Thread: Priming Crank Driven Oil Pump

I packed my 4.6 with vaseline. Can't say it did any harm but it did get the oil going quickly.

Originally Posted by Traco

Anyone had problems with getting the V8 3.9/4.0/4.6 crank driven oil pump to prime on first start up after a rebuild?

With the old pre 1994 distributor drive oil pumps you just had to pack them with Vasoline and use an electric drill to get oil pressure.

I've heard packing the crank driven pumps with Vasoline is a no no.

You can always prime an engine by pumping oil in through the pressure switch port. Fit a hose to your oil can and load 200-500ml of clean oil into your switch hole via a temporary nipple and you're away.

Vaseline is the way to go, even says so in the manual .

Originally Posted by bee utey

You can always prime an engine by pumping oil in through the pressure switch port. Fit a hose to your oil can and load 200-500ml of clean oil into your switch hole via a temporary nipple and you're away.

This is what I did today by grinding the end off a grease nipple which fitted into my Alemite oil-can. Once the end was off, I pushed out the spring and cleaned the nipple and clamped a length of 6mm beverage tube onto it and pumped oil into the pump housing until it overflowed. Prior to that I had been pumping oil into the oil-cooler hose but that failed to prime the pump.

I disconnected the fuel pump relay but unfortunately the engine started anyway (should have disconnected the coil as well ) but just as it stalled about 5 seconds after starting, the pressure light went out

I would be interested to know if anyone has actually primed the crank-driven pumps with vaseline and whether it worked - I have done this on the 3500 with success.

Thanks bee utey!

Cheers Charlie

works pretty much every time...

but If I know its going to be started in short order I just coat the gears with engine build oil (which is a bit like cold treacle) fill the filter prior to installation then crank it on the starter till the pressure light goes out.