oil pump priming

roule · Sep 25, 2024

Hi,
I don't succeed to prime my pump with a drill, even with the 2 pipes oil cooler full of oil . I checked the pump before, it was in the tolerance...i did not put jelley in the pump. i think to put 2 mre oil liters in the engine to help priming. does it make sense ?

roule · Sep 26, 2024

roule said:
Hi,
I don't succeed to prime my pump with a drill, even with the 2 pipes oil cooler full of oil . I checked the pump before, it was in the tolerance...i did not put jelley in the pump. i think to put 2 mre oil liters in the engine to help priming. does it make sense ?

It's a RRC 3,9 EFI engine...

Rangieman123 · Sep 26, 2024

Your pump could be full of air. You could try unscrewing the oil pressure sender and drilling slowly on the pump.

roule · Oct 12, 2024

Rangieman123 said:
Your pump could be full of air. You could try unscrewing the oil pressure sender and drilling slowly on the pump.

I did it, and i Put 2 more oil liters in the sump, i fill the 2 radiator pipes...and 1 minute drill (clockwise)...nothing

I will put again 2 more liters , too be sure the oil level in the sump is higher than the pump (gravity can help) ...before removing it...

discool · Oct 12, 2024

The oil filter should now be full of oil, but if no it up with with as much oil as you can without spilling it when refitting the filter.
But then 3.9 pump is supposed to be self priming, Ive never had any issues in the 23 years I’ve been doing oil changes when filling both the sump and filter before starting the engine.

roule · Oct 13, 2024

the sump plunger gasket may have slipped during assembly ?
I checked the gears clearance before setting the pump ...
Don't know what is the issue ...

roule · Oct 13, 2024

discool said:
The oil filter should now be full of oil, but if no it up with with as much oil as you can without spilling it when refitting the filter.
But then 3.9 pump is supposed to be self priming, Ive never had any issues in the 23 years I’ve been doing oil changes when filling both the sump and filter before starting the engine.

I already fill the filter before...

discool · Oct 13, 2024

roule said:
I already fill the filter before...

Ok, as I said the genuine LR 3.9 oil pump was described as self priming, with one of my oil changes I forgot to fill the filter before fitting, so on starting the dash illumination didn’t extinguish instantly, as it did normally, but remained for around 20 seconds or so.

My question is how do we know there is a issue, in the old 3.5 V8 days priming was mentioned a couple of times the procedure, but that was from the LR magazines of of the time and before internet.

roule · Oct 15, 2024

discool said:
Ok, as I said the genuine LR 3.9 oil pump was described as self priming, with one of my oil changes I forgot to fill the filter before fitting, so on starting the dash illumination didn’t extinguish instantly, as it did normally, but remained for around 20 seconds or so.

My question is how do we know there is a issue, in the old 3.5 V8 days priming was mentioned a couple of times the procedure, but that was from the LR magazines of of the time and before internet.

I bought a hydraulic gauge to check precisely the pressure...but still have to prime the pump before...

roule · Oct 20, 2024

I put 2 more liters , checked again the pump bolts; put some more oil in the cooler pipes (pictures)...and nothing !
Do i have an air gap somewhere after the pump ? Could i have an issue with the rocker arms ? If the oil is blocked somewhere, i should have resistance with the drill, i don't have . i still ask what could be the problem :vb-headbang:

roule · Oct 20, 2024

I'm ashamed...i use a 13mm socket instead a 12 mm (i was sure it was a 12mm...), so now the drill really crank the pump...and full of oil squirts from one of the 2 cooler pipe, probably the excess of oil (4 liters in excess) . Tomorrow i will get the good oil level and try to prime the pump...

roule · Oct 20, 2024

roule said:
I'm ashamed...i use a 13mm socket instead a 12 mm (i was sure it was a 12mm...), so now the drill really crank the pump...and full of oil squirts from one of the 2 cooler pipe, probably the excess of oil (4 liters in excess) . Tomorrow i will get the good oil level and try to prime the pump...

Good oil level...but pressure only in the oil cooler pipe...i put a bypass valve on it ...still no oil pressure in the block

norseman · Oct 21, 2024

discool said:
My question is how do we know there is a issue, in the old 3.5 V8 days priming was mentioned a couple of times the procedure, but that was from the LR magazines of of the time and before internet.

The OP has a problem never experienced by me with the ownership of one 3.9 & three 3.5efi's.
Just fill the oil filter as much as possible without spillage & screw on, oil light off within 5 seconds .. job done.

Hope his problem gets sorted.

roule · Oct 21, 2024

News: when i open my bypass on oil cooler exit, i have oil coming out , emulsified oil... that means that there's an issue with oil ways ? oil can't exit from the pump?
and something else i can't explain: no oil out at all from the pressure sender hole ! and no oil in the rockers .
My head gasket is a elring composite one, with holes for the oil ways...i wonder now if it could be my front timing gasket...
any suggestions ?

classic kev · Dec 5, 2024

Interesting. Not sure if this was resolved but FWIW.

As Discool and Norseman suggest this is odd. I agree, priming the oil pump should be easy. I did have one incident where I couldn't get the pump to prime, I tried the drill method, didn't work, I removed the sump and checked the pickup, no problems there, I put flushing oil in the engine as that is thinner, that didn't help either. After all sorts of other attempts to get it to prime it was having none of it.

A neighbour of mine at that time was a bit of a Land Rover fiend and was very knowledgeable. After seeing the problem and what I had tried, he said it was a long shot but it could be the filter. He suggested putting the old filter back on and trying again. After a quick bit of bin diving, I recovered the old filter and put it in place, put the drill on the pump and it primed immediately. So, perhaps your oil filter has a stuck or blocked return, it is unusual but not impossible. Try your old filter or perhaps another new one. I hope that tale from long ago helps.

oil pump priming

roule

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