Oil Pressure

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I just installed the 360 went to prime the engine with oil Royal Purple break in oil. It seems like it is taking forever to get the oil to everything. There is no pressure at the gauge. I pulled the line off and oil came out the fitting when the pump was turned but nothing goes into the line when it is reconnected. The passenger side lifters pumped up but the drivers side are hardly are getting any oil. I rotated the crank by hand stopping every 90 degrees two complete revolutions and more while turning the pump with a drill. It is a brand new Melling pump m72hv. Any ideas what the problem might be?
 
how much oil is in there?
what are you turning the oil pump with, a battery powered drill or a corded one?


when you remove the line from the fitting, how does the oil come out?
does it drip, stream or spray?



and there is a gauge at the end of the line, it is not open?

most likely the oil if finding the path of least resistance out of what is essentially a closed system

there is no oil UNDER the car right?



my first guess would be someone forgot to install the oil gallery plug in the back of the block

what was done to the engine?

and, maybe more important...who done it?
 
I see people mentioning the oil line in this context all the time, so I'll say it again.

Oil in the line is a by product of running and shutting down (heating and cooling)
Not having any oil in the line means nothing because it is a dead ended system at the gauge and oil in the line or not makes ZERO difference.
The gauge still reads the pressure.
 
Take spark plugs out . Hook up oil pressure line, turn it over with starter. You should have pressure.
 
TrailBeast said:
I see people mentioning the oil line in this context all the time, so I'll say it again.

Oil in the line is a by product of running and shutting down (heating and cooling)
Not having any oil in the line means nothing because it is a dead ended system at the gauge and oil in the line or not makes ZERO difference.
The gauge still reads the pressure.
Click to expand...

I get that, the column of air inside the tube acts as a pushrod to transfer the pressure that is present in the engine to push the dial on the gauge

however, when reading the OP, it seemed to me the gauge was hooked up and reading zero PSI


sleepyhead416 said:
Take spark plugs out . Hook up oil pressure line, turn it over with starter. You should have pressure.
Click to expand...

I would suggest against that

on my 360 I get 70 PSI with a priming rod and a regular volume pump
he should be seeing SOME with that high volume pump on there

it has to be going somewhere...unless he is spinning it counter clock wise
 
sleepyhead416 said:
Take spark plugs out . Hook up oil pressure line, turn it over with starter. You should have pressure.
Click to expand...

I too would suggest against this. If you have a flat tappet cam you will wipe off all of the pre lube - only turn the engine over the bare minimum until you fire it.

My 2 cents
 
diymirage said:
I get that, the column of air inside the tube acts as a pushrod to transfer the pressure that is present in the engine to push the dial on the gauge

however, when reading the OP, it seemed to me the gauge was hooked up and reading zero PSI
Click to expand...

"I pulled the line off and oil came out the fitting when the pump was turned but nothing goes into the line when it is reconnected"


And to D55Dave, he's already turned the engine over enough to wipe the breakin lube off by turning it to try and get oil to the top.

To the OP, Prime it again and check the gauge itself for a reading.
If it shows any pressure at all and you have no oil on the ground under the engine fire it off.
 
I am using a corded drill, No oil on the ground under neath it. there is a gauge at the end of the line. The oil does not spray out of the block it is more like a stream. like I said the passenger side lifters pumped up fine with a plug in the back of the block. I purchased the block with all the machine work done to it. The oil galley plugs were installed. I also removed the oil filter and turned the oil pump prime shaft by hand and oil immediately came out. I assembled the engine this is not the first engine I have done , but this is the first time this has happened to me.
 
Also the engine is full five quarts it is a fram filter, I am spinning it clockwise. I feel I should see at least 20 psi at the gauge. Using a variable speed 3/8 drill set at the lowest setting. It doesn't matter what speed it is at still no pressure at the gauge.
 
TrailBeast said:
"I pulled the line off and oil came out the fitting when the pump was turned but nothing goes into the line when it is reconnected"


And to D55Dave, he's already turned the engine over enough to wipe the breakin lube off by turning it to try and get oil to the top.

