The V8 Owners Forum -

After a rest from trying to get the car started I went back up the garage today, took the plugs out and cranked it over and over and over, No fookin oil pressure, I know why, and how to cure it, but Im sure my car hates me,
I think the pump has drained down due to a oil leak on a pressure take off for the gauge, it looks like the whole fitting has split, so I will make a new one tonight at work,
The trouble is trying to get the pump base off with the engine in situ and re priming the oil pump

oh dear. I had something similar, but that was down to my own inexperience at the time (or should that be stupidity?)

When I was building my car up, and I got the engine in I would routinely start it maybe once a week to help it bed in, admire it etc....I hadn't wired the dashboard in, so when I started it I used to plug in a draper oil pressure gauge thingy and removed it afterwards, and foolishly not blocking up the hole. It didn't used to leak, no oil dropped on to the floor so I thought nothing of it.

Went to start it one day and whoopsie....no oil pressure. By unwittingly removeing the gauge and having the thing open meant air could get in so the oil could drain back, which is what essentially your non return valve in the filter is supposed to do.

Got away with it though.

What car is it again? I just manage to get mine off on my MG and squeeze it past the steering rack but it's the pump head thing is smaller innit, bit of a pain in the arse though.

Why not try and prime it with an electric drill ? got to be worth a try before struggling with the pump base !

I have the Real steel priming tool if you need it but you could probably knock one up from a 10mm bar and hacksaw in 10 mins!

If you need it the cost will be the post to return it - about £1

Likewise available o others if needed - gt to at the £15 worth out of it theat Real Steel charged me!

Ian

If you are using a remote filter Ian can you not pour oil down the pipe into the pump to fill it, then prime it with the drill. I did mine like that last time as I forgot the vaseline when I put it back together. It worked ok for me. But both my pipes from the pump rise up to the remote so its easy to take both off and fill with oil.

I think I have a choice of 2 methods before the engine has to come out, With the new gauge take-off fitting I have made tonight I have also made a fitting to screw into it so I can fit a presurised oil gun to the pipe, the idea being thay I may be able to back fill the pump thru the gauge port on the pump, or as suggested pour oil down the remote filter pipe, or perhaps just invert the hole assy and leave for a while as the oil drains back into the pump??

Hi Ian,

Another thought is that you could try sucking up the oil, I have something we could try if your willing to give it a go.

Am thinking we could suck from where the oil pressure sensor screws into.

What about filling an extra 2 / 3 litres of oil so the pump is lower than oil level and letting gravity work. Crank it over on the starter to get oil to the top then drain out the extra oil for next time!

Ian

For all of you said use a priming tool, Im afraid that wont work as there is nothing in the pump to gain a seal /suction to drag the oil up, as last time I tried starting the engine the injectors stuck open and filled the sump with about 3" of fuel according to the dipstick, so all the oil that was in the pump was like p-ss and dripped out of the pump very easily,
Reg, If my little gizmo I have made works Ill be happy, but as you suggest, Vacuum may be the way to go, I have a Mittyvac pump up on the shelf, and a adaptor should be easy to fab,
Ian, overfill is another option, im a bit on the cautious side here as my sump allready holds half a supertankers worth of oil just to get it to show on the dipstick, I would think to get ti to pump level we are talking 18-20 litres+ of oil so Ill keep that as a last option before I pull the engine

Ian Anderson wrote:What about filling an extra 2 / 3 litres of oil so the pump is lower than oil level and letting gravity work. Crank it over on the starter to get oil to the top then drain out the extra oil for next time!

Ian

This is the way I do it. I never use the messy vaseline or whatever trick.
The way as descibed takes only 5 minuts or even less when you'll have a Fumoto drain valve instead of an ordinairy oilpan drain plug .

Does the Vaseline do anything to the oil??

Back fill the pump with a squirty oil can into the pressure sender take off then use the priming tool - always works for me.

Andrew

Thanks to everybody who has offered advice, I tried lots of things with the capillary pipe and got nowhere, both pressure and vacuum, I ended up taking the remote off the chassis rail removing the filter and back filling the the pipes.
I think I have got it sorted, I have got the oil light to go out so I know its getting pressure at least, But theres nothing on the gauge, not even a slight nudge, Im guessing theres a Vaselene blockage in the capilary pipe, this goes with me putting a vacuum on the capillary pipe and removing the filter I still keep the vacuum on the pump, so I think im right here, Ill blow that out tomorrow, or it may just need bleeding. I dont think I am concerned yet about the gauge, as I have lifted a rocker cover and there a good flow coming down the springs so there must be some sort of pressure,
Ian

Darkspeed wrote:Back fill the pump with a squirty oil can into the pressure sender take off then use the priming tool - always works for me.

Andrew

Yep, done it myself. All you really need to do is wet the pump to seal the rotors for a few seconds spinning, not fill the whole mechanism with oil. My SD1 motor used to sit for a month at a time while I was offshore, and after messing about priming it the first couple of times away I just used to started the bleddy thing and it would have oil pressure in seconds.

I find it hard to believe that in an engine so successful an oil pump design can be so crap that it can't suck it's own oil properly once the pump has worn a few thou.

In my old 3.9, i unscrewed the pipes 2 the remote filter on the inner wing and poured oil down, put the priming tool in and turned the pump backwards, watch the oil get sucked down the pipe real quick, top pipe up again. Do this several times until it has filled the pump and the pickup pipe and strainer, then reverse drill and build pressure up. At least u can do it with external oil pump, newer rovers have internal pump like mine.