[1616]

I am trying to prime the oil pump in a SBC 350. I am using a distributir shaft with the gear ground down. I am turning it with a corded Dewalt 1/2" drill. As I am turning the pump, very little oil is coming out through the rocker arms. I am only geting oil on one side. Does that sound normal? Should I tear the motor down and investigate?

 

[Jim_Lou]

By the time oil gets all the way to the rockers it's got to be everywhere in the engine. I think you're good to go.

It is strange that you only have oil at the rockers on one side, but top end oiling is so indirect that I wouldn't worry about it. If there's still no oil there after the engine has been running for a while, you may have a problem.

What is the pressure gauge or light telling you?

 

[1616]

Thanks for the reply Jim. I am goign to check the oil pressure. If the pressure is good I am going to put the motor together and run it. If the pressure is bad I will replace the pump and recheck. One thing I should add is, the motor is not a rebuild. It is a used motor that ran when I bought it.

Thanks again.

 

[Manifold]

I may be a day late on this. Anyways, I built my own primer as well and experienced the same thing on a used SBC. I had great oil pressure, so I wasn't too concerned. What worked for me was to run the drill for several minutes until I saw oil coming from each pushrod. My little, and on its last leg, drill doesn't spin at the rpms that the motor would experience on a cold startup. So it wasn't too surprising that it took several minutes to get oil through each pushrod.

 

[Randyzzz]

I use a high rpm 3/8 drill on my pre-luber, and it will take up to 10 mins before I get a full oil flow at times. Be patient, let the drill run longer.

 

[1616]

Thank you both for the replies. I have let the drill run longer this time and I am getting good flow up to the driver side bank but still nothing on the passenger side. I am going to pull the pan and see if the pump is clogged. I am also going to pull the manifold and see if I am getting any oil to the passenger side lifters. If all checks well then I am going to put the motor together. If not the person I bought the motor from said he will get me another motor if need be.

 

[Randyzzz]

Pump's not clogged, or you wouldn't be getting any oil flow. So don't bother dropping the pan. A question-What are you using as a pre-lube tool? I only use an old distributor with the gear ground off, as part of the lifter oil galley is open to the distributor housing passage. A screwdriver or a rod will not allow seal this passage and oil pressure to the lifters will suffer. Maybe that's your problem. I believe the distributor seals the oil passage for the right hand galley-that makes sense.

the only other thiong I can think of is a galley plug behind the timing cover my have popped out, but that's highly unlikely.

Let us know...

(Edit) Ok, I re-read your first post-looks like you'r using a distributor shaft after all. Is the sealing surface directly above where the gear was in good shape? Was it nicked or grooved when the gear was ground off? This has to be smooth and a snug fit in the block for the right hand lifter bank to pressurize. Was just checking my "Chevy Power" manual, p90-it concurs with this....

 

[1616]

Thanks for the help. I put a gauge on it and got 20 PSI. I pulled the manifold, lifters and push rods. I out the drill on it and saw that there was plenty of oil at the galley at the distributor hole and the first few lifter bores. I am comfortable that the galleys are not plugged. I am going to replace the lifters, push rods and oil pump as insurance that nothing is clogged in the valve train. Thank you to all who replied.