22RE Oil Pump Question

I have no training as a mechanic, but just replaced the entire timing mechanism on my 93 pickup 22RE. It went swimmingly and was a great learning experience. Gave me a newfound appreciation for how great the engine is, except for the unbelievably retarded decision by the manufacturer to use plastic chain guides. At most they must save about $5.00 per unit over steel guides, probably about 3 decibels inside the cab quieter on a truck that is not exactly a silent ride to begin with. That is just a bad business decision. I would pay $5.00 more for a new truck versus several thousand down the road screwing with these kinds of problems.

Unfortunately I neglected to specifically prime the oil pump before putting the cover back on. I have only run the engine for about 10 minutes so far, just checking for leaks. Should I be concerned about priming the pump? I left some oil in the pump gears and would hope that it would be sufficient to prime it. If not, I read that you can put air pressure down the dipstick shaft when cranking the engine, Is that a good idea? Can I prime through the pressure relief cylinder?

Reply to
Swill
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Why not just disconnect the igniter wire or plug wires and crank it for 6-10 minutes???

Reply to
Wolfgang

Presumably the pump has primed itself during your 10 minute engine checkds. You did have oil pressure?

Reply to
JeB

Unfortunately I do not have an oil-pressure gauge. The truck does have a low-pressure warning light, which has not lit up.

I am hoping that the pump primed itself. I say that for two reasons, actually three if you include the warning light. First, the gears were not dry when I put the pump back on, there was still some oil left in them to help get a head. Second, when I re-filled the oil, the dipstick showed that the oil pan was full at 4 quarts, which is a half quart less than capacity. After I ran the engine for 10 minutes the pan was down the remaining half-quart, so the pump must have been picking up oil as it was not on the ground.

Reply to
Swill

I would assume that if it ran for ten minutes without it sounding like the pistons were swapping holes, then it's probably alright. The drop of half a quart of oil is the final clue...

Reply to
TOM

Reply to
scott and barb

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