pgh Posted August 29, 2005 Share Posted August 29, 2005 Nearly finished the car now With the bank holiday I was hoping to use the full day to get the engine running for the first time. Filled with fuel this afternoon in anticipation, battery connected all ok, reversed the wiring for my Smiths gauges, disconnect the coil pack, turn the engine over and over and over and over no oil pressure Take out the blanking plug and squirt a load of oil in there, pressure shows for a second & then gone... Mark said I wouldn't see a lot of pressure registering on the gauge, but looking into the cam cover from the filler cap all of the gubbins look dry. I haven't got a spark plug tool so can't remove those to help the starter so I'll have to give up for today: failed - bother Feeling a bit fed up now so just wanted to share... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cidersurfer Posted August 29, 2005 Share Posted August 29, 2005 C'mon Paul. Chin up mate. I flattened two batteries cranking for oil pressure when I did my engine swap. What engine have you got? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pgh Posted August 29, 2005 Author Share Posted August 29, 2005 Chin is more up now, just annoying at the time! It's a Zetec - not brave / knowledgeable enough to go for anything exotic! Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter M Posted August 29, 2005 Share Posted August 29, 2005 I tried getting oil pressure initally with plugs in,then took plugs out filled oil filter with oil on second crank of engine 2 bar oil pressure.(Zetec) Peter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve20 Posted August 29, 2005 Share Posted August 29, 2005 It sounds basis but I was always told to fill the filter with clean oil before fitting as this will help you achieve pressure sooner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deano.1 Posted August 29, 2005 Share Posted August 29, 2005 Take the plugs oput and crank it! you'll soon have pressure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pgh Posted August 29, 2005 Author Share Posted August 29, 2005 Sounds like a plan, Halfords for me tomorrow lunchtime then for a plug removing thingy. Hopefully I'll be posting a vroom message soon Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pgh Posted August 30, 2005 Author Share Posted August 30, 2005 Plugs out now however, after much cranking this evening my battery is now nearly flat and no oil pressure Understand that filling the filter with oil is a smart move, although as engine is already full of oil, surely filling the filter would take the engine over max which would be bad? Just to make starting the engine even more of a pain, I was driven into whilst on a zebra crossing walking to Halfords to get the spark plug removing tool. The pregnant lady driver then proceeded to punch me in the head for "kicking her car" (she drove into my leg). Was hoping some oil pressure would make the day seem brighter! Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve20 Posted August 30, 2005 Share Posted August 30, 2005 Don't be concerned over the oil level as the filter capacity is neglible and won't make a difference to the reading on the dip stick. If you still can't reach pressure after cranking for more than a few minutes then there must be something wrong. My approach would be to charge the battery, fill the filter, remove the plugs, try again and if you still don't succeed go find a pregnant driver to walk in front of!. Seriously good luck ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pgh Posted August 30, 2005 Author Share Posted August 30, 2005 Thanks Steve. That leaves me a few more questions I'm afraid: What oil should I use for the filter - just cheapo 10w/40 stuff (assuming small amount will make little difference)? And did a search on this one, but no joy - What battery charger should I buy? I was going to pick one up from Halfords today but then remembered that the battery appears to be from a bike so grabbing a 'cars up to 1800cc' charger might not be very smart. Thanks again for all the help, Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stu999 Posted August 30, 2005 Share Posted August 30, 2005 New, rebuilt, or second hand? Definately fill the oil filter if possible (although on some engines this can be more fun than others...) If you can squirt some more oil into oil galleries, do so. Then just start it! Winding the engine over for ages on the starter is probably doing as much, if not more harm than actually starting the engine, and getting the pressure up quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pgh Posted August 30, 2005 Author Share Posted August 30, 2005 New from Westfield. If I open the filler cap and peer into the cam cover, there's only the tiniest smear of oil there, I'm assuming the cams should be reasonably well coated? Thanks again for all the help! Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blatman Posted August 31, 2005 Share Posted August 31, 2005 I have the same trouble on the Cossie. The last 2 times I've started it after a strip down I have done so without getting any oil pressure beforehand. Once it's running though, pressure comes up quickly enough, *and* I am careful to reassemble the moving parts with a liberal coating of oil so I can crank with some confidence and margin for (costly) error... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pgh Posted August 31, 2005 Author Share Posted August 31, 2005 Well the advice here and from the factory seems to be to just start it, so tonight I'm going to do just that. Wish me luck! Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Ashcroft Posted August 31, 2005 Share Posted August 31, 2005 Good luck I did just that and everything was fine!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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