How do you prime a 6 ohv oil pump ?

[Kdancy]

It has the fitting on the bottom, so how do you put oil in it in that position?

[StudeRich]

very quickly!!

[Jim B PEI]

This could be another 'mars and moon will be the same size' story (ie, totally without merit) but somewhere I seem to recall reading that a 'fix' to the problem of ensuring that prime was obtained for the crucial first start of a rebuilt engine was packing the oil pump with something. It seems even weirder that I recall that it was petroleum based Vasoline or something like that, a heavy grease of some sort. I should have asked a local fellow when I was talking to him today, as he has reassembled hundreds if not thousands of engines over the years.

[jackb]

Vaseline without problems

[jclary]

It has been a very long time since I did this and I have never done it on an ohv 6. I took the small pipe plug out, used oil in one of those pump squirt cans to squirt oil into the pump, and put the plug back. Then with no spark plugs in the cylinders, I cranked the engine over until the gauge showed pressure building. After that, I installed the plugs and fired up the engine.

[garyash]

When I went to start up my rebuilt Champ 6 engine in my M5, I made a pressure oiler to get oil into the gallery and flow to the critical parts. I used some 1-1/2" steel pipe with threaded caps and a tire valve stem plus some little fittings and clear plastic tube. I got all the parts at Lowe's. I also added a small flow valve to the bottom pipe cap that isn't in the picture below. I connected the tube to one of the 1/8" pipe ports on the block, filled the 1-1/2" pipe with oil, screwed on the lid and put about 20 psi of air on top of the oil. When I opened the small flow valve, I could watch the oil flow out until bubbles started to appear. I vented the oiler and repeated until I had put about a quart of oil through it. After taking the tube off the block and re-plugging the port, I filled the oil pump through the pressure gauge fitting on the oil pump. I had instant oil pressure when I turned the key and the engine started. If only I had remembered to tighten the lid on the oil filter housing more than finger tight, I wouldn't have sprayed so much oil all over everything when it started up!

I like steel pipe over PVC for anything that is going to get pressurized with air because PVC can shatter an send shrapnel flying.

[jclary]

That's great Gary! 'cept that piece of pipe with end caps and fittings almost looks like something that could get you investigated by the ATF these days.

[Kdancy]

It has been a very long time since I did this and I have never done it on an ohv 6. I took the small pipe plug out, used oil in one of those pump squirt cans to squirt oil into the pump, and put the plug back. Then with no spark plugs in the cylinders, I cranked the engine over until the gauge showed pressure building. After that, I installed the plugs and fired up the engine.

the pipe plug is on the bottom of the OHV pump, not the top like the flathead pump.
Garyash's method seems very good as well as the vasoline but I don't want to take the pump off to put the vasoline in. I suspect some sort of light grease could be pumped in with a grease pump through that plug as it would stay in position long enough to put the plug back in. Same problem filling the pump with pressure set up, you would have to be able to put the pipe plug back in the pump before oil drains down and out. I still like that set up as it reminds me of the pre-oilers that some racer's used to sell.

[studegary]

the pipe plug is on the bottom of the OHV pump, not the top like the flathead pump.
Garyash's method seems very good as well as the vasoline but I don't want to take the pump off to put the vasoline in. I suspect some sort of light grease could be pumped in with a grease pump through that plug as it would stay in position long enough to put the plug back in. Same problem filling the pump with pressure set up, you would have to be able to put the pipe plug back in the pump before oil drains down and out. I still like that set up as it reminds me of the pre-oilers that some racer's used to sell.

If you just rotate the engine on that engine stand 180 degrees, then the plug will be on the top, not the bottom <G>.

Edit: I prefer Vasoline.

[garyash]

I think the point is to get some lubricant to the parts before the engine spins up to full speed. Even if you have to pump it in to the oil pump housing from the bottom, some Vaseline will help the gear teeth to seal and around the oil pump housing to get the process going. Remember that the oil goes around the outside of the gears, not between them, so you need to create a little suction to pull the oil up from the sump.

I pumped the oil into the gallery to get something onto the rod and main bearings. I don't think it matters too much if it drips out of the gallery later, as long as a little got to the moving parts in the first place. Turning the crank over part way after each oil squirt helps to get a little oil on each main. Hopefully, you lubed things as you put the engine together. We may be worrying too much about things that aren't that critical. I'm sure you'll be OK.

[christophe]

I have a little suggestion about this topic.
I've made a few tests about oil circulation on my engine before dismantling it and I discovered that the oil filter (full flow), which is a large one, takes a lot of time to be full, therefore, before the lubrication is really effective.
Hence I think, this is safer to fill it before the installation to assure quasi instant pressure to the oil circuit.

[Kdancy]

StudeGary, that is a brilliant deduction.----- Problem is, the engine is now mounted to the test stand and off the engine stand. I originally planned to turning it up side down when on the stand but forgot it in the process.
The oil filter on mine is the canister partial flow. I have pre-filled it with oil but assume most will gravity flow into the pan.

[nvonada]

The vasoline thing is real. Some oil pumps have a hard time self-priming. I had a P.O.S. '83 Buick that had V6 (3.0L?) that said right in the service manual to pack the oil pump with vasoline any time the cover was removed. I suspect any oil pumped into the oil gallery would fill the pump up on a Champion engine just with gravity pressure.

[jclary]

Hey...this is not "rocket science!" If you look at the orientation of the oil pump. In it's position, any oil that you squirt up through the bottom plug, should stay there until the engine begins to rotate. If you use a squirt can with one of those tapered nozzles...you should be able to fill it enough and be able to quickly replace the plug. Also, oil that would gravity feed to the pump from the oil filter will not completely drain back to the pan. If that were the case, the pump would need to be primed every time the danged engine was turned off and re-started! I think that with all the good suggestions provided...anybody who has read this thread should be very capable of priming an oil pump.

[jackb]

I remember this from a great old source...and it ties in with Studebaker and an earlier thread on "recalls".....Seems the early Studebaker flat head 6's were prone to catastrophic failure within the 1st 500 miles. In those days millions of dollars lost on recalls was "real" money. Studebaker invented and marketed Vaseline as a way to prime their engines as far back as the 40's. Later on, as a result of patent infringements, they were forced to color it and call it STP. The reason for this space-aged lube (ahead of it's time) was to answer the recall of thousands of engines that failed due to the design flaw of the Champ 6 oiling/pump/lack of priming problems. Studebaker, not having the finances to fend off the bad publicity could only save their reputation by getting a good deal on a Canadian produced nickel. All Canada wanted in return was for Studebaker to relocate to Canada for their world wide HQ's which we now know took place in 1964. Union strikes and the loss of nickel production forced the now new Studebaker of Canada to replace their stout nickel-backed engines with inferior Chevy engines. STP oil sales boomed...why? due to the failure of the Chevy engines in the 1st 500 miles. With the added nickel in their earlier foundry mix, the engines and associated components were very hard and in fact, resisted the early breakdown of the engine and the components until the Granetelli's and the STP cavalry could arrive. Very few people know of this connection, and the ultimate relocation of Studebaker to Canada