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Hi guys ...........
please please help, I am completely and utterly frustrated. I have been tring to prime this engine to no avail... first i'm trying to fire it up after rebuilding the engine for the first time, secondly I have a engine priming tool that i have been spinning (clockwise) with a electric corded drill for like 10 mins i see no oil (no change) whatsoever, while spinning the tool i have been spinning the crankshaft (clockwise) but i see nothing at all. The only thing difference that I can tell is what I can hear (i hear a gurggling noise) while spinning priming tool. Also the shaft where you put the priming tool into is loose (moves around). I put 5 quarts of oil & break in oil, after spinning I remove the oil filter but is still dry I see no oil moving around that I can tell.
Should i get different priming tool and oil pressure gauge or remove oil & oil pan & replace oil pump ????? Im not sure what to do im stumped any help is greatly appreciated.
P.s. If any pictures is needed for better help please dont hesitate to ask thanks again for everyones help
Hi guys ...........
please please help, I am completely and utterly frustrated. I have been tring to prime this engine to no avail... first i'm trying to fire it up after rebuilding the engine for the first time, secondly I have a engine priming tool that i have been spinning (clockwise) with a electric corded drill for like 10 mins i see no oil (no change) whatsoever, while spinning the tool i have been spinning the crankshaft (clockwise) but i see nothing at all. The only thing difference that I can tell is what I can hear (i hear a gurggling noise) while spinning priming tool. Also the shaft where you put the priming tool into is loose (moves around). I put 5 quarts of oil & break in oil, after spinning I remove the oil filter but is still dry I see no oil moving around that I can tell.
Should i get different priming tool and oil pressure gauge or remove oil & oil pan & replace oil pump ????? Im not sure what to do im stumped any help is greatly appreciated.
P.s. If any pictures is needed for better help please dont hesitate to ask thanks again for everyones help
If you have oil coming out of the fitting where your oil pressure sender goes, turn the key and fire it up (the oil pump shaft wobbling a little is normal
If you have oil coming out of the fitting where your oil pressure sender goes, turn the key and fire it up (the oil pump shaft wobbling a little is normal
If you bought a cheap priming tool from any of the retail autoparts stores realize the are machined wrong and all the oil pressure is escaping out the distributor camshaft hole.
From: At my Bar drinking and wrenching in Lafayette Colorado
You can't just turn the oil pump with a priming tool. You have to have a distributor body inserted into the block, and then stick the priming tool through the distributor. The distributor body completes and seals off the oil circuits to allow you to get oil up to the top of the engine and into the bearings. Without a distributor body installed in the block, you're just dumping oil right out of the main oil galley right back into the bottom of the block.
You can't just turn the oil pump with a priming tool. You have to have a distributor body inserted into the block, and then stick the priming tool through the distributor. The distributor body completes and seals off the oil circuits to allow you to get oil up to the top of the engine and into the bearings. Without a distributor body installed in the block, you're just dumping oil right out of the main oil galley right back into the bottom of the block.
This is the tool that im using now
Also The oil sendin unit is already hooked up.....
so i should use my distibutor housing with this tool ?
how would i go about doing that ? Taking the distributor apart ?
One like this will work. It will seal the passages. I've also got one where I just ground all the teeth off the gear of an old distributor, cut off the top and attached a drill to it.
Also The oil sendin unit is already hooked up.....
so i should use my distibutor housing with this tool ?
how would i go about doing that ? Taking the distributor apart ?
That tool does not block the camshaft. All you are doing is priming the crank with it. You need a tool with the aluminum block-off on it to also prime the top end. see linked autozone pic above for the type to get, but don't buy that one as it is machined wrong. I can't remember where I got mine as it was decades ago, might have been Jegs.
Last edited by Dynra Rockets; Jul 23, 2017 at 06:10 PM.
From: At my Bar drinking and wrenching in Lafayette Colorado
That tool cannot be used by itself without having a blank distributor housing to seal off the oil passages. You are just dumping all the oil right out of the pump and right back into the oil pan. If you want to pressurized and prime the oil system all the way up to the top of the heads, you must use a distributor housing or a complete priming tool to do it right. Here is my "priming distributor" with the priming shaft hooked up to the drill motor. The tool you use needs to look like this:
Just grab a junk Chevy distributor out of your parts shed and strip it down to make the tool.
