Oil Pump Spring?

[David T]

That's what assembly lube is for. When I build an engine I use it on the cams. As for priming, you can fill the motor with oil as per C:10:02. I would also agree to remove the spark plugs, put a mechanical oil pressure gauge on and crank it til you see some pressure. I also recommend 1 quart of Marvel Mystery Oil added to the oil for the break-in period and dump it after 500-1,000 miles. If you have new cams there usually is a break-in procedure. The manufacturer should state it on a card in the box. For example; for the first 20 minutes of engine operation maintain 2,000 RPM's. Do NOT use synthetic oil for break-in. You want the friction so the parts will wear and condition themselves. If you can, get racing motor oil with a high zinc (ZDDP) content. As for oil pressure, the "correct" oil pressure sender is NOT correct. It is not calibrated properly to the gauge. There is a substitute that will give the proper readings. Because the oil filter is sideways it is not possible to fill the filter with oil before installing.

[Bertone80]

Wow! Thank you so much, Ron. That makes perfect sense. I have wondered if there is an oil outlet from the oil pump that feeds oil into the oil filter. Filling oil into the outlet will prime the pump obviously. I could not find that outlet until I saw your post. I could not see that hole still. But when I stick a finger there I found it. Will try to fill oil into there tomorrow. Once the engine is fully reassembled I will crank the engine without firing as you suggested. I should see oil light on the dash going out. Thank you so much again, Ron.

[DMC-81]

I think you are saying to prime the oil pump with assembly lube. I have heard of such before but wondered how this is done. Is it by taking apart the pump (4 bolts) then fill up the space inside the pump then reassemble it? Just want to make sure it is done this way, or else.

The reason I ask is because I have been working on resealing the liners and reassembling my B28F engine of my Volvo Bertone. Hope you guys don't mind a Volvo guy kind of getting all the know-how and wisdom from the Delorean group here. I have completed the reassembling of the liners and torqued the heads down. I have also reassembled the timing chain cover and torqued the crankshaft pulley. Then I realized that I should have primed my oil pump before this last step. What a mistake!

I can loosen the pulley and remove the timing chain cover and prime the oil pump. But can it be done in a different way? There is a plug on the top of the engine located right beneath the water pump. Can I fill oil into the hole by opening up the plug (it's a large screw)? I already tried it. The oil quickly flowed into the oil filter through the center tube. So the oil did not really flow into the pump. Looks like this will not prime the pump.

Any recommendations? I hate to have to go back to tear down the timing chain cover. Thanks a lot everyone!

Sorry, I'm not referring to using assembly lube to prime the oil pump. They were separate thoughts.

1) Use assembly lube when building the engine to minimize wear on your new or cleaned parts until the engine oil starts circulating after the first start. Use it on crankshaft, rod, and cam bearings, and on tappets, lifters, and cam lobes. You will want to at least oil the liners and rings. On the DeLorean, there were no cam bearings, but we lubed all lobes and the bearingless holes in the head where the cam rides. Basically you don't want any dry metal to metal friction.

2) Prime the oil pump before firing the engine for the first time. Oil pumps are driven differently depending on the engine design. For example, on my V8 Magnum, I removed all spark plugs and unplugged the power to the injectors, before turning the engine over several times with the starter to get the oil circulating. (The oil pump is driven off the crankshaft with a gear). Then I replaced the plugs and fired the engine for the first time.
As another example, on a small block Chevy, because the oil pump is driven off the ignition distributor, I used an old distributor to make a drill driven motor to manually turn the oil pump with the drill. Then I replaced the real distributor and fired the engine.

On the DeLorean, I would remove the spark plugs, remove the fuel pump fuse, and turn the engine over several times before initial fire, then replace the fuse and plugs and start the engine.
You can do this with the Volvo engine, substituting any changes in configuration for the Bertone.

Edit: or do what Ron suggested.

[Bertone80]

That's what assembly lube is for. When I build an engine I use it on the cams. As for priming, you can fill the motor with oil as per C:10:02. I would also agree to remove the spark plugs, put a mechanical oil pressure gauge on and crank it til you see some pressure. I also recommend 1 quart of Marvel Mystery Oil added to the oil for the break-in period and dump it after 500-1,000 miles. If you have new cams there usually is a break-in procedure. The manufacturer should state it on a card in the box. For example; for the first 20 minutes of engine operation maintain 2,000 RPM's. Do NOT use synthetic oil for break-in. You want the friction so the parts will wear and condition themselves. If you can, get racing motor oil with a high zinc (ZDDP) content. As for oil pressure, the "correct" oil pressure sender is NOT correct. It is not calibrated properly to the gauge. There is a substitute that will give the proper readings. Because the oil filter is sideways it is not possible to fill the filter with oil before installing.

