1G Oil Priming

[Breadvans]

Old motor had crank walk, so i bought a new motor from a guy that’s been sitting for a few years. Motor looks good and i swapped my 2g head on but now I’m wondering how i get the oil primed? And should i prime the oil before spinning it over by hand to time it?

 

[Kryndon]

If he did a decent job at rebuilding, he'd have packed the oil pump full of assembly lube/grease, which should still be in there ready to go. Pull the MPI fuse at the engine bay fuse box (it's sometimes labeled as "ENGINE" fuse), I believe it's a 20 amper. Then you can turn the crank a few times by hand just to make sure it's spinning freely, but before that of course double check your oil level and quality. Also open the oil cap to let it breathe and check for oil flow from the squirters. Additionally you can entirely remove all 4 spark plugs so the engine wont fight against compression.

Then, after checking all that, with the MPI fuse out, crank the car for 5-10 seconds 3-4 times while having somebody check visually if oil is flowing in the head. If she cranks good and squirts like she knows hwat she's doin', you got the green light!

 

[97egl]

If you got the timing belt off you can use a drill with a socket adapter and spin the oil pump drive sprocket to get oil flowing. If the re-builder did not put any grease or oil in the oil pump gears you can pull the pan and take the pick up tube off and then use a grease gun to force grease up into the pump.

 

[Breadvans]

So it’s not a rebuilt engine. It’s a mostly stock engine. Guy bought the car for a parts car and didn’t need the motor. So I’m not sure if there’s any assembly lube. But he drained the oil from the oil drain plug. So my guess is thered be a little on the piston walls and such? But not sure after a few years of that

 

[97egl]

If the engine is fully assembled I would just put it in the car and crank it over with the plugs out and the MPI fuse pulled until you see the oil pressure gauge rise. Just make sure you don't crank the starter too long and overheat it. Since its sat a few years with the oil drained its hard to say if the oil pump will have enough residual oil on it to create enough suction to pull oil from the pan.

If it doesn't then youll have to drop the pan and remove the pick-up tube and put grease in where the pick up tube connects to pack some into the pump

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

Grease is too thick. It can and will block oil. I NEVER use it. Assembly lube only.
Fill it up with Walmart 20w50 and a new filter. Wih the MPI fuse pulled, and plugs out, crank it over intermittently until the oil pressure light (it is on, right?) goes out. I prime all of my engines that way but every one of them is put together with generous amounts of Graphite Assembly Lube. Once your oil light goes out, put the plugs and fuse back in and go for a first start.

 

[Breadvans]

Alright i appreciate it guys. The motor is currently out of the car so I’ll have to wait to do it but i appreciate it

 

[pauleyman]

Alright i appreciate it guys. The motor is currently out of the car so I’ll have to wait to do it but i appreciate it

If motor is out of the car take the timing belt off and spin the oil pump.

 

[Breadvans]

Sweet will do. Thanks guys

 

[jdxnc]

Grease is too thick. It can and will block oil. I NEVER use it. Assembly lube only.
Fill it up with Walmart 20w50 and a new filter. Wih the MPI fuse pulled, and plugs out, crank it over intermittently until the oil pressure light (it is on, right?) goes out. I prime all of my engines that way but every one of them is put together with generous amounts of Graphite Assembly Lube. Once your oil light goes out, put the plugs and fuse back in and go for a first start.

I use Vasoline, it will turn to liquid almost instantly.

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

Vasoline is a suitable substitute but I don't "stock" it in the shop. It doesn't have the properties of assembly lube and I build engines so, of course, I use assemble lube inside the pump.
Some builders I know use White Lithium assembly lube, but I use Black Graphite. It doesn't slide around or get warm and run off. It's always been my goto and has always worked.