Haulinthemail

So heres the deal: I have a '93 z28 that was stroked to 383, about 5 yrs ago. Being in the military, I havent gotten a chance to really put some time into it. I am now retired, and have nothing but time. The car was never ran with the new motor in it. The motor was sent back to the machine shop last year to be cleaned and checked out. I got the motor back and have been putting the little bit of time I can into it. 2 days ago I brought the car to my house in orlando and tried to get it started. No dice. Bad starter, np. but then i pulled the valve covers and they were bone dry. I put new oil in it about 2 weeks ago, with some lucas break in oil. the car was outside but everything was closed up. (and I didnt put any coolant in it yet) so I pulled the intake to prime it,(not sure if the machine shop did this) and the oil looks like milk and is not coming out of the heads/rr, or at all on the left bank. What do I do now? please respond with anything you might think will help. I really dont want to pull this motor again, Im pretty damn broke.

Kevin Blown 95 TA

I wonder if they used white grease for assembling some of it or packed the pump with it and that is in your oil. Either way, without coolant in the engine, it shouldn't be water in there. Assembly lube or grease is thick so it way ups the oil pressure right at first until it comes out of the bearings and wherever it is, so you might try priming for a longer time or turn the engine while priming it and make sure you are going in the right direction, and if nothing ever comes up into the heads, then you need to find out why before starting the engine.

Haulinthemail

I'm not sure about the assembly lube, but it could be a possibility I was priming the wrong way I was using a oil pump shaft out of another 350 I am building and a cordless drill. I was going clockwise for about 4-5 min, until the drill got too hot. I also had a friend sitting in the car looking at the oil pressure guage we installed and he said it was reading about 18-20 psi, so I dont think its too heavy/thick. The break-in oil maybe? I used valvoline synthetic ( sh**ty oil, I know, but it was just for the first 30 min, and I was broke) Also, I even tried to turn the crank by hand to see if maybe the oil holes were somehow covered up, and the motor turned pretty easily. Ideas?

Haulinthemail

Since the starter isn't working properly, (could be jumping teeth, needing a shim, not enough torque for the new motor setup, or just a bad starter, it is stock and 17 yrs old) we pulled it with my friends truck and clutch started it, and it ran for a few seconds and died.

bombebomb

I doubt your stock starter is too weak to turn it over unless your running some godly high compression.

Injuneer

Do not attempt to break in a new engine with synthetic oil.

Haulinthemail

the starter was tested at autozone, checked out good, guess im gonna have to troubleshoot it next week. So no synthetic, even with the break in additive? Was gonna use the royal purple break-in just didnt have the cash. any ideas on what I should do about there not being any oil coming out of the galleys? should i be priming it counterclockwise? or should I just yank the motor, strip it and start over?

Queens94z28

I dont think a cordless drill has enough torque to prime the engine all the way up the push rods. I always use a heavy duty electric. You need to rotate the engine slowly to get oil out of every push rod.

cnorton

The lack of oil to the valve train MIGHT be caused by the tool you're using to prime the motor. A quick review of the various priming tools marketed by Jeg's shows that not all of them are designed to move oil all the way to the top of the motor. Jeg's part #689-PT13 is designed to seal off the oil galley (at least partially) and allow oil to move all the way up. If you have one that looks like part #689-PT12, on the other hand, without the "hour-glass" shaped bushing about two inches above the point that it fits into the oil pump drive, you can spin the pump until the drill melts and there won't be any oil at the rockers.

If you have the correct tool, with the bushing, you still may not be spinning the pump fast enough to move the oil all the way up. Sometimes it's necessary to rotate the engine slowly, by hand, while maintaining 30-40# of pressure to get things flowing. To make absolutely sure that oil is flowing through the lifter galleys, with the manifold off, you should be able to see oil seeping out around the lifters as you spin the priming tool. If you cannot, remove one lifter and spin the priming rod briefly. You should see oil gushing through the lifter gallery as the pump turns. If oil is present in the gallery but not at the pushrods, you may need a stronger drill and a little more time to get complete oiling.

Haulinthemail

Thanks guys, I'm gonna try and use a air die grinder to prime it. That should have the RPMs no? And if the oil just wont come up to the heads, should I just pour some of the oil on/around them? Also what oil should I use to break in the motor?

Fatdog2

Are you absolutely positive that the oil pick-up did not fall off in the oil pan?Previous posts have suggested that after a rebuild this sometimes happens.On a side note,my mother had her plymouth sit outside for almost a year,and the oil did look like ceasar dressing,but after a new battery,she drove down to get the oil changed.Hope this helps.

Kevin Blown 95 TA

Die grinder won't work. You need a 120V 1/2" drill or some other heavy-duty drill. Just use regular non-synthetic oil for your break in, like 10-W30 and maybe for the first 1000 miles and you'll be fine. It's always a good idea to squirt some oil on the valve springs and rocker arms before starting the engine.

RamAir95TA

When oil reaches the rockers they will not "squirt" whatsoever. It can take a very long time for oil to come up because you're spinning the pump at a relatively low RPM. You'll see a VERY small dribble. Once you see a dribble out of one or two rockers, you're good to go. Just oil everything else by hand and you're done.

Haulinthemail

thanks guys, i appreciate the help, I'm sure I'll need more advice soon, seeing as how this is the first time I'm building a EFI motor. And seeing as how its a '93 with speed density, I'll probably need ALOT of advice,lol.