I am reusing my cams and rocker arms. In fact I am reusing just about everything except seals and gaskets. MY B28F engine has 89k miles only. It ran great before coolant found its way into oil one day. I parked the Bertone sadly since 16 years ago. I could not afford Volvo dealer's quote for repair. The cheapest independent shop I could find wanted $3k back then and I did not even know if they know much about the B28F engine.

So I drained the coolant and oil. Filled fresh oil then parked the car ever since. I did start the engine once a month or so for no more than 30 seconds then shut off and disconnect the battery. Now that the virus forced me to stay home I decided that it's time to DIY to reseal the cylinders. I checked the head gaskets and found them not to blame as I was told 16 years ago. When I pulled the cylinders evidence of rotten seals was so clear. I did the complete cylinder resealing job. I am at the final reassembling part of the job.

So I think my cams and rockers do not need to be broken in.

[Ron]

+1 David, except you do not want to maintain any RPM during the break in period -- That is bad for new cams (and cylinder walls, since it can create ridges...).
[No card?: 2000 RPM+ varying up and then down should be OK.]

...
So I think my cams and rockers do not need to be broken in.

Yeah, the FWIW was just in case -- Not worth much to you here.

[Ron]

...
As another example, on a small block Chevy, because the oil pump is driven off the ignition distributor, I used an old distributor to make a drill driven motor to manually turn the oil pump with the drill. Then I replaced the real distributor and fired the engine.

LOL Totally OT- Way back when, the first time I tried to prime a SBC, I used a large flat head screwdriver in a drill extension. I about had a heart attack when I saw that oil was only getting to one side of the engine. After peering into the hole, I finally understood what that little grove around the base of the distributor was all about. (I still have the same doner distributor...and set of 327 valve covers with the tops cut off ;-)

And now, back to our regularly scheduled program...

[Bertone80]

When I was much younger and knew little about engine I screwed up in one rebuild of a beetle engine. It happened exactly because I did not prime the oil pump and I started the engine up. I had all my attention on the engine in the back end of the car and the dash was in front so I did not see the oil light remain lit for more than a minute. Until I began to wonder why the engine was so noisy I saw the oil light. Too late. A set of new liners/pistons were ruined. This is why I am very careful about priming the oil pump for my B28F project this time.

I guess it won't hurt if I let the engine going at 2000 RPM as if I were breaking in the cams when I start the engine as long as the oil pump delivers pressure to the oil. I am waiting for a new water pump so it will be some time before completing the project.

Thanks a lot to everyone's help.

[David T]

On some engines it is absolutely essential to prime the oil system. The motor doesn;t get oil till the oil pump primes, fills the oil filter and then pressurizes the oil galleries. Could take a while and the assembly lube would not be enough. On a lot of engines (not the Delorean) you remove the distributor and, using a tool you turn the oil pump with a drill. Cranking the motor will not get enough pressure to turn off the oil light. Get a mechanical oil gauge and hook it up for the first run.

[Bertone80]

I finally completed re-assembling the engine, primed the oil pump successfully following Ron's suggestion, filled coolant and oil then started up the engine. Wow, it idled like a dream. Oil pressure was up quickly so the way to prime the oil pump worked beautifully. All the work in 6 weeks I finally see hope on this engine. Now in a week or so I will see if coolant stops leaking into oil which was the problem that caused me to park the Bertone for 16 years.

Well, starting it up after the reassembling wasn't without some struggling in finding coolant leak in a couple of places though. I had to dismantle again the intake manifold, fuel distributor, fuel lines and vacuum lines to find where the leak was and reassembly all that back together. It fixed one leak but then there was another one. Finally two days of work and the leaks were all eliminated. I had to replace two Volvo OEM clamps. Despite they are Volvo OEM with Volvo logo on them they are no good. No matter how hard I clamped them down they still leaked. After replacing them with two new ones the leak stopped. The new clamps are thinner and more flexible and obviously the flexibility of the metal makes a huge difference.

The Bertone (1980) has 89k miles on the engine and there was hardly any wear I could see when I took the B28f apart and inspected it. So hopefully this engine will last me another 100k miles down the road.

[Bertone80]

This is just a update to my recent B28F engine restoration project.

I have had the engine filled with oil and coolant then started up. It idled very well and have had reached the operating temperature numerous times. It's been about a week. So far, the oil level does not increase and the coolant level does not drop. So I guess the work is successful I guess. The original problem was coolant leaked into oil almost 20 years ago. I replaced the head gasket twice back then but the leak persisted. I think the DMCTalk community did not exist or I wasn't aware of it back then. I parked the Volvo Bertone ever since. Finally I gathered all the courage I need to DIY the correct fix by dropping the engine, took it apart and reshimmed the cylinders. The work could not have happened if I have not learned all I needed to learn from this community here. Many thanks to DMCTalk for saving my B28F engine.

Looks like it works. I will find out it it continues to work in a few weeks to celebrate for the success. I still need to adjust the idle, the air/fuel mixture in order to pass smog check. Now I am not really in a hurry...