Building oil pressure in new engine.........

[fred cook]

Just finished rebuilding the engine in my SC. I am having a bit of trouble building oil pressure for the first time. With the engine being spun over by the starter, the green oil pressure light is flickering, the oil filter is getting oil and when I loosened (but not removed) the left camshaft/tensioner oil fitting a some oil dripped out there. So, what would be the recommended next step? start the engine and let it run for a second or two? Or? The starter is doing a good job of spinning the engine over. I have the bottom spark plugs out to minimize compression. Suggestions on best way to proceed will be greatly appreciated!

[thumbdoctor]

OTC Engine Preluber Kit 6492
I connect a manual pump to the oil pressure sender fitting and pump until oil bleeds out of the open (loosened banjo bolts) camshaft tensioner lines.

[Baby]

Just did this to my sc. I believe Wayne's book says 30 secs cranking, a few minutes rest, 30 second cranking, insert fuel pump relay and plug in ignition harness, then start it up.

[fred cook]

Originally Posted by Baby

Just did this to my sc. I believe Wayne's book says 30 secs cranking, a few minutes rest, 30 second cranking, insert fuel pump relay and plug in ignition harness, then start it up.

I have done this, but I was expecting that the oil pressure light would go out while cranking the engine. In this case, the oil pressure light slightly flickers but I see no pressure on the gauge. I first loosened and then removed one end of the left camshaft oil line and got a pretty good bit of oil out. Made a puddle under the car about a foot in diameter. Tomorrow will try again and maybe go ahead and fire it up and let it run for only a second or two. I've checked the fuel (working) and the green indicator light comes on for the XDi ignition. It should start ok, just don't want to damage bearings!

[yelcab1]

If it puddles that much, you have decent pressure with the starter. The starter alone cannot generate that much revolution and therefore that much pressure. Crank it, let it fire, if it does not build enough pressure on the gauge to turn the idiot light off, then turn it off and look for problem.

[fred cook]

Went out to the shop this morning, connected the battery and spun the engine over a bit. Went back, looked under the engine to find an oil puddle! Hmmm, he said. Went back to the driver side, cranked the engine while looking under the car, more oil come dripping down! So, tomorrow, the engine comes back out so the oil leak can be fixed! Hopefully it will be something as simple as an oil cooler seal, or maybe I failed to tighten something properly. We'll see. A classic case of "on the job training"! At least everything will be clean this time!!!

[Baby]

On the bright side, you have pressure...

You're not alone. I have 250 miles on mine, and it's got a drip. I think either from the rocker shafts or maybe the cam towers. I'll pop the motor out at 500 miles to sort it out. Good luck, and let us know what you find.

[JJ 911SC]

Originally Posted by fred cook

I have done this, but I was expecting that the oil pressure light would go out while cranking the engine. In this case, the oil pressure light slightly flickers but I see no pressure on the gauge. I first loosened and then removed one end of the left camshaft oil line and got a pretty good bit of oil out. Made a puddle under the car about a foot in diameter. Tomorrow will try again and maybe go ahead and fire it up and let it run for only a second or two. I've checked the fuel (working) and the green indicator light comes on for the XDi ignition. It should start ok, just don't want to damage bearings!

Just did the same, all my oil lines (including the one going to the front) were empty. Put 10 quarts and did the usual 3 X 20 cranking and the only change was the Oil Idiot light going out. Look all around, did 2 more time (60 seconds of cranking) and it finally start to go up on the gauge. All this time the "not to be relied upon" oil tank level gauge was all the way up but as the pressure build up the oil level went down.

Then came the the moment of truth... Will it start after doing an PMO EFI conversion... 2 more crank and;

[JJ 911SC]

Originally Posted by fred cook

Went out to the shop this morning, connected the battery and spun the engine over a bit. Went back, looked under the engine to find an oil puddle! Hmmm, he said. Went back to the driver side, cranked the engine while looking under the car, more oil come dripping down! So, tomorrow, the engine comes back out so the oil leak can be fixed! Hopefully it will be something as simple as an oil cooler seal, or maybe I failed to tighten something properly. We'll see. A classic case of "on the job training"! At least everything will be clean this time!!!

If you think its coming from the oil cooler, you can reach all 4 fastener by jacking the car, remove the passenger rear wheel and use a socket and long extension(s).

Do you remember the color of the seals you use on the oil cooler; quite a bit of difference between the supplier as shown on post 8 of Oil Cooler Seals Leekage with the Engine on the Wall

[fred cook]

Once the engine is out and on the ATV jack, the plan is to seal the oil cooler pressure line (the one with the threaded connection), put the "S" hose back on but in a vertical position, add some oil and crank the engine using a battery charger. This way, I should be able to see just where the oil is coming from. If it is the oil cooler seals, I will reseal it using new seals and some Curil-T. That should take care of the problem. If it is something/somewhere else, well, I'll figure out another solution! The wrench is mightier than the oil leak! Perseverance always wins! Thanks for the info and support!

[BoxsterGT]

For many years we have always pre-oiled every new motor by using the "pressurized paint bucket" method.

We put oil into this container and pressurize it with a regulator set at 60 psi and a flex line to the main gallery at the press switch.

Once pre-oiled, do the start-up as usual.

No issues ever w running a dry motor on first crank.

Len

[yelcab1]

which leads me to this question "how does the factory start their engines the first time?"

Surely, no pressurized bucket of any kind is used. Any one knows?

[HawgRyder]

Factories usually rely on the assembly lube to keep the grinding to a minimum the first start.
Aftermarket builders have less engines to run per day...so they take the pre-lube way.
Me...I use assembly lube....crank with plugs out to build initial pressure....then start....run until it comes up to temp ( 20-25 minutes) ....stop....dump the oil AND filter!!....refill with the oil the engine will be using for its lifetime....and presto...engine ready.
Bob

[fred cook]

I believe that I found the source of the oil leak. It appears that it was the connection for the oil line going to the external oil cooler. Will know for sure tomorrow. The fitting must have not gone together properly when I was installing the engine.

[HawgRyder]

Hope you didn't cross thread the connector.
Bob

[fred cook]

Originally Posted by HawgRyder

Hope you didn't cross thread the connector.
Bob

Nope, apparently it just was not tight enough or perhaps there was a bit of foreign matter in the joint.

[fred cook]

Turns out the problem was a (probably) bad sender unit. I removed the oil gauge sender and plumbed in a mechanical oil pressure gauge to verify the amount of oil pressure that the engine was making. Turns out that it is idling at about 15 psi and at 3,000 rpm it is making 40 psi. So, looks like it is time for a new sender unit! At least now I know that it is safe to take out for it's first drive!