How are you connecting the fuel lines from the motor to the frame. Are you using the factory quick connects or something else

 

I was just reading your thread about this.

I wound up bending new lines coming up the front/side of the block, so I'll be dumping the QD connections there

My plan is to make new hoses to go from the stock lines on the frame to my new lines using "bite type" instrument fittings (aka Parker a-lok, or equiv) on both ends.

They're pricey, but supposed to be great in high vibration settings. I can make the hoses at work though, so I can save on assembly costs at least.

 

Not much progress to report here as i've since jumped headlong into the truck rebuild as well.

all that's left on the engine is paint the oil pan, intake plenums, T4 adaptor and exhaust manifolds. i've decided i'm going to wait on finishing the t4 up-pipes though, until get the frame cleaned up and painted and have the engine and tranning sitting on it. i'll then trial-and-error the fit of the cab around all that new stuff and "adjust" both sides (firewall and turbo position) as needed.

so, before i button up the oil pan and manifolds, i have a question for you all: this engine's been sitting for about a year now, with the oil pan off most of that time and been flipped upside down at least a dozen times. is there a good way to get oil into all the critical passages ahead of starting it up again? i figuring cranking it over by hand isn't really going to do anything.

what about pouring oil into the pick-up tube just before putting the oil pan on? i'd plug the 3 remaining holes in the top (the turbo oil supply/return and old fuel pump hole), but wouldnt that approach get at least some oil into all the crank and cam bearings? and maybe even into the HPOP? the question is how much is enough/the right amount?

any thoughts?

 

That's a great question, JP. Generally on an engine rebuild you would use a pre-oiler to run the pump and circulate some juices prior to the first fire, but on these, since the LPOP is on the crank I'm not sure how you would go about that. Did you use assembly lube or anything when you put it all together?

I think at bare minimum I would jump the better part of a gallon of oil in the bottom end wherever AI could get it to go, then put the pan on and let the sealant cure. Then when I flipped it over I think I'd put a quart or so in the top end of the heads as well.

I'm really curious to know though whether someone has a brilliant idea of how to pre-oil one of these beasts.

 

How hard is it to turn the engine by hand, with the GPs pulled so that you are not building compression? If it's not too hard, you should be able to get the oil pump primed by hand.

 

I was thinking that too. With no compression, I wonder if you could turn it fast enough by hand to pump some oil. You could just put a socket on the crank bolt.

 

i did lube up everything as i was assembling it, but i didn't touch the bottom end and with all the flipping and sitting, i'm thinking that most oil that would have been in the crank bearings, cam journals, etc has worked its way out.

well, i have the GP's in already - wouldnt be terrible to remove, but i'd rather not. even with them out, i see two problems, with that approach:
1. if you spin the engine the right direction, you're loosening the crank bolt. and since mine is out right now, i don't have 15+ years of gunk and friction to hold it in place if i wrench on it that way after putting it in. if you spin in the other way, the oil pump is pumping the wrong way.
2. i believe these gear-rotor pumps need pretty good speed to actually accomplish anything. otherwise, the oil falls back through the pump at least as fast as you can build pressure by turning the engine over...

sooooo, if no one objects, i like my idea of pouring oil into the pickup tube with the engine upside down. :-)

as i see it, it should flow by gravity into most places it would otherwise go by the pump. air should be forced out through the return passages and eventually the valve covers would fill with oil. or are there low pressure jets under there that would drip oil directly into the VC's.

maybe i'll leave the turbo supply port unplugged and watch for oil coming out that port. then plug it up, add another quart, put the oil pan on, then flip her over. obviously, if i see anything seeping out around the valve cover gaskets, i'll stop (and know i have a leak there).

i can't see how gravitational pressure in the low pressure oil system would cause any more problems that the (what?) 40 psi that it normally runs at. right?

 

I definitely see no issue with what you're suggesting. Whether it is the most effective way of accomplishing the task was my only question, but I definitely don't think you'll hurt anything by doing that.

 

Would there be any harm in hooking up the starter and cranking it over? It shouldn't take much. Those pumps are basically the same design as that of a SBF, and when I primed my 302 with the drill it didn't take much to get oil coming out the push rods.

 

agreed. maybe not the most effective but might accomplish something...

...and that is kind of what i'm trying to avoid. with oil having had 1 year to drain out of everywhere in the engine, the first few cranks on it now will be with very little oil in the crank bearings and cam journals. i'd like to get some oil in there before cranking it over the first time.

however, maybe the answer is simply that whatever oil that remains in all those passages is enough for the few engine revolutions it takes to prime the oil pump.

and your drill-priming method is exactly what i had in mind and exactly what's not possible with our style oil pumps. ...priming without cranking it over, that is...

i'm still a couple days away from it, but its looking like i'll just go ahead and pour some in the pick up tube, then fill her from the top once the pan's on.

the turbo instructions say to fill the turbo from the top port before first start, so i'll do that and maybe fill the HPOP reservoir and HPO rails in the head we well... again, can't hurt and should save the starter and batteries some work.

 

I think if it were me I would use the starter but pull out the gp's. At least then you will build enough pressure to lube the bottom end but still have next to no load on the bearings. The gravity idea may work but I don't think you will get very good if any coverage on them

 

Is there an oil plug that can removed, a fitting attached and oil pushed into?

 

This is what I was curious of. I don't know if one could use the port on the side of the filter head, or another port in the block and just use a pump of some kind to pre-lube things. I agree that pulling the GP's and cranking it with the starter would be a pretty decent way of priming things as well. With the GP's out there is no compression so there would be little or no pressure on the crank bearings; cam bearings would be a different story though...

 

Aren't there 2 galley plugs in the back of the block? You could pull them and pump some oil in there to fill all the passages in the block.

 

I was looking at the diagram (I'm under the assumption there may be a gallery plug or two as stated above that's not in the pic) however crude it may be and it looks like the best place would be right at the filter itself.. What if you used the short nipple the filter screws to and adapted (fill in your favorite oil pumping gadget here) to it in order to pump the L/O throughout the block? Perhaps if that's no bueno and you have the pan off you could use an adaptor (pictured) plug the return and pump through the supply? Just a couple thoughts...