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No oil pressure
Shooter63 - 7/6/20 at 05:25 PM

Zetec turbo
I've been trying to get oil pressure up on the starter motor with no luck, the funny thing is I did a couple of months ago, I've tried pumping oil up the oil filter hole while turning the moter backward with no luck hoping it would re-prime the pump, I've got a horrible feeling I'm going to have to drop the sump and take the sod off, unless you fine gents have a better idea.

Shooter


rusty nuts - 7/6/20 at 05:32 PM

What engine? One thing you can try is cranking the engine with no oil filter, a couple of times I’ve had oil pressure problems on VWs, one with a brand new engine , taking the filter off was the only thing that worked


Slater - 7/6/20 at 06:30 PM

I suggest: Leave the filter on. Take the spark plugs out so engine spins quicker, then remove the oil pressure sender unit from the block, fill big syringe with oil, squirt it down the sender hole using some plastic tube, quickly wind in the oil pressure sensor and then give engine a good crank. You should see some pressure after 5 seconds of so.

I've had to do this twice on my Zetec and it's worked. Think it helps prime the oil pump and the quicker cranking helps suck oil from the sump.

[Edited on 7-6-20 by Slater]


rusty nuts - 7/6/20 at 07:17 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Slater
I suggest: Leave the filter on. Take the spark plugs out so engine spins quicker, then remove the oil pressure sender unit from the block, fill big syringe with oil, squirt it down the sender hole using some plastic tube, quickly wind in the oil pressure sensor and then give engine a good crank. You should see some pressure after 5 seconds of so.

I've had to do this twice on my Zetec and it's worked. Think it helps prime the oil pump and the quicker cranking helps suck oil from the sump.

[Edited on 7-6-20 by Slater] [/quote

Both of the VW engines I had problems with were running , one had been left with the sump plug out for an hour l, on changing the filter which was primed and refilling the sump the engine wouldn’t prime. The second was a genuine VW reconditioned engine which I had cranked with no plugs in for ages, on both of them I removed the filters and cranked them over until oil came out of the filter housing, refitted the filters and had oil pressure straight away. I suspect modern oils drain from the pump etc a lot quicker than older oils


rj - 7/6/20 at 07:54 PM

I had oil priming issues on my Kawasaki ZX12r engine, I solved it by lightly pressurising the sump via the breather hose while cranking, worked a treat, cant see why it wouldn't work on a Zetec, or anything else


r1_pete - 7/6/20 at 09:33 PM

Pump oil into the pressure gauge/sensor take off port, it'll fill the galleries and prime the pump.

Turning the engine backwards will have emptied the pump and galleries.

[Edited on 7/6/20 by r1_pete]


Shooter63 - 8/6/20 at 05:28 AM

Thanks for the replies, I'll take the turbo feed pipe off the turbo end, fill it with oil and blow it down with compressed air to see if that works, if not I'll try the oil filter off method, if that doesn't work, it's a sump off job then

Shooter


r1_pete - 8/6/20 at 08:51 AM

quote:
Originally posted by Shooter63
Thanks for the replies, I'll take the turbo feed pipe off the turbo end, fill it with oil and blow it down with compressed air to see if that works, if not I'll try the oil filter off method, if that doesn't work, it's a sump off job then

Shooter


Dont use compressed air that will blow the oil right through....

Use a pump oil can, seal it against the port as well as you can with rubber/plastic hose, pump until the can is very difficult to pump, leave it a few minutes and repeat, then refit your turbo feed and crank the motor.


Mr Whippy - 8/6/20 at 11:53 AM

this all seems very excessive, why can you not just spin the engine over with the plugs out and a fresh battery?


r1_pete - 8/6/20 at 12:53 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Mr Whippy
this all seems very excessive, why can you not just spin the engine over with the plugs out and a fresh battery?


Sounds like the oil pump has dried out, if he's spun it backwards that won't have helped, the pump needs wetting with oil..


Shooter63 - 8/6/20 at 06:34 PM

quote:
Originally posted by r1_pete
quote:
Originally posted by Shooter63
Thanks for the replies, I'll take the turbo feed pipe off the turbo end, fill it with oil and blow it down with compressed air to see if that works, if not I'll try the oil filter off method, if that doesn't work, it's a sump off job then

Shooter


Dont use compressed air that will blow the oil right through....

Use a pump oil can, seal it against the port as well as you can with rubber/plastic hose, pump until the can is very difficult to pump, leave it a few minutes and repeat, then refit your turbo feed and crank the motor.


Ok I'll give it a crack

Shooter


Shooter63 - 13/6/20 at 04:57 PM

Just a quick thanks to all you guys, I pumped as much oil down the turbo oil feed hose as possible, gave the engine a good crank and got the engine up to 20psi on the key, just one more fuel hose to connect up, 10 litres of Tesco 99 and it's ready for the initial fire ( fingers crossed)

Shooter


r1_pete - 14/6/20 at 12:02 PM

Great stuff, these pumps are great at pumping oil, but will not pump air when dry to create the suction needed to draw oil up the tube.

Hope all goes well with the 1st firing....