Heres the story. I have just replaced my rod and main bearings, and the oil pump. Got everything put back into place and started it up and it sounded bone dry. So I took out the distributor and primed the pump with a drill. I tried to start it up again and same results. Dropped the oil pan and made sure the oil pump had not come loose. Got everything put back together, primed the oil pump again, started again with the same results. Zero oil pressure and bone dry. What am I doing wrong? Is there a special way of doing this? Please help. I purchased a new oil pump with pickup tube and plan the try again on Thursday. Any comments that might help are welcome.

 

How long did you try priming the pump? It takes a good five to ten minutes with a drill to prime the entire system and you will know when you start pushing oil because it will bogg down the drill a lot. When you put the new pump in you can take the cover off and put some vasoline in the gears really pack in there this will help the pump to prime also put a thin line off high temp form-a-gasket where the pump meets the block and where the pick-up meets the pump. What kind of shape is the pump shaft-rod in? Might pay to buy a new one. Did you put the rod in from the bottom and did it have the little retaining clip on it? If you put it in from the top and left this clip on the pump will not be engaged (clip keeps rod from going down far enough) if you took the clip off it will work but, it is a pain to get the pump and dist to engage each other. It looks like it goes together ok, but they are not engaged and you will get zero pressure. Save your motor and disable the ignition until you get the oil pressure figured out. Those dry starts are going to kill a new motor. Hope this gives you some ideas and Good Luck,

Rick
86 302 EFI, bored 60 over, AOD,
Headman Headers, Flowmaster 40 series,
2 inch dual exhaust, MSD ignition

 

I primed the pump with a drill for about 5mins. I heard oil slapping around but it did not bog down the drill. I will try again before tearing it down again. The pump shaft rod looked in good shape and the clip is still intact,in proper position, and pointing down to the oil pump. Hopefully repriming the pump will work, if not i will pack the new pumps gears with vasaline. Thanks for the valuable advise Rick.


Jason
91 Bronco 4x4 302 stock

 

Were you turning the pump in the right direction? If you turned it the wrong way you did not pump anything but air.

Inline-6 turn clockwise
351M, 400, 5.8 (351W) and 1995 5.0 counter clockwise
1994 and earlier 5.0 and 7.5 counter clockwise


Bob