>Can anyone offer some advice as a checklist of things to do before it's
>started - no problem with putting it back in - just want to ensure I do the
>right thing as regards priming with oil etc etc....
My own experiences and thoughts are that the engine is starved of oil at this
point, and is very unhappy that way, even with all sorts of startup lubes gobed
on the cam and such. So, I do the following:
1, Remove the spark plugs if they are already installed. This keeps
compression
to zip, and loads on the bottom end bearings to zip. Also makes it simply
easier
on the starter while cranking.
2, Loosen the rocker adjuster until they don't move the valves. On pushrod
engines I've even pulled the pushrods out.
3, Then, and only then, I crank, and crank, and crank. I then crank a whole
lot
more. On old motorcycles with kick starters this wasn't so bad.
I do this because oil flow into all those little tiny passages everywhere is a
whole lot slower and smaller then you would ever imagine. It can, and does,
take
a heck of a long time for oil to actually get up into the rocker and such. So
by
having everything rather stress and load free, it's not such a critical
problem.
Once I'm able to see oil dripping off *all* the rockers, I can be confident
I've
got oil up there, and am then willing to start stressing pieces by adjusting
the
valves until they actuate, actuate properly, and reinstall the plugs.
Oh yea, make sure you don't have a valve to piston interference problem before
you crank over on the starter motor this way. And, of course, if an engine
allows pre-lubing by spinning the oil pump, do that. But I still prefer to do
a
stress free cranking even after priming. While the pump may have gotten oil up
into the rockers, it still hasn't spread around the components like it will
when
those components start moving.
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