Priming

[shotgun]

Sorry Jesse, us "off-brand" guys do everything backwards, even distributor rotation. 8)

I believe he is runnng a SBO, so yes counter-clockwise.

A over lubed, tons of assembly lube , motor can do this.

I have a hi torque drill and has still taken over a 1/2 hour to get oil to the farthest point, #8 exhaust rocker on a Pontiac.

Just rotate the engine 1/2 a turn, prime, go 1/3 a turn, prime, go 1 3/4 turn, prime.

Avoid just firing her up, the extra effort is worth it to get it primed proper.

 

[JESSE]

primed

to be sure check your wire on the cap..if the firing order goes clockwise so does the pump
my bad i thought a 355 was a chevy ...jesse

something to do is hook up a gauge to see if your making oil pressure....if so move the crank 180 an reprime ...also are your rockers loose?...

jesse

 

[dan2286]

Thats shitty.

We bought it rebuilt, so I guess we will try priming it again. I talked to another forum member and he said his took like 20 minutes and he almost wore out his drill.

Yes, we know not to start the engine.

Did you ever take it apart to see what was done? It's always a gamble buying a rebuilt engine from someone else because you never know if it got done right.

 

[3XBrownCutty]

The rockers are a little hit & miss, some hard some a little soft.

Would it be ok to put the starter on the motor and turn it over by just hooking the starter to a battery? We don't have the tool to turn the flywheel...


Wow, I had no idea it would take that long for some motors

 

[CHRIZ28]

We don't have the tool to turn the flywheel...

Just put a socket on the crank bolt and turn it over.

Chris

 

[3XBrownCutty]

alright, heres the deal...

I primed the engine, no joke here, for an hour. I would prime it for 5 minutes, turn it over a little bit, and went back to priming. I kept doing that, sometimes turning it over one full rotation. After all that I got oil to only 4 rockers(the back 4 on the pass. side)

I got sick of it, so we pulled the old engine.

We decided we weren't going to mess around, so we pulled the intake, rockers, lifters (brand new), and pushrods. We ran the drill and oil came our the back pass. side no problem, but pressure got progressivly weaker the farther twoards the front of the block. The drivers side had no oil shooting up at all.

One of our questions is: how do those lifter passages run. does it loop around from passenger to drivers side, or are driver and pass. side seperate??

Funny story, we had to take the intake off with the cherry picker, even then, we had the whole block and everything suspended by the intake with no bolts in it. Had to break it loose with a chisel and hammer. I guess it shouldnt've leaked :lol:

Please help, we're trying to get this done by the end of the week, and this engine is really starting to make me mad.

 

[shotgun]

I am NOT an Olds guy, so I poked around.

Looks like a site you should join. Here is a link with great diagrams.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl= ... lAeTyIGXAQ

I know on Pontiacs we can remove the "galley" plugs on the end of the block to clean/see inside the oil line. Is that possible with an Olds?

Also, I don't think any engine is going to pump the oil around without the lifters in place.

Try installing the closest lifter/push rod/rocker to where the oil feeds first. Prime,oil should pour out the next lifter hole in line, install the next lifter, oil should pour out the "next" lifter hole, keep repeating.
Repeat until primed or until you find where the oil flow stops.

You will either have a primed motor or find the restriction.

 

[dan2286]

There is a galley plug that many people don't even know it exists. It should have a small hole that lubricates the distributor. I do not know know if you would be able to see if it is in with out the trans being out. It is hidden behind a freeze plug on the back of the engine, and it is behind the trans. Maybe you can see it with the distributor out, but I am not sure.

Here is a pic,

 

[3XBrownCutty]

Thanks for the very helpful link Shotgun, we studies that page a while to help us diagnose the problem.

Dan2286, you are exactly right!!! Whoever rebuilt the engine forgot to put those back in, or whoever dipped the block.

Thanks to a fellow forum member, we got the engine all back together, primed and everything except for the intake because the gaskets ripped during removal.

I feel a LOT better now

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

If you insist on using the starter to prime it, after first primed it as best you can with a drill, make sure to do it with the spark plugs out. This will lessen the stress on the bearings as the pistons will not be pushing against compression. However, this is NOT the best idea as the assembly lube will fly off the cam and it could cause issues with break in.