Paul,
To the best of my knowledge, the oil-system is not air-tight,
therefore I doubt that removing the heads "broke the seal", so to speak.
The only thing that holds the oil under any pressure in the system (when
the car is off) is the flap-valve in the oil filter. If that is old,
worn, or just one of the many crappy oil filters on the market, it could
allow the oil to fully drain into the sump after a period of down-time
(or in seconds if it is a really bad filter), thus necessitating pump
repriming.
I would NOT try using the starter anymore, as it sounds to me that
you have zero oil pressure, which means metal-to-metal contact all over
your engine (esp. the main, rod, and cam bearings) and that each
subsequent turn of the crank is taking months off the life of your engine.
What you can do is remove your distributor, and cut the shaft off of
a long flat-head screwdriver (or buy some round-stock, and grind one end
like a flathead) and put it into the chuck of an electric drill. Insert
this into the distributor shaft and turn it by hand until the end of the
screwdriver shaft drops into the slot in the top of the oil-pump drive
shaft. Once its engaged, just pull the trigger on the drill to operate
the pump. If no oil moves through the system, you have one of three
problems:
1) The oil-system is blocked somewhere near the pump (either in the oil
pick-up tube, in the remote filter lines (assuming you have a remote
filter) or in the filter itself, or just after the pump while all the
oil is traveling in just one line)
2) You have a leak somewhere
3) The pump shaft has broken, preventing the cam/distributor (and your
new tool) from turning the gears of the pump.
There are probably several other possibilities that I'm missing, but
these come to mind, and are likely candidates.
Enjoy, and let us know what you find.
James J.
Telewest (PH) wrote:
>I'm in the middle of doing a top-end rebuild of my factory V8 whilst still
>in the car. I got the heads off and as part of many tests decided to check
>the oil flow out of the ports in the block. I spun the engine on the
>starter for what seemed like ages but no oil came out of either port and no
>pressure registered on the gauge. I drained the coolant (a relative term,
>since it seems impossible to get it out of the right-hand side of the block
>since there is no drain tap) but have haven't touched anything to do with
>the oil pump, filter, cooler or gauge etc.
>
>Comments? Could the removal of the valve gear have allowed the oil to drain
>down and empty the pump? Will I now have to remove the pump and pack it
>with Vaseline or otherwise prime it before I can get any oil pressure? I
>intend to remove the front cover hence oil pump etc anyway.
>
>TIA,
>PaulH.
///
/// mgb-v8@autox.team.net mailing list
/// Send admin requests to majordomo@autox.team.net
/// Send list postings to mgb-v8@autox.team.net
/// Edit your replies! If they include this trailer, they will NOT be sent.
///
|