Attempting to Prime Oil pump
 

Preparing to start up a F22b2 engine in which the oil pump was replaced along with the engine being completely reassembled. Engine turns by hand and assembly lube used for all rotating parts.

Spark plugs removed, cylinder head cover off to monitor and cranked in bursts of 10 seconds for about 1.5 minutes total. Removed oil filter and no sign of oil.
Next I filled the filter with oil, which is probably what I should have done the first time, and cranked in 10second bursts for a total of about 30 seconds. Did not see any signs of oil coming out at the cylinder head.

At this point I'm concerned about cranking too much and using up the assembly lube. Any suggestions about what to do next would be appreciated. More cranking? Or do I need to tear partially apart in order to remove the hex head plug on the outlet of the oil pump discharge and fill with oil? Drop the oil plan and check the pump pickup?

Suggest pulling oil filter to see if oil has penetrated filter yet. If it has you know oil pressure is being developed, but volume may not be adequate to service cylinder head. If yes, I would keep cranking, or momentary start/stop on engine.

You should have developed some oil pressure w/ that much cranking. However, 1.5 mins of cranking is only equivalent to 20 secs or so of idling.

good luck

Okay, started to troubleshoot.

Removed the oil filter and after cranking for about 10 seconds oil started flowing.
Next I reinstalled the filter and cranked for about 40 seconds, and while cranking noticed a change in the sound which led me to believe that oil was starting to move through, but I still did not see any oil come out at the top of the cylinder head. Next I cranked for about 60 seconds with no oil coming out at the cylinder head and the sound returning to original.

Should I be seeing oil at the top while just cranking?
Does just cranking not produce enough oil pump rotation to move the oil to the top?
Is there something else that I should be doing or should I move toward installing spark plugs and firing up but shutting down if the oil pressure light does not go out in a few seconds?

Not sure I understand your concerns leading to extended cranking w/o startup.

You know oil pump is producing pressure. Crank engine briefly and see if oil pressure light goes out and oil arrives at cylinder head. You won't damage cylinder head by operating w/o oil flow for a brief time. Oil is likely to arrive shortly after startup.

Was cylinder head gasket replaced? It may be possible to mis-install cylinder head gasket and block oil galleries to top of cylinder head.

good luck

What I'm trying to do is validate that the oil pump is primed and circulating before I start up for real so I have the cylinder head cover off and spark plugs out and am cranking to see if I get oil flow up to the rocker arms.

I guess what your saying is that it might be overkill since I validated that the pump is working and that with just cranking it may not generate enough pressure to push to the top and I should just install cylinder head cover and spark plugs and start up. What would be a reasonable amount of time to wait for the oil pressure light to go out?

Thanks for your time.

If oil pressure light doesn't go out w/I 10 seconds of start, then a problem is likely.


Post your results.


good luck

I'm with Tex. It's a good idea to make sure the oilpump is working. If the headgasket is upside-down or something, it's good to find out without actually running the engine.

So should the oil pressure light go off after just cranking without the spark plugs being installed and the cylinder head cover off to prevent ignition?
Should I be seeing oil coming out at the top of the cylinder head when just cranking?
I guess the cylinder head gasket upside down may be a possibility but I thought that I was pretty meticulous when installing. Another issue could be with the oil pump maybe not putting out enough? It was a non-OEM.

Incorrectly installed pickup screen? Air leaking in there is like drinking from a straw with a hole in the side.

With sparkplugs removed, I think the cranking RPM is high enough to turn off the warning light. And I think when the oil gets to the top it'll squirt out places so you'll notice it.

I removed the oil plan and checked the oil pick-up. The new gasket was intact with bolts tight and installed correctly. I did not remove the cylinder head but I can see the serial number on the gasket tab which shows that the dual hole side of the gasket which has the opening for the oil flow passage is correct and the gasket is not installed in reverse blocking one of the holes.

At this point, I decided to replace the non-OEM oil pump with an OEM pump, now the question is should I remove the cylinder head to inspect for other problems. For example, pluggage in the oil control orifice? Although this orifice was replaced.

I don't have a lot of experience with engine rebuilds, but I'm having trouble getting over the fact that by cranking without spark plugs I was not able to see oil flow up at the cylinder head, which is why I am looking for advice on if this seems abnormal as well as on ideas if the oil pump could be the problem and if I should also pull the head to look for any more issues.