I've primed alot of engines in my time and none of them needed to have a distributor in the hole,if you're not getting oil thru the oil filter and no oil pressure you have a air lock in the oil pump or you have the wrong pick up on the oil pump. When you installed the pick up on the pump did you measure from the block flat where the pan sits to the pick up and than from the edge of the flat on the pan? There should be about 1/2 inch difference between the two with the pick up higher than the bottom of the pan.
I've primed alot of engines in my time and none of them needed to have a distributor in the hole,if you're not getting oil thru the oil filter and no oil pressure you have a air lock in the oil pump or you have the wrong pick up on the oil pump. When you installed the pick up on the pump did you measure from the block flat where the pan sits to the pick up and than from the edge of the flat on the pan? There should be about 1/2 inch difference between the two with the pick up higher than the bottom of the pan.
that im aware of my rebuilder did not change the pump being it was working before (i never changed my pump at all) maybe air lock ??
I just checked Summit & jegs they go bout 50/60 bucks (for a tool ill probably gonna use only one or twice) but i checked ebay they have some around $15/20 but I'm a bit apprehensive being that they might be milled wrong (autostore tools). They do have a jegs performance brand priming tool for around $25
What are all your thoughts ???
From: At my Bar drinking and wrenching in Lafayette Colorado
Originally Posted by sparky77
I've primed alot of engines in my time and none of them needed to have a distributor in the hole,if you're not getting oil thru the oil filter and no oil pressure you have a air lock in the oil pump or you have the wrong pick up on the oil pump. When you installed the pick up on the pump did you measure from the block flat where the pan sits to the pick up and than from the edge of the flat on the pan? There should be about 1/2 inch difference between the two with the pick up higher than the bottom of the pan.
There is no way you can get oil pressure up to the top of a Chevy engine without sealing off the oil passages using either the tool shown by 427Hotrod or by using a distributor housing. The distributor completes the oil passage - it's the reason the distributor has the grooves and lands on it - to create the oil passage. You can get oil to the crankshaft, but that's as far as it's going to go without the blockoff tool or a distributor housing.
Originally Posted by hardmansonfan
I just checked Summit & jegs they go bout 50/60 bucks (for a tool ill probably gonna use only one or twice) but i checked ebay they have some around $15/20 but I'm a bit apprehensive being that they might be milled wrong (autostore tools). They do have a jegs performance brand priming tool for around $25
What are all your thoughts ???
Junk distributors are usually free... and they work perfectly as priming tools.
Originally Posted by hardmansonfan
that im aware of my rebuilder did not change the pump being it was working before (i never changed my pump at all) maybe air lock ??
The oil pump is a positive displacement pump. It won't "airlock." You need the correct tool to block off the oil passages as noted in the responses above.
There is no way you can get oil pressure up to the top of a Chevy engine without sealing off the oil passages using either the tool shown by 427Hotrod or by using a distributor housing. The distributor completes the oil passage - it's the reason the distributor has the grooves and lands on it - to create the oil passage. You can get oil to the crankshaft, but that's as far as it's going to go without the blockoff tool or a distributor housing.
Junk distributors are usually free... and they work perfectly as priming tools.
The oil pump is a positive displacement pump. It won't "airlock." You need the correct tool to block off the oil passages as noted in the responses above.
sorry i dont have a junk distributor, im assuming that ebay item is milled good being its from jegs & its cheap to boot
From: At my Bar drinking and wrenching in Lafayette Colorado
Originally Posted by sparky77
Either of the oil pump tools should get you oil thru the filter the better tool will give the top end .
Correct - any tool (or lack thereof) will get oil to the filter and to the crank (at a lowered pressure), but the passages have to be completed in order to get oil up to the top of the engine at full pressure.
Originally Posted by hardmansonfan
i dont have a junk distributor
You can walk up to any junkyard or larger engine rebuilder and say, "Hey, buddy, you got a junk Chevy distributor I can have?" They then point you to a 55-gallon barrel full of junk distributors and tell you to help yourself. Free tools are cool (actually, I think I gave a guy $5 for one the last time I needed one in a hurry after having loaned out my sweet junk tool shown in the photo above).
First time engine priming please help
