active 16 years ago. How did you even find it? Guessing Bruce fixed the problem some time ago.
Bob
 
bobhustead said:
Michael,
This thread was last active 16 years ago. How did you even find it? Guessing Bruce fixed the problem some time ago.
Bob
Click to expand...
Bob--

Maybe the better question is how it found me--it somehow popped up in my email as a string I was watching and without looking at the date I just chimed in with my contribution.

Hope he's solved the problem by now....
 
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