Is there a way to start the Oil Pump prior to starting the car?

I would like to move my car out of the garage every night to get to my workout equipment. I don't like the idea of starting the car and only moving the it a few feet. Would this idea help prevent start up damage?

 

You could push the car out as part of your warm up exercise.

There is no reasonable way to run the oil pump separately from the engine running.

There are aftermarket pre-oilers that some nut-cases use to build up oil pressure before they start their engines. Google engine pre-oiler.

 

It would be much easier just to re locate the work out equipment

 

Starting the engine just for a moment and then shutting it off is generally not a good idea, at least if you do it on a regular basis, whether or not you prime the oil system.

I also have to move my cars occasionally to access other things in the garage. I never start them, I just push them around.

I use a big wheel chock to safely stop and hold the cars when I roll them. Since it is hard to push a car from the outside and then quickly jump in to grab or press the brake, just place a wheel chock about two feet ahead of one of the wheels, then push the car until it hits the chock. Then repeat until the car is where you want it. This keeps the car from ever picking up too much speed and/or potentially rolling out of control. I actually keep a few extra chocks on hand just in case.

If your garage and driveway apron is relatively level, you'll have no problem pushing the car back and forth. If you have a downward slope out of the garage, one idea would be to attach a hook to your garage wall, then attach a small winch to the hook... then after you let the car roll out of the garage to access your equipment, you can reel it back in using the winch. I may try this since I have a slight slope out of my garage and it's sometimes a little tough to push the car back in. I can do it but it can be a bit of a bear sometimes, especially when the ground is wet.

It may seem a little nutty to make such an effort to not have to start the engine, but starting an engine twice for just a moment, 300 times a year or whatever is certainly not a great thing to do.

First off, cranking an engine takes a lot out of the battery, and then if you do not drive the car afterwards the battery does not get recharged. So cranking twice and not driving the car leaves you with a slightly weakened battery. Doing this over and over again, especially if you do not get a chance to actually drive the car for a while, may eventually leave you with a battery too weak to start the car. (A battery charger would help here.)

Also, starting a cold engine creates condensation inside the crankcase, exhaust, etc. Normally, once you start driving and the car reaches full operating temperature, most or all of the condensation burns away. If you do not let the car warm up properly, the condensation will remain. This will not hurt anything if it happens only now and then... but doing it over and over, hundreds of times a year... probably not an ideal way to treat the car.

Some might recommend starting the car, and then leaving it idle for a while to get hot and to charge the battery. This is not a good idea since it is generally bad to leave an engine idling. Also, it would take a very long time for the engine to reach full operating temp just from idling. Also, the battery does not get changed from just idling... car really needs to be driven for a while to get it nice and hot and to charge the battery. My guess is that you will not want to have to drive it 10 miles every time you want to use your weigh gear.

Hopefully you can figure out a safe way to push it.