First start, prime oil pump or just disconnect coil and crank it?

[RooRocks]

Getting ready to start the car finally and was curious if I should prime the oil pump or just crank it over with the coil unplugged?

[riptide motorsport]

Always best to prime with the pump rather than just cranking, if its an initial start after rebuild, def. prime. If its just been sitting awhile you can go ahead and crank it only.......Steven

[AJ Roadster NJ]

I would not start a brand new (or just rebuilt) engine without using a priming tool to run the oil pump and fill the galleys.

The tool to do this is really inexpensive. It attaches to your drill and is maybe a foot or so long. Mark the distributor's exact setting (I use a piece of tape for this, which I allow to break), remove the distributor, set the tool into your electric drill, set the drill to run in reverse (THAT'S IMPORTANT!!), insert the tool down into the oil pump, and drill away. If someone sits in the drivers seat with the ignition key on they should see oil pressure come up after maybe 15 seconds or so of running the primer. At that point, the primer has filled all the oil galleys. The galleys normally stay primed between starts in a previously-run motor (at least to some extent) because the oil filter and pump block them from emptying after shutoff -- only changing the filter will allow them to fully drain again.

Remove the tool, replace the distributor (noting the exact alignment from however you marked it on the way out) and you're ready to start the motor, knowing that there is nothing more you can do that will get oil to those precious rings and cam lobes and lifters and pushrods and main bearings and cam bearings and...you get the picture. :cool::cool:

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

AJ

PS. I also invited 30 neighbors over, and bought a keg of beer and 15 pizzas for my first start. I think that may have helped because my home-built motor started up on the third turn of the key, with the audience in attendance!

[austinsnake]

If you decide to prime it with a drill, be extremely careful not to drop anything down into the hole...use the special tool (borrow it from Autozone) vs jury rigging a socket...I was trying to be very careful and still managed to let the socket fall down into the engine. After lots of attempts to get it back out with magnets, etc...I finally dropped the oil pan to find it lodged up in the rotating parts.Definitely worth the trip to get the right tool and make this a 5 minute task!

[Lex]

I locked up an OHC engine once because I forgot to oil the cam towers when I put it together. I decided not to spin it up with a drill(which would have covered up my mistake and saved it) and just cranked it with the coil wire off. It locked up tight as crap on about the 6th turn over!