A copy & paste from another forum. I'm not familiar with this any added info would be appreciated. It's on the 1996 F engine.

you need to "prime" the Oil pump.
I know that you stick a drill with a 5/16 socket onto
the Oil Pump Shaft (Big Allen shaft) under the Vacuum
(Distributor?) cover and spin it until you get pressure.

it's the best way....make sure you use a 1/2" drill...you'll smoke a 3/8".....takes a lot of power to turn an oil pump...

Ok, I don't have a clue.
Does anybody have any referances or links? Preferably with a picture.
Thanks

there is a round plug like in the back top of the engine( looks like a distributor hole on a gasser) and if you remove the hold down bolt and strap....pull it out...thats the oil pump shaft drive gear..... then you stick your made up shaft in drill and put it to the end of the pump shaft and hit the drill....

OK, in one place it says 5/16 socket in the reply ghitch implies that it would be a 5/16 square drive such as I made out of a piece of 5/16 key stock for another application.
Please clear my befuddled head
Thanks

you can not do it correctly without building something that seals up the cavity for the lifter galley around the oil pump drive. If you prime one of these engines with just a shaft you will see oil pouring from one side of the lifter galley down the hole back to the oil pan, while the other side goes without pressure.:)

So how is it normally done?
I'm pretty sure on our last long block we just started it and let it run. It's got about 300,000 miles on it now. How big an issue is this?
Thanks for the info Grape.
Could you share some more knowledge with us? We need to ne edumacated.

you can not do it correctly without building something that seals up the cavity for the lifter galley around the oil pump drive. If you prime one of these engines with just a shaft you will see oil pouring from one side of the lifter galley down the hole back to the oil pan, while the other side goes without pressure.:)

good to know.... never done it with a 6.5.... was just thinkin' it was the same as a gasser...:eek:

thanks for the info:)

Place three quarts of the fresh oil you will use to start the rattling device in here

http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_10001_10002_745635_-1_11591

Send that fluid with this contraption into the motor via the oil pressure switch port - switch it out and back to stock configuration (expediently) - then start er up!

I used to not replace the OP switch on gas small blocks - I just lit er up and watched to be sure the lifters were sending a generous supply of lubricant into the upper valve train. Not ez to do on our motors and or you have to "hot wire" the lift pump.

If I can't get to the oil pump, I will leave the glow plugs/spark plugs out, disable fuel and spark and crank until you have oil pressure. Can take anywhere from 10-30 secs. If longer, let the starter cool for a few minutes and try again.

Could pressure lube it. Take the oil sending unit out and apply lube oil under pressure. I fabricated a an oil pressure unit out of a hydraulic pump and an oil reservoir to check bottom end clearance issues in motors. You could conceivably use one of those small pumps that work off a drill to Pre-lube a motor. You don't have to do the old distributer method if you have a knack at building up a pressure lube system. You could also pressure lube with air pressure if you had a suitable container that will hold pressure and oil.

Ok, since I am planning to add an FS-2500 I was already intending to install a Tee at the OPC to feed the bypass filter. Could I use my grease pump to pump oil if I attached it to what would be the filter feed line?

I think I also have a hydraulic pump here someplace. That should produce adequate pressure.

OK, maybe this is a dumb question but I always thought there was no such thing. Why wouldn't you need to prime the pump after an oil change? Is it because of the residual oil still lubing the parts until the pump pulls in the new oil? Would denying the engine fuel and GP heat not prevent non lubed combustion damage?

OK, maybe this is a dumb question but I always thought there was no such thing. Why wouldn't you need to prime the pump after an oil change? Is it because of the residual oil still lubing the parts until the pump pulls in the new oil? Would denying the engine fuel and GP heat not prevent non lubed combustion damage?


You don't have to prime the oil pump after an oil change but the filter is empty. Some fill up the filter to reduce the lack of oil flow time. In all fairness, I don't think I've ever seen or heard of a motor wearing out due to oil changes. I've had many of my engines apart over the years due to other isses, lol and no bearing wear. I think its just marketing bs.

good to know.... never done it with a 6.5.... was just thinkin' it was the same as a gasser...:eek:

thanks for the info:)

Actually it is the same as a Chevy gasser, and Grape is still right. For the Chevy gas engine V-8's I have an old distributor that has the camshaft gear lathed off at the bottom and the top has also been lathed down so I can fit a 1/2" chuck/air drill onto it.

It has been a while since I did a 6.5. If I remember correctly we used a hollowed out 6.2 tach drive and a hex shaft with a socket welded to the end in the same manner.

If you are not able to create a housing for the oil pump primer do this:

Get a buddy to run your shaft/drill setup for you. At the same time turn the engine over with a swing bar. With the valve covers off you should watch for oil flow up through the pushrods to the rocker arms.

Starter cranking the engine with the injectors or glow plugs out is the next best way of priming the engine, and it may be a good idea anyway when you consider the volume of oil the cooler has anyway.