Question on oil priming

[excobraguy]

I have an 87 gn with 105k miles. I pulled the motor to install some upgrades. New rocker shafts, rjc head gaskets, new turbo, new torque converter, New timing chain.
I put it back together, the intake and turbo are not on. I held my thumb over the turbo oil feed line and using a drill I primed the engine. It sends oil up to the driver side rockers, no problem. It actually puddled up in the return holes. The passenger side however is very slow on sending the oil to the rockers. It only has a small amount that has came out. Is this normal? If not, what could I look for as potential issues?

 

[fastblackracing]

I have an 87 gn with 105k miles. I pulled the motor to install some upgrades. New rocker shafts, rjc head gaskets, new turbo, new torque converter, New timing chain.
I put it back together, the intake and turbo are not on. I held my thumb over the turbo oil feed line and using a drill I primed the engine. It sends oil up to the driver side rockers, no problem. It actually puddled up in the return holes. The passenger side however is very slow on sending the oil to the rockers. It only has a small amount that has came out. Is this normal? If not, what could I look for as potential issues?

Try rotating the engine 1/4 turn several times and repriming , very normal for the oil to to not come out evenly, as long as you are getting some you will be ok......once at operating temp and the oil thins out it will flow much easier.....are you reusing the cam and lifters you had before?

 

[excobraguy]

Try rotating the engine 1/4 turn several times and repriming , very normal for the oil to to not come out evenly, as long as you are getting some you will be ok......once at operating temp and the oil thins out it will flow much easier.....are you reusing the cam and lifters you had before?

Yes, stock cam and lifters. I was turning it 1/4 turn as I primed it. Im using a cordless drill....should be fast enough to build pressure? Just weird driver side is fine

 

[fastblackracing]

Since you did not change anything cam or lifter related you will be fine. It had oil before on the passenger side so no reason for it not to now......take the passenger side rockers off and remove 1 lifter if you can get it out.....and prime it while checking the flow in the open lifter bore there should be a lot of oil flow with the lifter out...the passenger side lifter bores are connected to the main oil galley so in theory they should have more flow than the drivers side.....cant really say why that is not the case here....the oil to the driver side is fed around the back side of the front cam bearing then to the lifters....

 

[Chuck Leeper]

I'd be concerned that you can block oil flow w/ your thumb. That line has relief psi on it. Do you have a gauge on the engine, while priming it?

 

[Jerryl]

^^^This. Plus . . . If the oil under pressure breaks the skin you will end up on the hospital with blood poisening . . . or worse.
A typical drill spins around 600 rpm which is ~1200 crank rpm. You should expect to see ~65 psi while priming. Get a gage like Chuck said. Better and cheaper than a trip to the hospital.

 

[excobraguy]

Since you did not change anything cam or lifter related you will be fine. It had oil before on the passenger side so no reason for it not to now......take the passenger side rockers off and remove 1 lifter if you can get it out.....and prime it while checking the flow in the open lifter bore there should be a lot of oil flow with the lifter out...the passenger side lifter bores are connected to the main oil galley so in theory they should have more flow than the drivers side.....cant really say why that is not the case here....the oil to the driver side is fed around the back side of the front cam bearing then to the lifters....

I pulled out a few lifters and oil flow is fast and furious......thanks for the suggestion. I think all is fine

 

[excobraguy]

I'd be concerned that you can block oil flow w/ your thumb. That line has relief psi on it. Do you have a gauge on the engine, while priming it?

The pressure is good. A few times ny thumb slipped off and oil went flying.

 

[excobraguy]

^^^This. Plus . . . If the oil under pressure breaks the skin you will end up on the hospital with blood poisening . . . or worse.
A typical drill spins around 600 rpm which is ~1200 crank rpm. You should expect to see ~65 psi while priming. Get a gage like Chuck said. Better and cheaper than a trip to the hospital.

This was a spur of the moment check. I do have a gauge. The motor is out of the car. I appreciate the concern but I can honestly say i have had cuts and knicks on my hands in the past, while getting them exposed to oil, and never had a problem

 

[excobraguy]

Ok, I hooked a gauge up and I get 55 lbs on my cordless and I can get 75 lbs on my electric drill. The flow up through the pushrods is not happening. If I remove my rocker shaft on one side and pull out a lifter I can see great flow through the lifter bore. My oil is VR1 valvoline racing oil 10w30. Its about 55 degrees in my garage. Should I be worried? I do get some oil out of about 3-4 pushrods, not all though.

 

[excobraguy]

Update for future readers
I went out and decided to keep priming.....after about 45 seconds of turning the pump, I turned the engine about 1/3, turn the pump for 45 seconds, turn the engine. After about 10 minutes of doing this I have oil out every pushrod now. So no issues after all.....