To the OP, Prime it again and check the gauge itself for a reading.
If it shows any pressure at all and you have no oil on the ground under the engine fire it off.
Click to expand...

The thing is, extended cranking on a new cam especially with stiff springs and little to no oil can cause permanent damage to the lobes / lifters. This is why I suggest not cranking it on the starter prior to starting.
 
I did not use the starter to crank the engine I turned it over with an 18 inch breaker bar and socket a quarter turn at a time. I don't think I rotated more than twenty times if even that.
 
d55dave said:
The thing is, extended cranking on a new cam especially with stiff springs and little to no oil can cause permanent damage to the lobes / lifters. This is why I suggest not cranking it on the starter prior to starting.
Click to expand...

I know that, but messing with it for days isn't going to help anything either and if he has (some oil) and none on the ground when he primes it a fire up while watching the gauge will answer the question real quick.
 
If the oil is staying in the block it is draining somewhere
What are the bearing clearances?
 
To get oil to the rockers.........

On a small block:
Turn the motor to 90* before top dead center coming up on #1 compression. The pass. side rockers should get oil.
Turn the motor to 20* after top dead center just past #6 compression. The drivers side rockers should get oil.
 
Could cam Bearings oil holes not aligned when fitted ??? or as i think it has been mentioned drivers side plug fitting in the lifter gallery (next to distributor shaft been left out !
 
Do you have a different oil pressure gauge to try? Maybe a bad gauge. There is also an internal plug that if left out you'll have no oil pressure. You can see it with the distributor removed. Here's a picture looking down into the block through the distributor hole that shows it
 

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Here are a few suggestions from me...

I assemble my engines with either Casite Motor Honey or STP on all the bearing journals, bores, cam journals, and cam.

If you are worried about cranking/turning over the engine with the break in lube wiped off, why not drain the oil out of the engine and put it back in before cranking it over. Some of it should drip onto the cam as it drains through to the oil pan. Maybe put some Motor Honey or STP in it also if you try this...

I have started many engines that have sat for a long time and not primed them before, and not had a problem. How many times have you bought a car that was sitting for a long time and not started... You crank it up and go...
 
The more you turn it, the worse off the cam will be.
Starters & starting systems are for starting - not priming or preoiling.
Remove the spark plugs - it all gets easier then.
A 3/8 drill on low speed is turning too slow. Put it on high, or get a bigger drill.
I turn the engine while priming. It's easer than trying to line up the holes to the rockers.
Oil pressure will come up on the gage immediately even with nothing to the rockers, assuming the pump is turned fast enough.
 
Norm's Cuda said:
Also the engine is full five quarts it is a fram filter, I am spinning it clockwise. I feel I should see at least 20 psi at the gauge. Using a variable speed 3/8 drill set at the lowest setting. It doesn't matter what speed it is at still no pressure at the gauge.
Click to expand...

FWIW my 1/2" drill is 500 rpm max. My 3/8" runs to 1200(?).

So you have had the 3/8" drill spinning at max rpm with an HV oil pump and have zilch for pressure?

Have you primed long enough to fill the filter completely? Sounds as though you have.

I'm thinking oil pressure is a product of volume and clearance in an engine. You should be feeling drag on your drill as you overcome the clearances and pressure builds. If your not overcoming the clearance demand you'll have no pressure. If the HV pump is turning correctly @ 1200 rpm you should be seeing pressure. If not, the pump is bad, you have excessive clearance, or an open in the system.

Are you sure all the gallery plugs are in? Have any block mods been made? How was the lifter bore clearance?
 

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Thanks for the photo of the drivers side rear plug Fishy68. That plug was not installed, but it is now. Still no pressure @ gauge. Pulled filter and adapter to make sure plug was in there it was. Spun the pump with filter off oil streamed out as soon as pump was turned. Check at gauge fitting oil streamed out also. But when line was reconnected no pressure on gauge.
 
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