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Resolved Turbo Upgrade = No Oil Pressure?

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kyler021

kyler021

Proven Member
219
170
Aug 29, 2023
Pasadena, Maryland
Hey guys, as the title states, I'm almost completed my turbo upgrade. In the midst of that, I tried to prime the motor and turbo. I did this by cranking it up with and without spark plugs, fuel injectors disconnected, etc. While cranking, the oil dummy light did not go out, my AEM Gauge didn't go above 2 PSI (taken with a grain of salt because I've been having problems with this gauge). I hooked up a mechanical gauge and it did not move at all while cranking.

Things I've changed related to oil:
-Oil feed line for turbo (Head feed)
-Turbo
-Tightened up the oil cooler bolt (31 ft-lbs)
-Oil change including filter
-Gaskets for oil drain tube
-3/8 BSPT plug on filter housing to use head feed
-Cam position sensor O ring replaced

The car has been sitting since early December, so around 5 months. The car had high oil pressure when it was parked. Ran fine as well. I know the oil is correctly filled. I have tried filling the oil filter with oil (filter was dry beforehand) and still nothing. Any ideas guys? Maybe the oil pump is toast? (Can oil pumps go bad from sitting for such a short period of time???)

Thanks for any replies!
Kyle
 
Solution
jdxnc
You're over thinking it.

As stated, oil pressure on cranking is typically hardly measurable, just put the plugs in and start it like normal. Considering it has sat, the pickup tube has drained out, it will take a sec for it to reprime.

If you don't see any pressure within 10 seconds of running then shut it down. Shooting oil into the sensor with a syringe won't do anything, it's a pressure switch.
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You can't reliably test the pressure under cranking alone. None of the things you stated would cause loss of oil pressure. Fire it up and see where it's at.
 
Upvote0
Or if you are worried running dry, you should remove timing belt and use an electric hand drill to spin the oil pump sprocket. In this case, if you are not feeling any load, it still needs to spin. Once it starts to build oil pressure, you would start to feel some load. So it's easier to know if the priming is done or not.

How long did you crank? Did you check if the oil reaches at the cylinder head by removing the oil filler cap? This would usually take longer to purge the air than you expect, especially if the oil filter or/and external oil cooler was empty.

In case if the oil won't reach at cylinder head forever, could be something is wrong. But the oil pump gets bad is super super rare, usually sitting for long doesn't cause that. Plus if the pump is damaged, you would have seem a lot of aluminum flakes and metallic colored oil when you changed the oil. The pressure relief valve gets stuck open sounds more realistic.
 
Upvote0
jdxnc said:
Fire it up and see where it's at.
Click to expand...
chrysler kid said:
I also say toss the plugs in and start it up and see what the pressure actually is.
Click to expand...
This wouldn't cause any catastrophic damage or anything like that? Do I just fire it up for ~2-3 seconds and shut it off if I don't see any pressure being built?

DSMPT said:
How long did you crank? Did you check if the oil reaches at the cylinder head by removing the oil filler cap? This would usually take longer to purge the air than you expect, especially if the oil filter or/and external oil cooler was empty.
Click to expand...
Total, I've probably cranked for about 3 minutes. I didn't see any fresh oil in the head. I'm pretty sure what I was feeling on the cam was old oil or the oil I poured onto it. There was also aluminum in the oil (too much for my liking) but I'm 99% sure thats from my cam journal.

I am gonna try one more thing before firing it up, I'm going to try shooting oil via a syringe into where the dummy light sensor goes. That's my last-ditch effort before saying F it and starting it up.
 
Upvote0
You're over thinking it.

As stated, oil pressure on cranking is typically hardly measurable, just put the plugs in and start it like normal. Considering it has sat, the pickup tube has drained out, it will take a sec for it to reprime.

If you don't see any pressure within 10 seconds of running then shut it down. Shooting oil into the sensor with a syringe won't do anything, it's a pressure switch.
 
Upvote0
Solution
jdxnc said:
As stated, oil pressure on cranking is typically hardly measurable, just put the plugs in and start it like normal. Considering it has sat, the pickup tube has drained out, it will take a sec for it to reprime.
Click to expand...
pauleyman said:
I agree with Jason. Start it. If you're that worried about it take the belt off and prime it manually.
Click to expand...
Sounds good guys. I'll do that when I get home after I put my fuel pump back in.
 
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