Prime oil pump?
 

I recently went through the trouble of repairing a water leak on my 96 DI. Had to drop the pan, remove the front cover etc.

I started the truck back up and now the oil psi light is on. Only ran a couple seconds about four times with no luck.

Do I need to prime the oil pump some way, and if so any suggestions?

By the way, no trouble in past, 130k miles and oil pick up was clear, very little sludge in pan or anywhere observed.

RE: Prime oil pump?
 

Did you fill your oil filter prior to installing it, if not might want to.

RE: Prime oil pump?
 

Forgot to mention I filled the filter, lines to cooler etc.... only other thing I can think of is a bad sender.

On one of the run attempts the oil psi light flashed off briefly. another time it "half" flickered.[sm=wtf.gif]

I really really really do not want to go through all the labor pulling all the suspension, Radiator, fan, pan etc to get the cover back off.... Did I mention really?

RE: Prime oil pump?
 

I am wondering if you have air trapped below the oil pressure switch, if so, that may be giving you an incorrect reading.

RE: Prime oil pump?
 

I pulled the filter and fired it up, the light is correct, no oil.... want to vomit right now...

I was extremely careful with the front cover when it was off. I evidently need to prime the pump in some form or fashion, just never had to do this on a vehicle before.

Any tricks?

RE: Prime oil pump?
 

The tech at my local independant rover shop said to pack the oil pump gears with vaseline. I think the 96 doesn't have a distributor, but if you do, you maybe able to use the shaft from it & put a drill on it to run the pump to prime it?

RE: Prime oil pump?
 

One other way maybe to take the plugs out & let it crank over as fast as possible? This might be a short cut? When I took my oil pan off to clean my pick up tube, andput it back together I just pulled the coil wire and let it crank over for a while. Then hooked it up & fired it up. The light was on for maybe 3-4 seconds but then established pressure.

I'm still having intermittent oil light coming on, the reason I pulled the pan in the first place. Seems to only happen when it's wet? Hence I'm going through the headache of trying to hook up a pressure gauge...

RE: Prime oil pump?
 

This is how my rebuild manual said how to do it.

RE: Prime oil pump?
 

Pull your plugs and crank it. It is how I prime my boat every year.

RE: Prime oil pump?
 

Wow, really nice having all the response! I spoke to a gent in town that said the same thing (vaseline).

I did remove the plugs (oiled the cylinders first) and cranked several times. Also tried filling the cooler lines with an electric fluid pump..... nadda..

Well, looks like I am going to make another mess!! Not looking forward to tearing everything down again, but atleast I can replace the timing chain this time.

Anything in particular to watch for when packing the gears?