Bowie69 Posted October 30, 2021 Share Posted October 30, 2021 What's the state of assembly of the engine at the moment? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThreePointFive Posted October 30, 2021 Author Share Posted October 30, 2021 In the car, fully ready to run. Looks like I can cancel my MOT for Monday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hurbie Posted October 30, 2021 Share Posted October 30, 2021 wasn't there something with 3.5 v8 oilpumps needing priming if left empty for a while ? don't know if it the same on this engine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeh501 Posted October 30, 2021 Share Posted October 30, 2021 2 minutes ago, hurbie said: wasn't there something with 3.5 v8 oilpumps needing priming if left empty for a while ? don't know if it the same on this engine. pack it with vaseline or something. not required on the serp iirc. i filled my up and then put some down the oil cooler lines and it was fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted October 30, 2021 Share Posted October 30, 2021 Yes the older style oil pumps were sometimes fussy about priming, but the serp types shouldn't be. I don't like the sound of tiger seal on the sump, I thought it was for bodywork and stuff? You say you don't have oil pressure but could it just be the switch or wiring at fault? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThreePointFive Posted October 30, 2021 Author Share Posted October 30, 2021 I switched the Tiger Seal for the stuff Peaklander suggested on the last page. Sump off, the pickup pipe was full of oil but the pump did look dry-ish. I had added a gasket to the pick up pipe that came in the seals kit I bought, as soon as I unbolted the pipe it clearly was holding some vacuum as oil came pissing out. I don't know why that would stop it getting to the pump. The gasket is the only variable I have changed as I didn't fit one before. Just waiting on the new sump sealant to set a bit and then I'll try cranking again. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThreePointFive Posted October 30, 2021 Author Share Posted October 30, 2021 Nope, didnt work. Any other ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted October 30, 2021 Share Posted October 30, 2021 How long are you cranking for? Getting oil up to the rockers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThreePointFive Posted October 30, 2021 Author Share Posted October 30, 2021 A good 20 seconds at a time, feels bad doing it though. I'm just going to take the rocker cover off now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThreePointFive Posted October 30, 2021 Author Share Posted October 30, 2021 Rocker area is dry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chazza Posted October 30, 2021 Share Posted October 30, 2021 I did the same as Mike H and filled the pump through the oil cooler hose. Prior to that I made a priming can out of PVC drain pipes and using about 10 psi of compressed air, I forced oil into the engine via an oil port; can't remember which port. After about 5 mins, oil was pooling in the heads after escaping from the rockers. When I started the engine the light went out immediately. Don't crank it anymore, or you will bugger up the camshaft; that is how I wrecked my first one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve200TDi Posted October 31, 2021 Share Posted October 31, 2021 Have you taken the distributor out and used the drill method for achieving oil pressure? Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted October 31, 2021 Share Posted October 31, 2021 Crank driven oil pump on this one.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThreePointFive Posted October 31, 2021 Author Share Posted October 31, 2021 It's a 4.0 so no dizzy. I've tried filling it via the bottom and top oil cooler ports with a huge length of spare cooler pipe to generate some gravity and using the compressor at low pressure, I'm able to get oil flowing to the rockers but the light will not go out. I'm not willing to not trust the sensor, something is wrong but I haven't found it. Is there anything I could have done wrong when installing the pump? I did have to manually align it with the crank Woodruff key so could that have caused something to go out of alignment? Im grasping at straws, I had hoped I could salvage this in time for Monday but that's now out of the question. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escape Posted October 31, 2021 Share Posted October 31, 2021 It could be just the sensor. Do you have a mechanical gauge you can plug in to see if you get any pressure at all? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThreePointFive Posted October 31, 2021 Author Share Posted October 31, 2021 Unfortunately not, I'd be more inclined to doubt the sensor but it was brand new with the timing cover, and the rockers did look uncomfortably dry when I looked. I'll look to buy a new sensor tomorrow just to rule it out, and a mechanical gauge isn't a bad idea anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted October 31, 2021 Share Posted October 31, 2021 Jeeez this just keeps giving doesn't it You may not see much oil up in the rockers until it's running, although I wouldn't be taking the chance given the troubles you've had. I did a fairly thorough strip-down and investigate of the various ports and passages in the 4.x front cover a while back before I risked blanking off the cooler ports, it's round here somewhere if you need it You say the sensor was brand new with the timing cover... is the timing cover brand new too and if so, dare I ask where it came from and if it's run successfully before or been stripped/rebuilt or anything? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThreePointFive Posted October 31, 2021 Author Share Posted October 31, 2021 15 minutes ago, FridgeFreezer said: Jeeez this just keeps giving doesn't it You may not see much oil up in the rockers until it's running, although I wouldn't be taking the chance given the troubles you've had. I did a fairly thorough strip-down and investigate of the various ports and passages in the 4.x front cover a while back before I risked blanking off the cooler ports, it's round here somewhere if you need it You say the sensor was brand new with the timing cover... is the timing cover brand new too and if so, dare I ask where it came from and if it's run successfully before or been stripped/rebuilt or anything? Yep, never had an oil pressure issue at any point in the previous two iterations of this engine and now it does this two days before the MOT. I'm looking at mothballing it until next year at this rate. This timing cover was fitted when I did the first rebuild and came with two bungs and ran in the cam so I'm happy it's meant to be run like this (plus Turners confirmed). I'm not sure of the actual brand, it was more a case of what I could actually find rather than cost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbekko Posted October 31, 2021 Share Posted October 31, 2021 Maybe still some swarf in an oil passage? Might be worth trying to blow through stuff with compressed air. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted November 1, 2021 Share Posted November 1, 2021 4 hours ago, elbekko said: Maybe still some swarf in an oil passage? Might be worth trying to blow through stuff with compressed air. I was going to say similar - swarf or something jamming the pressure relief (regulator) valve in the front cover. There are two, one for the filter end of things and one for the oil cooler, either one jamming open would mean no oil pressure I think. If you haven't already - maybe one of Nige's very magnetic sump plugs would be a worthwhile investment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbekko Posted November 1, 2021 Share Posted November 1, 2021 11 hours ago, FridgeFreezer said: If you haven't already - maybe one of Nige's very magnetic sump plugs would be a worthwhile investment If it's swarf from machining the ally block, that's not going to be much use... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted November 1, 2021 Share Posted November 1, 2021 2 hours ago, elbekko said: If it's swarf from machining the ally block, that's not going to be much use... I suspect it's remnants of the previous cam & lifters Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeh501 Posted November 1, 2021 Share Posted November 1, 2021 i was told by RPI on my engine to just run it. you wont get any oil pressure when cranking. have you started it yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted November 1, 2021 Share Posted November 1, 2021 Must admit, I don't bother trying to prime a gearotor type pump, I just start it. If it had a dizzy, I would, if not then fire it up. Cranking will still scrap things, and as above, you risk the cam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThreePointFive Posted November 1, 2021 Author Share Posted November 1, 2021 I'd agree but I have made the pressure light go out just by turning it over by hand before.... Now I'm not even getting oil to the sensor after a lot of hand-cranking earlier. Now I have no MOT on the cards, I have no time pressure. I'm going to take the sump off - again - and then I can get the timing cover off and have a look. My worst fear, and the one I know will happen, is that I'll take a look and still not be any closer to knowing. I can't stand not finding the cause of these things, hope is a poor substitute for problem diagnosis. I just wish there was a tidy way to drain coolant and not have to throw half a way every time. If this goes on I might have to weigh up what the car is worth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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