New engine, cranking, not getting oil pressure

[E34-520iSE]

Hi Jon,
It took a while to put the oil light out when I rebuilt my M20. In fact it was spinning on the starter for so long I was worried that the lube was going to dry out. One the engine fired up thelight went off.

HTH,

Shaun M

[Paul in NZ]

god to hear that you are good to go Jon.A worrying interlude indeed!

edit,this should actually be post #9 :(

[Jon K]

Hey all - I just put my engine together and its all good to go, I have a VAC upgraded oil pump. I have the spark plugs out and I crank for maybe 8 - 10 secs to get oil pressure and I am not getting oil pressure. If I hold the key to about 10 secs I get a bit of a squeak/rattle almost like a cam turning without oil or something - I don't like the sound.

I filled the oil up and all, and I poured some down in the oil filter canister and watched it go down the center hole - i also filled the oil filter housing up some and depressed the spring loaded valve thing and watched some oil go down that.

What do I do?

[Ross]

If the pump wasn't primed with oil or Vaseline you will need to crank a long time befor any noticeable pressure builds. Don't know what the noise might be but if properly lubed during assembly there should be no worry. Maybe a cam chain tensioner?

[Guapo]

I made this rig for the VG30DETT motor, and you could probably make something similar for the M50. Although I'm not sure how you'd make an attachment with the M50's oil filter assembly:

http://www.twinturbo.net/nissan/300zx/forums/technical/view/1055430/Simple-rig-to-prime-your-oil-pump.html

[Jon K]

Ugh guys I dunno I feel sick to my stomach thinking I have something more serious wrong

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=990366

Anyone know what each port does? #2 and #3 are spring loaded. Not sure what they do but I pushed the one down and pulled the other up to get oil everywhere in the canister. #4 accepts oil, as does #1. My oil level is high in the pan now, about 1/8" over the top line on the dipstick.

[AngryPopTart]

Can you take the valve cover off and lube what you can of the lobes? You seem very worried it's the cam.

[Jon K]

Can you take the valve cover off and lube what you can of the lobes? You seem very worried it's the cam.

Yeah I am 100% it was the top end/cams. The head was near dry. I pulled the VC added about 3/4 of a quart on the top end of the motor. Had my mother crank the car while watching the oil level inside the cannister with the lid off, and saw it rise! This got me pumped, so I dumped some more oil in the head, sealed up the lid, cranked, bam, pressure!

[Jon K]

I unplugged my standalone ECU - but it took worlds longer than 30 seconds, which is what I've seen other people say too - its been a long time (if ever?) that I've had to turn a motor on with a brand brand brand new oil pump

[Ross]

Disconnect the return line from the turbo and keep cranking until you have oil there too. The bearing clearance there won't tolerate any starvation.

[Jon K]

Ross the feed is good on the turbo.

[ryan roopnarine]

a good rule of thumb with oil pumps is to disconnect ignition and crank for 30 seconds beforehand.