Alright, I used a drill with like a long flat head blade to spin oil pump, Too lazy to go out and spend the money on a primer but, I get oil to the driver side rockers but I cannot get oil to the passenger side. No kidding I had to run that drill for about 20-30 mins. Oil was pouring out the driver side but again pass side was bone dry. Could this be a serious problem? Blockage in the block?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thankyou!

 

No; the exact opposite of that.

MASSIVE internal oil leak.

Ever notice that strange raised boss on the distributor body near the gear, that's about 1" wide with a sort of groove in the middle? Well the deal is, the dist body goes RIGHT DIRECTLY THROUGH THE MIDDLE of the front-to-rear passage for the even-# bank lifters. Without the dist, the oil just pours out of that passage and falls back into the pan.

Look at the outside of the block, around the cam; you'll see 3 plugs at each end. Each is at the end of a passage that runs from front to rear of the block. The center (top) one is the feeds to all the bearings (cam, main, rod), the 2 on the sides feed the lifters. Not hard to see how the dist "completes" the one. You can in fact look down in the dist hole and see it; and could have see the oil all gooshing out of there while you were doing what you were doing.

That's why they sell those priming tools things that look rather like that part of a dist.

All of that "priming" stuff is a waste of time anyway; basically "placebo effect" to soothe the fears of those who lack confidence in .... something, I have no idea what. Doesn't really "accomplish" anything that the motor wouldn't accomplish by itself within the first couple of seconds of normal running. So it sounds to me like you're good to go at this point; any firther "priming" isn't going to do any more good for it than any of the "priming" that's been done already, so just button it up and go.

 

Priming tools are made to act like a distributor which completes the oil passage, without one you're just priming one bank. They are great for checking for oil leaks before putting a motor in. Chevys are self priming so if it's built right there should be no issue with it starved for oil and especially since assembly lube is usually used. That being said I usually prime mine if the distributor is out, else I will just fire it up.

 

A quote from a Engine Builder Mag article that I agree with.:

Alternative Method to Pre-Oiling Tip
I respectfully disagree with the published tip on how to properly prime a new engine’s oiling system. Employing the method depicted will not only pre-oil the engine but, more importantly, it will serve to wash off all or most of the assembly lube that we carefully apply during engine assembly. We spend about $60 per gallon for assembly lube and we prefer that it remains where we put it for the initial startup. The label says, “Clevite 77 Bearing Guard is specially formulated with an extreme pressure rating to provide proper lubrication for internal engine components during assembly and the first crucial moments of operation on startup.”

I believe that continued priming after the oil pump is primed, the oil filter is filled and the main galleys are filled, will only serve to dilute and wash away the assembly lube from all the bearings and valve train. Leakage around the lifter bores will also wash away or dilute the cam lube on the lobes, lifter faces and bodies, causing increased likelihood of cam/lifter destruction of flat tappet cams upon startup. We feel that the assembly lube will do its designated task of keeping the engine internals lubed properly until full oil pressure and volume are attained.

Our preferred method and the method we instruct our customers to use for pre-oiling is as follows: Before filling the oil pan with the prescribed amount of oil, plus an extra quart for the filter and any cam break-in additive, premix additives into the oil in a clean container before putting the oil into the engine. The additive should be in the oil at the first instant of startup, not waiting until it mixes in the pan later, possibly leaving critical areas without protection. With Chevy style oiling galleries, use an empty distributor housing or a commercially sold timing tool to seal the lifter galley on the passenger side before priming. Insert the priming tool, spin it, and you will feel it spin freely until the pump picks up oil and drags down the drill motor. (You prelubed the pump with bearing prelube before installing it, didn’t you?) Now continue spinning the tool. When you feel the priming motor drag down again, the oil filter is filling.

Now the critical part. When the drill motor is dragged down for the third time that indicates that the oil filter is full and the main oil galleries are also full. Now, Stop priming the engine. Any further priming will only wash off the prelube. I prefer allowing small bubbles of air in the galleries to washing off the prelube!
We didn’t come up with this priming method by accident. We assembled a long block and primed it for several minutes using the accepted method of the day. We then removed the oil pan and found only small traces of the assembly lube remaining on the bearings. Much of the assembly lube was also washed from the pushrod ends. We have been employing our current priming method and recommending it to our customers on all engines that we machine and manufacture for over 25 years with no problems.
There may be assembly lubes on the market that are for assembly only and that don’t contain extreme pressure additives, but I can’t think of a reason to use one. When in doubt, read the label or contact the manufacturer. There is more than one way to accomplish anything, but this method works for us.

Timm Jurinche
Tuf-Enuf Auto & Marine
Avondale, AZ

 

I don't want to get caught up in this debate. I just can't seem to properly pre-load hydraulic lifters if I soak them in oil before assembly, and they need oil before first start. So this it what I use the priming tool for. To get oil into the lifters. And the only way to be sure of that is seeing oil come out of every pushrod cup of every rocker.
Also, I turn the crankshaft while priming.
And if assembly lube is washed away, well, engines start thousands of times during their service lives with oil on the bearings, rather than assembly lube. And with the rollers on the lifters, the lube really doesn't matter anyway.

 

Assembly lube is necessary for degreeing the cam and adjusting the rockers, however.

 

How about, just pour a quart of oil in it before you put it on? (works great on Chevy V8s, doesn't work on Frod motors or some others) Sure takes alot less fidling around than dinking with a drill.

Just build the engine RIGHT, with the RIGHT assembly lube in all the RIGHT places, then assemble the dist into it RIGHTso that it starts RIGHT up the instant you hit the key.

Did I use the word "right" enough times to get the point across? The point being, IMO "priming" is a nothing but a crutch for the weak-minded who are afraid they did something WRONG. An engine built RIGHT doesn't need it. IMO

 

Okay thankyou. Also I'm confident I built it right as stated I just like the satisfaction knowing everything is flowing and what not. But again thanks to all!

 

The assembly lube is for parts that haven't worn in and not like engines that have broken in parts in their life cycles.

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by ronnjonn
I don't want to get caught up in this debate. I just can't seem to properly pre-load hydraulic lifters if I soak them in oil before assembly, and they need oil before first start. So this it what I use the priming tool for. To get oil into the lifters. And the only way to be sure of that is seeing oil come out of every pushrod cup of every rocker.
Also, I turn the crankshaft while priming.
And if assembly lube is washed away, well, engines start thousands of times during their service lives with oil on the bearings, rather than assembly lube. And with the rollers on the lifters, the lube really doesn't matter anyway.



I am going with the trade magazine article and their experience as my own agrees with it.