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I wanted to oil prime my 1980 5.7 (350) L82, 45,000K miles before starting. So, I purchased two different oil priming tools, the ones you use a drill, pull the distributor, and crank the oil pump shaft. The pump turns, oil in the oil valley not enough of pressure to push oil into the pushrods or rocker arms. (I removed the valve cover to check for oil... no oil up top.) Any help out there? Had any success with a particular brand of primer?
Thanks!
Bernie in Louisville, KY
I wanted to oil prime my 1980 5.7 (350) L82, 45,000K miles before starting. So, I purchased two different oil priming tools, the ones you use a drill, pull the distributor, and crank the oil pump shaft. The pump turns, oil in the oil valley not enough of pressure to push oil into the pushrods or rocker arms. (I removed the valve cover to check for oil... no oil up top.) Any help out there? Had any success with a particular brand of primer?
Thanks!
Bernie in Louisville, KY
I believe the shaft should turn clockwise when viewed from above. Is that the way you're doing it? Also, is the tool rotating quickly enough to build pressure?
Those tools are not that great. There is an oil passage that needs to be blocked in order to build pressure and the store bought tools dont all seem to do that. A spare distributor makes a better tool. Remove the gear and all the guts and drive it with a 1/2" electric drill. It will fight you when it has started to build pressure.
Yes spinning clockwise from above... but the speed of my drill? This is a Corvette I drove into my garage 20 years ago, in great running condition. Maybe I do not need to oil prime?
My thoughts? If you were able to get oil up to the valley. You have most of the passages full. You have the valve covers off already. Squirt a little oil on top of all the valve stems and rocker *****. Put the covers back on. Distributor back in timed up of course and fire it up. If most of the passages are full. You'll have oil to the top end in seconds.
So - First off stingr69 is absolutely right - the SBC /BBC oil primer tool needs to block off the appropriate holes in the block - or there is NO WAY you'll ever get oil pressure thru the lifters to the rocker arms. Most of the tools you purchase have a cylinder of aluminum that does that - but if you just made a tool with a straight shaft to drive the oil pump - it won't work the way it's supposed to.
A 500 RPM drill will spin the oil pump over fast enough to get at least 20 psi of oil pressure (equivalent to running the engine at 1,000 RPM as the camshaft spins half of the crank speed) probably a bunch more - but a little 3 Amp 3/8 drill probably doesn't have the guts to do that - you need a drill with a decent motor, and even then - it will probably take a little while with cold oil.
Now - IMHO check to see you have oil coming out of EACH pushrod end and onto the rocker arms before you consider the job done.. Years ago - I assembled a top end and I was not getting oil out of one of the pushrods. All the other pushrods seemed to be transporting oil to their rocker arms just fine. The pushrod was clear - but after an hour or so of trying to figure out what was going on (and a very warm Harbor Freight 10 Amp drill) I found some casting flash on the (new) cylinder head was interfering with the pushrod fully seating against the lifter - and no oil was being pushed up the pushrod. A little bit of careful filing, problem solved. If I had not found that - I would probably seen that valve seize up in the guide before very long...
Well, if it has not run for 20 years then I would definitely prime.
1) Get the right tool. It has to have to the collar.
This will NOT work:
You need something like this:
2) You need a heavy duty electric drill. Cordless will not cut it.
3) Most important. Once you start getting oil up top, rotate the crank 90 degrees and repeat. Keep doing the rotate 90, prime, rotate 90, prime unit you have rotated the crank through 720 degrees. This will ensure that all the lifters get oil and it goes up all the pushrods. As the lifters go up and down, oil passages get blocked and opened. You will not get all 16 lifters and pushrods lubed without rotating the crank.
Yes spinning clockwise from above... but the speed of my drill? This is a Corvette I drove into my garage 20 years ago, in great running condition. Maybe I do not need to oil prime?
Your thoughts?
Bernie
20 years is a long time for all of the oil to flow to the lowest places -- not only would I prime, I'd also remove the spark plugs and squirt oil toward the back of each cylinder. Then I'd crank the motor until the oil pressure registered on the gauge. Only after that would I reinstall the plugs with the notion of firing it up.
Have you checked the fuel? It could well be rotten. This is a bigger job to tackle than the oil pressure!
make sure you tighten the bejesus out of it or once it builds pressure the shaft will slip in the drill and get you nowhere .. if you put a small mark on the tool shaft you will know if it is spinning
BIG corded drill, gobs of torque or you will burn-out the motor. It may take several minutes before you see a drop at the rockers. Rotating the crank once or twice will help the lifters / oil galley port alignment. (Then you will have to reset the TDC for the dizzy)
Last edited by HeadsU.P.; Oct 25, 2020 at 08:00 AM.
IMHO - If you haven't already done so - Step one would be to drain the 20 year old oil out of the crankcase (applying some heat to the oil pan for an hour or so before draining it might be a good idea). Pull off the old filter and replace that as well.
Step two - would be to get as much of the old gas out of the tank as possible. Replace with new.
Step three would be to pull the spark plugs, and pour an Oz or two of something like Marvel Mystery Oil into each cylinder. - let it sit a day or two.
After that - I'd build up oil pressure with the primer tool, Hopefully you can rotate the engine through several 180 degree cycles while doing this. The crank the engione over a few revolutions with the starter. After that - put the distributor back in, and roughy set timing. Then put plugs back in - put some fresh gas directly into the carb, and cycle the throttle linkage till you See gas coming out of the accelerator pump. Then turn on the ignition, and try to light her up.
Assuming it lights up - and drives - I would plan to change all fluids (engine oil again, coolant, trans oil, diff oil, brake fluid, and even power steering fluid) in the very very near future.
IMHO - If you haven't already done so - Step one would be to drain the 20 year old oil out of the crankcase (applying some heat to the oil pan for an hour or so before draining it might be a good idea). Pull off the old filter and replace that as well.
Step two - would be to get as much of the old gas out of the tank as possible. Replace with new.
Step three would be to pull the spark plugs, and pour an Oz or two of something like Marvel Mystery Oil into each cylinder. - let it sit a day or two.
After that - I'd build up oil pressure with the primer tool, Hopefully you can rotate the engine through several 180 degree cycles while doing this. The crank the engione over a few revolutions with the starter. After that - put the distributor back in, and roughy set timing. Then put plugs back in - put some fresh gas directly into the carb, and cycle the throttle linkage till you See gas coming out of the accelerator pump. Then turn on the ignition, and try to light her up.
Assuming it lights up - and drives - I would plan to change all fluids (engine oil again, coolant, trans oil, diff oil, brake fluid, and even power steering fluid) in the very very near future.
IMPORTANT. Put the distributor back in before cranking the engine with the starter. Just disconnect the coil power. If you crank the engine without the distributor installed, the oil pump will NOT turn and you will have ZERO oil pressure.
Appreciate all the steps and the time you took to help me. (With you all the way! Down to the spark plugs and Marvel Mystery oil cylinder squirts.) This is a fanatic car so asking for your help might save me a tragic mistake!
IMPORTANT. Put the distributor back in before cranking the engine with the starter. Just disconnect the coil power. If you crank the engine without the distributor installed, the oil pump will NOT turn and you will have ZERO oil pressure.
After building up oil pressure - cranking for a rev or two - is "OK" - the reason I suggested this was to push any oil out of the cylinders. I wouldn't want to crank for very long - but think about how long it takes to get pressure to any bearings when a shop does an oil change - and doesn't prefill the filter.
Oil Primer Tool Failure?
