The V8 Owners Forum -

Hi. I've reached the point of checking oil pressure before start up on a 4.6 Rover V8. The engine is in a P38 Range Rover and the engine is a Turner Engineering unit, complete with new front cover and gas flowed heads. We ended up sending the first front cover back as there was a crack in the case.

So today, with pretty much everything back in place I've cranked the engine without the plugs in, and the oil filter and sump full of oil (reading about 2 cm over max on dip stick). However, I can't get the pump to prime and there is certainly no oil moving around. I've removed the oil filter and cranked briefly, but no oil is moving anywhere.

The only point which may be an issue is that the engine points slightly upward at the front as I've put new engine mountings in. I was thinking I may raise the rear of the car to change this angle slightly? Is it worth doing?

Any other tips or tricks with this type of oil pump on this engine?

Hi. Is the front cover the 4.6 type or has an earlier cover with a dizzy been used?
Regards Denis

Hi Denis.

It's the crank driven oil pump with the later front cover.

The later front covers can be a problem as they only really work at speed.
some people what put oil in via the pressure switch entry, this can help.
Also if you are using the remote oil cooler, you could reverse feed oil via one of the hoses. you could use a cheap drill driven pump.

The 3 engines I've built with latest front covers have primed one they have fired. just keep an eye on the gauge and if you get nothing in 2-3 seconds shut it down.

Thanks for the reply. I've actually used a mityvac unit to pump oil back into the oil gallaries via one of the upper bolt blanks. I do have the engine oil cooler and I've read a couple of posts saying it may be possible to reverse the engine so oil from this point can find its way back down the sump pickup to remove any air in the pump area.

I'll try that in the morning.

Well called Richard Turner this morning and he said best way is to start engine to 2,000RPM and wait 5 seconds for oil light to go out. Worked perfectly, so many thanks to Turner Engineering. Thanks guys for the thoughts.

rich998a wrote:Well called Richard Turner this morning and he said best way is to start engine to 2,000RPM and wait 5 seconds for oil light to go out. Worked perfectly, so many thanks to Turner Engineering. Thanks guys for the thoughts.

Well I did say this is what most people say, plus what I have done on my 3 engines. without a problem, but it does make your nervous.

Just wanted to add my recent experience/comments to this...
I thought before trying to start my newley built 4.6 with crank driven oil pump I would crank it to get some oil pressure. Well cranked it for a couple of seconds and nothing, checked my gauge and connections and all seemed ok.
Called it a night and had a quick search on here and found this thread saying you need to start it before it would prime/build up pressure.
The next day fingers were crossed tightly , I cranked it with everything conected, would you believe it started within two rotations didn't take my eyes of the oil pressure gauge.... didn't seem to move for the first second, then off she goes oil pressure came up in a couple of seconds, I didn't actually note where it finished up as I was rather excited but I think it went past 50psi.
Now to bed-in the cam.

Thanks guys,
Tom.

I made a catch tank with an inlet at the top and outlet at the bottom, filled it with oil and piped the bottom outlet into the oil pressure switch fitting with a bit of clear hose. Then attached an airline (low pressure) to the top of the tank and blew about a litre of oil in to the engine through the clear hose, pulled the pipe off and quickly fitted the pressure switch. As soon as she fired pressure was straight up

I got the idea from someone else but can't remember who!

topcatproduction wrote: I got the idea from someone else but can't remember who!

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