Muckman

iTrader: (2)

How much distance is there between the oil pick up and the bottom of the oil pan?

I just put my newly built GSR motor back into my car. Im cranking it over for 3 or 4 mins (15 secs at a time) and I still have 0 oil pressure and a dry oil filter. New oil pump and 5 quarts of oil. Im looking at the bottom of the oil pan and there's a slight dent in the middle of the pan. Im thinking it could be blocking the oil pickup like on that one episode of American Hot Rod. What else could it be?

non-VTEC

the pick up is pretty close to the bottom of the pan. maybe 1.5" away.

depending on how big the dent is it may cause a problem. but if your just trying to prime the engine to circulate the oil for the first time i think it takes about 45-60 seconds of non-stop cranking to get the oil to the pressure switch.

i would crank it for 30 seconds then fire it up.....

Muckman

iTrader: (2)

I cranked it for well over 5 mins and had 0 oil pressure.
the dent is no more than .5" into the pan.

non-VTEC

is the oil pump new?

pull off the oil filter and have someone crank it over and see if you can get some oil to come out?

sounds kinda weird but you should get some oil pressure even from cranking at slow speeds

Sack Master

I dont know how much clearance there is on our motors but most oil pickups don't have an inch and a half. They are more like half an inch. But honda does things differently.

non-VTEC

how about removing the oil pan and bang out that dent and see if that solves your problem.

now that i think of it he is right......the pickup is pretty close to the bottom of the pan.

Muckman

iTrader: (2)

Im sure its pretty close too. Ill bang out the pan tomorrow morning. I wish there was a way to actually see if the pickup was in fact hitting the pan.

Just cranking over the engine with no spark plugs should eventually create oil pressure correct?

non-VTEC

accually i can see the pickup through the drain hole in my GSR pan. dump the oil and take a mini flash light and see if you can see it.......

or just drop the pan.......

Muckman

iTrader: (2)

Pan is already dropped and cleaned out.

One thing that I noticed was not alot but some metal flakes from bearings laying in the oil pan. Now Im really hoping these are remnants from when I spun a bearing a few months ago (the reason for the rebuild). But the block was hot tanked and thoroughly cleaned, as well as the oil pan before being put back together. Every oil part and passage was cleaned and blown out with compressed air. So there shouldnt have been any metal shavings left in the engine.

I really hope that wasn't from my new bearings in my new engine. Liberal amounts of assembly lube were used on every bearing surface. Do you think 5+ mins of cranking the engine over without any oil pressure could have caused this?

Sack Master

Well lets hope its not too much. Any brand ne engine will have some bearing in the oil. Thats why you change the oil after the initial break in. But yeah 5 minutes of cranking with no oil pressure could be hard on a lot of your engine parts.
As for checking oil pick-up clearance. Measure your pan depth. And measure your pick-up depth.

mmuller

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Muckman &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

I really hope that wasn't from my new bearings in my new engine. Liberal amounts of assembly lube were used on every bearing surface. Do you think 5+ mins of cranking the engine over without any oil pressure could have caused this?</TD></TR></TABLE>

with assembly lube and all, 5 min of cranking shouldnt do much.

If the bearings were scraping like that, then you would of known since the engine would be a lot harder to crank.....i think...

Muckman

iTrader: (2)

Thanks. So you think the material was from the previous spun bearings? It wasnt much, just enough to cause concern. About as much as maybe if you shredded a pencil eraser.

And its not hard to turn over. In fact it cranks very easily. All the bearings are on the loose end of the tolerance.

acy76

I bought a used GSR pan when I built my engine, and the previous owner had obviously spun a bearing. There was yellow metal all over that thing. Cleaned it twice before installing (thoroughly, in a proper parts washer) and still found flakes after the first oil change. Scared me at first, but it has been almost 1000 miles an no problems whatsoever. Probably just leftover bits, they are hard to clean out.

Muckman

iTrader: (2)

Indeed they are.

Ive been told I need to prime the oil pump by pouring some oil in it.

LudeyKrus

You do need to prime the oil pump, but oil should at least be getting to the oil filter!

Pull the pan and check it. If you need, put some clay down and check the clearance. But in all honesty, it would be easier to just pound out the dent and reinstall it, then try cranking it over again.

Muckman

iTrader: (2)

God damn still no oil pressure!!!!

I pounded out that depression in the oil pan. I measured the clearance between the pick up and the pan and its around 1/2".

I had to drop the alternator to get to the plug on the neck of the oil pump. I filled it full of oil hoping I could prime it this way. The pan was off and I saw no oil drain out of the pickup so there must be some kind of valve in there. I put it all back together. And filled it up with 4 quarts of oil.

Cranked it over for another 45-60 secs and absolutely ******* zero oil pressure!
What the **** is going on?

non-VTEC

possible bad oil pump?? is it new?

Muckman

iTrader: (2)

Brand new Honda OEM VTEC oil pump. It comes as a complete assembly so there isnt much you can **** up. Unless you screw up the install, in which case there would be oil everywhere.

non-VTEC

thats really strange......there must be some kind of blockage in the passages from the oil pump to the oil pressure switch.

Muckman

iTrader: (2)

I had to drop the alternator to get to the 10mm hex plug on the neck of the oil pump. Take that off and poured oil into the pump. Put it all back together. Cranked it over for another 60 seconds, no oil pressure.

Said **** it, started the engine and immediently got oil pressure. I guess cranking rpm wasnt enough to overcome the air pocket and prime itself.

non-VTEC

glad to hear you got it sorted out......

AzG35

I was going to say that you need something in the oil pump (oil or vasoline or equivalent) before starting the motor. Wtherwise its almost impossible to build pressure. But good to see that you got it going