Is an oil pump pickup self-priming? I took mine off and have to put it back on soon. Do I need to do anything special, like fill the tube with oil (assuming the oil wont just flow out the bottom of the tube? Someone told me the oil pump pickup tube is not self-priming and the pump won't pump oil if you don't fill that tube up before you put it back on.
Of the ones I am familiar with, all of the oil falls out of it every time you change the oil, so it has to self prime. Don't know how you would prime it and keep the oil in there anyway.
No. Not self priming, but if there is oil or vaseline in the pump, the suction will draw up the pan oil very quickly. Put some oil in the filter though, to help the pump pressurize the system asap.
Vaseline melts instantly on contact with oil and doesn't run out as oil does. This is an old rebuilder's trick. Don't use Vick's Vaporub unless you like the smell or think the engine is sick.
|No. Not self priming, but if there is oil or vaseline in the pump, the |suction will draw up the pan oil very quickly. Put some oil in the |filter though, to help the pump pressurize the system asap. | |Vaseline melts instantly on contact with oil and doesn't run out as |oil does. This is an old rebuilder's trick. Don't use Vick's Vaporub |unless you like the smell or think the engine is sick.
And don't substitute KY Jelly unless the dipstick tube is too tight.
Rex in Fort Worth
Exactly my concern. But then again, looks like people are talking about putting vaseline over the pickup to hold the oil in that tube. I just don't want to ruin my engine because I can't pump oil!
When I pulled the pickup tube, some oil fell out of the tube but I don't know exactly how much but I don't think it was a full tube. Guy at the auto store scared me because he claimed the pump would NOT pump oil if you didn't pre-prime it by filling up that pickup tube.
I've only reubuilt one motor so far, but the book didn't say anything about ensuring the pump was primed. After assembling, I used a speed wrench with a small socket on it to turn the pump before installing the distributor and it built up pressure very quickly, within a couple of turns, so the old Ford pump (this was in a 1970 351c) definitely self primed.
hummmmm
When changing the oil pump in my Toyota, my mechanic buddy told me the trick about packing the pump with vaseline to prime it (so that the pump develops suction as soon as the engine is cranked over).
It sounded very bizarre, but after googling around on the net I learned that vaseline (aka petroleum jelly) is very similiar to motor oil, and it will melt (in oil) within a matter of seconds.
Also, the Haynes manual also recommends priming the pump with vaseline. So I did it and everything worked out fine.
-Ted
| | |pete selby wrote: |> |> No. Not self priming, but if there is oil or vaseline in the pump, the |> suction will draw up the pan oil very quickly. Put some oil in the |> filter though, to help the pump pressurize the system asap. |> |> Vaseline melts instantly on contact with oil and doesn't run out as |> oil does. This is an old rebuilder's trick. Don't use Vick's Vaporub |> unless you like the smell or think the engine is sick. | |I've only reubuilt one motor so far, but the book didn't say anything about |ensuring the pump was primed. After assembling, I used a speed wrench with a |small socket on it to turn the pump before installing the distributor and it |built up pressure very quickly, within a couple of turns, so the old Ford pump |(this was in a 1970 351c) definitely self primed.
Usually the grease the new pump is assembled with is sufficient to hold prime. Plenty of replacement pumps are installed dry, but I wouldn't recommend it. Rex in Fort Worth
You should fill the body of the pump with petroleum jelly or vaseline.
I have seen some that just pain wouldn't suck, even with a drill on them down the distributor hole so we had to prime them through the oil filter holes. That was a real pain, but it worked.
Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT'sglb wrote:
Correct, the oil drains out of the tube. Probably the story you heard is that you need to prime oil PUMPS when changing them. I agree with that- there needs to be some oil inside the oil pump- at least enough that the rotors are "wet" with a film of oil. Otherwise it won't draw oil up the tube or will be very slow to do so.
And in this case sucking is a GOOD thing... :-p
If the pump itself is staying in place and has a coating of oil then the pickup tube is irrelevant. It drains every time you change the oil anyway. Some engines won't easily self prime after a total rebuild and the best way is then to fill the crankcase oilways via the oil filter hole with a length of tube and a funnel and turn the engine backwards so the pump sucks oil in from the top. Obviously the right oil filter hole has to be used. The one that connects the pump and filter rather than the one that connects the filter and bearings. This is usually NOT the central hole that the filter screws onto but a smaller one off to the side.
Dave Baker - Puma Race Engines
That's possible that could have been what I heard. But all I am doing is pulling the suction tube, not doing anything to the pump, not removing it or anything. My pump is built into the timing chain cover. Thanks for the replies!
The oil pump is inherently self priming. All the ones I am familiar with are gear pumps, positive displacement. If they weren't you couldn't change oil without making a big deal of it.
When you replace that pickup tube, be sure that you have it well seated, o-ring if any is in good shape and where it should be. They will suck air easier than they will suck oil.
On some models, the pickup tubes were prone to vibrating loose, and the rodder would braze or solder the tube to the pump, just to be sure.
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