prefill the oil filter

[John McCormack]

7 hours ago, Z320 said:

Hi John,

thank you for this very helpful experience.

Pretty sure a pre fill is not really needed, I also never did that before.

And if this would be needed, and mostly not done, a number of car owners would be in trouble.

But I know some worry about this with their engine starting the first time after a new built up....

I have my tool and today I used it.

With a clear PVC hose and a 100 ml syringe I pressed in very easy 0.75 liter oil, than it came out of the oil gallery.

Pretty sure a noticable volume direktly went though the oil pump in the oil sump?

I plugged the oil gallery and presses another 0.1 liter in there without any problem.

With the next 0.05 - 0.10 liter I had a problem: I had to press strong and hearded my oil pressure switches and relays clicking (1 bar).

How hard I tried, I got NO oil in anymore, meens: the oil pump is sealed for a reflow (is there a valve anywhere?).

It volume I was able to get in for a pre fill was about 0.85 liter without any problem.

Sure not needed, but who feels better can pre fill.

Ciao, Marco

Yes, a start after a rebuild is another issue than a regular oil change.

With a first start of a rebuilt engine I lubricate the cylinders with oil, put oil on the rocker gear moving parts, remove the plugs and crank the engine on the starter motor until I have oil pressure for 5-10 seconds.

But with a regular oil change my view is that the pump and filter will self prime in a second or three and there is residual oil on the rubbing surfaces to lubricate them for those seconds.

I think this is important because making necessary jobs more time consuming, difficult and messy means they won't get done as often as they should be done. If we keep things simple and effective the cars will be maintained and preserved for future generations.

Edited January 10 by John McCormack

[Z320]

Please see my video

on a regular start without a oil change it needs some time to get oil up to the rockers,

but if you know pre WW2 OHV engines, on most of them the rockers and valves are only oiled occasionally or via oil mist

[Phil Reade]

I've always relied on Slick 50 or similar additive coatings for peace of mind.

Phil

[Z320]

I started the engine with the pre filled filter and let it run on itle.

Sadly I missed to look on the clock (stupido) and noticed this after about 1 minute?

2 more minutes went by until oil came out on rocker 7+8.

[Bfg]

Wow Marco - that's a long time. 3 minutes at fast tickover (cold start revs) suggest 3,000 - 4,000 revolutions of the engine before oil reached all corners.!  

As I said in my previous post ;  I both pre-soaked the filter overnight and then 3/4 filled the canister before fitting it. And then I turned the engine over, with the lead off the coil, for some time. Perhaps I ought to have doubled its pumping / priming time on the starter. 

Thanks for your experiment,

Pete. 

[Z320]

Idle with choke at 1,000 revs