Thread: zero oil pressure ???

tried starting a rebuilt engine today, no oil pressure on the mechanical gauge.

history: the oil pump was disassembled and cleaned up and vaseline placed in the opening spaces to help prime the pump. the engine was reassembled oil pickup gasket, oring were installed. typical rebuild.

1st startup attempt, I disconnected the fuel pump and turned the engine over with just the starter in hopes to prime the pump. i estimate about 2 minutes. still zero oil pressure.

i called my friend and he said, i should just start it for a few seconds and if no pressure still, shut it down. so i did, it started up fine and ran made lots of scraping sounds and still zero oil pressure. it ran for about 30 seconds.

since its turbo, i disconnected the turbo oil line put it in a bottle and started it again... one thing i noticed is that I put my finger over the oil line for a lil bit and there was air coming from the oil line. shut it down.

took off the filter, no oil drained from the filter and started it again. no oil.

why dont i have oil pressure guys? (i did pour 4qts of oil in it lol)

cracked pickup tube? missing gasket? messed up oil pump?

i hoped you used some REALLY good assembly lube man, it might be too late to save this engine if theres been no oil pressures so far.

I'd take the lower pan off and check to make sure the pick up isn't smashed under it.

well i was using some permatex assembly lube on the bearing and cam journals. no idea how good it is.

i just found some old threads that suggested pouring oil into the filter section and spinning the engine anticlockwise to prime the pump.

im going to try that. i honestly think its fucked too. but im gonna see what the oil is like if the priming technique above works.

well i installed a dent free pan and there was no resistance whilst installing the pan so i dunno.

i'd def pop the lower pan an inspect the pickup tube / gasket man, and if you have a high port style filter location you might just try taking the filter off an putting a funner on the center section an pouring oil in that way, not sure if that'd work though but maybe worth a try..

yep will update ya. its rwd det but a hose and a funnel will get oil down the shoot just fine.

im 100% sure the gasket is there. i installed it with care. i remember the complex theory of sucking on a broken straw lol.

word, well hopefully you get it sorted man.. i wouldn't keep attempting any starts without relubing the bearings.

update... problem solved. engine was sat on the lower oil pan while it awaited installation in the car. being a s13 pickup, the pan crushed and completely sealed the pickup. there was an outline in the pan DOH!

so to repair, i dumped all the oil with the speckled shavings and got fresh oil. for the pickup I made it look like the s15 one (see pic).

huzzah! Congrats on the fix