Posted by John Waak [99.53.150.247] on Friday, September 20, 2013 at 12:29:00 :
In Reply to: Almost done! posted by Sterling Luttrell [99.58.180.94] on Friday, September 20, 2013 at 11:41:18 :
Sterling, I have no experience with priming the oil pump while it is installed in the engine. While others may have greater experience than me, I don't recommend priming your pump this way.
The way I see it, just like bleeding your brakes, you want the fluid to be above the level of any trapped air. Only in this way will the air seek to purge itself by rising above the surface of the fluid. In the case of the oil pump, any air in the system is already above the crank case. It has no motivation to go anyplace, it is happy where it is.
To properly purge the air, remove the pump (two bolts) being careful to pull the pump straight out. Do not allow the pump to rotate in relationship to the distributor shaft. Remember that the two mate together in a very precise way. Once the pump is out, mark the gear and pump housing so that you can reinstall the pump just as it was when you took it out. Next, place the pump in a small container of oil, oil galleys facing up. Let it soak for a few seconds, then rotate the shaft When you are satisfied that no air bubbles are coming out of the pump, and you can see a current of oil moving out of the pump,, take the pump out of the container and clean it up without allowing the oil inside the pump to drain out, thus enabling air to re-enter the system, Realign the marks you made on the shaft and pump housing and carefully reinsert the pump into the block. If the pump and distributor are in position, you should feel them gently mate, and the pump will slide into place on the block.
This is a pretty simple procedure. It shouldn't take more than an hour max, and that includes cutting a new gasket to go between the pump and block. You might want to cut the gasket before getting the pump all gloppy and happily primed.
If the engine doesn't want to start after this procedure, that is another problem with an easy fix. We will take it one step at a time.
Good luck!
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