no oil pressure

[baysailor]

I have been working on an engine that has sitting for a few years. I have pulled the head to check the valves and cylinder bore. I connected a mechanical pressure gauge to where the oil pressure sending unit was connected. I cranked the engine over to check the oil pressure. I have none. Does the lubrication system need to be primed after sitting for so long ? I did pump out the old oil and refill with new oil. I really don't want to take off the oil pan, the bolts are pretty rusty.

[joe_db]

It doesn't take much priming. I think you will be taking the pan off

[hanleyclifford]

It's worth a shot;

take oil pressure relief valve apart to see if maybe the cone or ball are stuck off seat and dumping all the oil back into the pan.

[romantic comedy]

take the oil pressure gauge off and see if oil squirts out when cranking. Do the same with the oil adjustment.

You could try finding a way to get oil into the system via the gauge or adjustment holes, just to experiment.

[baysailor]

no oil pressure

Thanks for the input. I've checked the relief valve, re-seated the ball, left the oil pressure gauge off, tried to squirt some oil in through the gauge and pressure valve connections. No luck. I'll have to take the pan off, hopefully the bolts will come out.

[Dave Neptune]

whoa

baysailor, first did you try cranking with the gage removed like Romantic suggested. This will tell you if the pump is working.

MOST important, when you were cranking were the batteries fully charged and the PLUGS removed so the engine would spin fast enough to be checking for something you "think" may be weak?????

It's a lot less work to be thorough than taking off the pan IMHO.

Dave Neptune

[baysailor]

Thanks to everyone for your input. After removing the pan I found that the oil pump filter screen was gummed up with old oil. After cleaning the screen and oil pan I had oil pressure.

[Vermonstah]

Well done, Baysailor. Thanks for the update.

I hope to never be in this situation. I don't even want to consider what a PITA it would be for me to remove the pan....