After cranking, if there is oil in my new oil filter...

Does this mean that the engine is getting oil pressure? I tried to fire up the engine today and I primed it with the starter, but my oil pressure guage is not reading anything. Looking through the hole in the passenger side valve cover, I cannot see any oil (poured it in on the drivers side). Should I expect to see oil around the rockers just by cranking the engine over?

Did you make a oil preprimer out of a old dissy? Cranking a dry engine is a big NO NO!

Using a old dissy, Grind off the cam gear, take out the weights, remove the electrical componets.

Insert the dissy into the block, lock down the dissy. attach a drill to the dissy. Set the drill for clock wise rotation.

Remove the valve covers, turn on the drill,,make sure your drill is turning in a clockwise rotation it will take about three minutes to see the oil flowing from the rockers. turn the engine over a few times while drill is running. This procedure will insrue that your oil gallries are open .

This is a good test that your pump is functional and all areas are being oiled.

Hope this helps $00.03.

Last time I primed it took a minute or two for oil to come out of the rockers. I would suspect cranking at the starter for a couple of seconds wouldn't prime the engine.

This is not a new engine, just replaced the HGs.

If there is oil in the new oil filter, does that mean that I have oil pressure? The pump shoots directly into the filter doesn't it? And there's no chance of oil over flowing from the sump into the filter is there?

Not immediately, you;'ll need to prime it but when you feel the drill loading up (forcing the oil pump to spin) then you should have oil pressure immediately.

Or did you install the filter dry? If so, it can take quite a while for the filter to fill and oil pressure to register.

So if there is oil in the filter (that I installed dry) then the pump is working and there is oil pressure, right?

Why yes enkeivette, the oil pump pushes oil through the oil filter first, so if your new oil filter has oil in it, your pump is pumping. :smash:

Here's a diagram for you:

I don't get what the problem is Are you not registering pressure?

The oil pump pumps oil in the OUTSIDE of the filter first, (behind the little holes) the inner large opening and up is back into the engine.

You should have filled up that filter before installing

If there's oil, the pump is pumping, if there's proper pressure...yet to be determined

I always pour oil in the filter before installing.

If the pump was being primed with a drill, I don't think you would see oil at the rockers unless you were turning the starter. The lifters have to pump up to push oil up to the rockers, At least that's what I always thought.:bonkers: Please correct me if I wrong.

:beer:

Dirtbuster1 said:

I always pour oil in the filter before installing.

If the pump was being primed with a drill, I don't think you would see oil at the rockers unless you were turning the starter. The lifters have to pump up to push oil up to the rockers, At least that's what I always thought.:bonkers: Please correct me if I wrong.

:beer:

Click to expand...

Priming with a priming tool/drill will push oil up through the pushrods/rockers.

There are two different design priming tools. The one you can get for free at AutoZone (loaner program) is the good one, it has an aluminum collar that just like the distributor. You need that collar, with the 'cheaper' design tool (no aluminum collar) oil will only flow to one side.
I bought the cheap version from Summit and I only got oil to the driver side rockers, then got the better tool from the 'zone' and it worked, had oil flow out of all pushrods/rockers.

I used the Autozone when I primed mine. If the cam is not rotating, how can oil frome the valley area go up the pushrods. I thought that the up & down motion of the lifter built hydraulic pressure, therefore oil goes up the pushrod.