priming the oil pump

[Ron]

My engine has been sitting for over a year without being in the car.  It has new rings and bearings from the PO.  He said he coated the bearings with Marvel Mystery Oil when assembling.    I'm not sure as to correctness for that, but he claimed that's what he always did and it worked well.  I do see red oil in the cylinders via the spark plug holes.

Regardless, should I try to run oil into the engine before starting?  At a minimum, I was going to install the oil, and crank the engine until pressure came up, without the spark plugs and no gas.  And I was going to oil the cams and cam bearings with a squirt before running the starter.  Some engines can have the oil pump run before starting, usually with an electric drill.  I don't know how with the 230.

Ron

[Naj ✝︎]

Ron,

You can run the oil pump by removing the tacho drive bush and spindle.
Another member has recently done this. If you do a search, I'm sure you will find the thread.
JA of course has a home made special to acheive this.

naj

[glenn]

Anybody installed an electric oil pump to run before the crank turns?(to lube everything up)  - Like on big diesels and turbines---

[geezer]

Back when I worked for a living I devised a priming pump out of a hand powered in-line diesel fuel priming pump.  1 hose in the oil can and the other in a threaded port on the block.  Worked pretty good but it was time consuming.  If you can spin the pump with an electric drill, that's what I would do.  On an OHC engine be sure you see oil oozing from around the cam bearings before you quit priming.

When I worked on turbocharged truck engines I rigged up a hose from the bulk oil pump and I would fill the crankcase through the turbo oil feed hose.  That way I could let it chug away, happily pre-lubing, while I was doing other chores.   Once done, squirt some oil into the oil port on top of the turbo, reinstall the hose and you're ready to go.

[ja17]

Hello,

In reguards to your stored engine. If you do not have a special priming tool;

Make sure your oil and filter are clean

Remove all the spark plugs, this will reduce compression load on the engine beaings during cranking. Oil each cylinder a bit.  Revove the valve cover and pour some oil on the cam and rockers. You can actually squirt some oil in the drip holes for each cam bearing. These steps should be adequate for most long dormant engines.

If you are really worried, overfill the crankcase with  two quarts, this will submerge the crankshaft and engine bearings in oil and also allow the oil pump to move oil faster and easier. After several cranks drain off the excessive oil.  Do not start the engine with oil overfilled !  As soon as oil emerges from the drip tube over the camshaft, your engine should be primed.  Make sure each hole it the cam tube is clear and dripping oil. DRAIN OFF EXCESSIVE OIL BEFORE STARTING the engine.

Watch the oil pressure guage during start up. Happy motoring!

[glenn]

The question is:  If 90 % of engine wear occurs while starting(those first seconds before oil pressure builds up), why not have an auxiliary oil pump supply pressure before starting?   $50 to double the life of an engine? IMWTK

[Ron]

Thanks for all the comments.  Dan, I'll do what you suggest, and I'll try the pump with drill too.  After reading the wiki a bit, I've learned I should take that tach gear out to see how bad it is worn, along with its bushing.  This will all wait for a couple of weeks, as I'm going to be out of town.  It'll be exciting to return and start the thing!

Curious, anyone heard of using Marvel Mystery Oil on a rebuild?  I wonder how long that would stay on in the bearings.  I removed the lower pan and checked out the inside, it looks brand new, with a little bit of red oil leaking out of the bearings.  MMO I guess.

Ron

[Cees Klumper]

Curious, anyone heard of using Marvel Mystery Oil on a rebuild?  I wonder how long that would stay on in the bearings.  I removed the lower pan and checked out the inside, it looks brand new, with a little bit of red oil leaking out of the bearings.  MMO I guess.
Ron

When Joe (with a bit of my help) rebuilt my engine back in 2003, we used assembly lube as we put the engine back together. Specifically made for rebuild jobs, can be purchased at auto parts stores (got mine at Jegs back then) it sticks to parts better than regular oil, and this should provide for start-up lubrication. Comes in smaller bottles as you don't need a lot of the stuff.

Come to think of it, I will use it in my current rebuild of my 1991 Peerless riding lawn mower transaxle.

[ja17]

Hello Ron and Cees,

Yes the assembly lube is a paste, thicker than oil and also has graphite in it.  If you read the early MB factory shop manuals from the 50's, they also describe using "graphite oil" during engine assembly. Oil can eventually drain off engine parts during long periods of inactivity.  With an assembly lube, the graphite, remains after the oil is gone. Graphite is a dry lubricant.

As far as Marvel Mystery Oil.........  if it is a mystery to me I do not use it, however a lot of people swear by it.

[geezer]

Some swear at.