I was going to take my car out this weekend from storage and one of my friends mentioned it would be a good idea to prime the oil pump before starting it up for the first time. I was just wondering what would be the best way to do this (without removing my intake manifold). He said I could unplug my coil connector and all 8 injectors and crank it until I see pressure building up on the gauge, that makes sense but I read in a thread once that you could also cut fuel and spark by simply pulling the PCM bat fuse? That seems like it's more simple, will it do the trick? And if so then where is the fuse located?

Thanks alot.

 

Yes it will work Fab, and the fuse is in the fuse box on the side of t he dash on the drivers side(door jamb)

 

The PCM BAT fuse is in the dash in all years but 1995 (where it is under the hood). No year was given for the car originally posted about.

 

so you would pull the fuse and then what...? crank the engine? then replace it and start it up?

 

it is a 94, I answered because I know him, I never knew that the 95 was under the hood, thanks for the great tip Shoebox.

 

yes exactly.

 

O.K. this process doesn't seem much better. Priming the oil system is to avoid dry start up on the bearings. Cranking the engine over at all is just doing the same as starting it up (save for the bearing load). I've been contemplating the same thing because I just bought a project that has been sitting for several years. There's only two real good ways to do this:

One, remove the manifold and prime the pump.

Two, buy Moroso's accumulator and pressurize the oil sys. that way.

Otherwise the bearings are still subjected to dry rotation, and the cylinders too. The cylinders can be taken care of by pulling plugs and spraying white lithium grease in. I can see the reasoning behind the crank only method, but the difference doesn't seem like it would be worth that much.

 

If you were running synthetic motor oil then it'll be good for a year and a half. Fire it up.

 

If you're just putting a motor together fresh from the machine shop, soak all of the bearings in oil overnight or longer before putting assembly. Do the same with the lifters as well. As long as there is some oil or some oil residue left, pulling fuel and spark and cranking until it builds pressure will be just fine. It'll be the same thing as changing oil the and not priming the oil filter. Just make sure the oil pump is primed by stuffing it with petroleum jelly.

Jason

 

It's not the same thing if the engine has been sitting for a period of time.

 

So if I'm understanding you guys it wouldn't really provide that much more protection against a dry start if I were to do this since I would still be cranking the motor without oil having circulated beforehand (like if I were to prime the pump manually)?

I forgot to mention before the car has been sitting for 6 months, changed the oil just before putting it away.

 

How so if the bearings and lifters are well soaked?


Jason

 

Question is... if it has been sitting for a long time how do you know the bearings are well soaked?

 

You missed my point.

 

If it's only been six months fire it up. Was it ran after the oil change? If not fill the filter then do it. We had a 388 stroker back up for our race car. Used it for several years, built a stout 355 instead and place the 388 on hold. When we pulled the 388 out two years later for use, the bearings still had oil on them. We primed it anyway, but it's a helluva lot easier on a gen I sbc!