Priming the oil pump on a flathead

zoegrant

zoegrant

Well-known member
With the oil pump in the oil pan on a flathead 59 a/b engine, there is no way to prime the oil pump, correct ??
 
Nope, it can (and should) be primed prior to new start up. There are various ways to go about it. One is to pull the plugs and spin the engine with the starter.
 
WE usually pack the oil pump with light grease, but sometimes I forget. So I remove the oil sending unit from the top , or the plug if it has one and pore in some 90/140 gear oil. Put it back together and "OIL Pressure"
 
zoegrant said:
With the oil pump in the oil pan on a flathead 59 a/b engine, there is no way to prime the oil pump, correct ??
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Prior to installing the oil pump I first put oil into the oil pickup hole in the pump then I spin the pump shaft. This puts oil on the pump gears which greatly helps gain pressure. Then when its time to get pressure up I remove the oil sender or any oil line on the top of the block oil passage location and using an oil squirt can I pump oil into the oil passage I always use the same weight oil that's in the oil pan. I pump in oil until I see the oil fil this passage. Next with the spark plugs removed spin the engine over it should spin just fast enough to get oil pressure quickly.
Ronnieroadster
 
I used to use a pump from a 250 falcon six.

It has a hex drive shaft from the dizzy.

Made a flex pipe from pump to oil sender and dunked pump in a can of oil and spun it up with a cordless drill.

Full oil pressure right thru including back to the stationary engine pump.
 
A small funnel sometimes helps to force feed the pump with a small hose attached. I made a pressure pre- lubricator from a Hudson pump up sprayer and cut the metal spray rod end and threaded it to accept a busing for a 1/4" pipe thread. added oil pumped it up and shot the pressure to it while the engine was being spun with the plugs out. This was a have too situation , My shop was two days out and I had a friend who bought a re-con engine and it would not oil. The new sprayer was about 10.00 to 15.00, a heck of a lot cheaper than ruining an engine, and may be the sprayer could be used again if you do much engine work. The sprayer didn't react to the oil, we used to use them to spray diesel without a problem , I would use a light oil to pressure prime, only if you go the pump up sprayer route .
 
I used a paint pot I got at a yard sale. Dumped the oil in the pot and hit it with air pressure. An old time automotive machinist I know used to use a converted brake pressure bleeder tank to do the same thing. I've also heard of using a garden sprayer and pumping by hand to pressurize prior to start.
 
I usually pack the oil pump with some of my heavier assembly lube (what I used on the bearing shells). Another option is to pack the pump with some light 'grease' like good ole' Vaseline.
 
I've heard that Vaseline is good, because it will "wash" out of the pump quickly once the oil gets flowing. Personally, I don't see how it could make that much difference.
 
I just did the exact process on a 1936 LB motor. I just used a tube type suction gun, put a barbed fitting in where the oil sender fits and pushed in two pints of oil, The oil pressure came up very quickly.
Dave T
 
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