I suppose I should have asked this before I got to far along but it is what it is. Just finished rebuilding my first 3vze and have it all installed and put in the truck. Filled with oil, pulled the plugs, removed EFI fuse and started cranking to prime it up. I've been cranking for several minutes with breaks. No oil pressure. Installed a manual gauge in place of the factory sender and still nothing. Pulled the filter, no oil in it, then filled it up and installed it back on the block. More cranking and no pressure. Guess I should have packed the pump with assembly lube but my understanding was it wasn't necessary.

Short of me tearing the whole front end apart to remove the oil pump does anyone have any ideas? It looked like all the galley plugs were back in from the machine shop. Pump Installation was straight foreword, lined up with crank and installed the new o ring on the pump housing to block and new gasket for pickup.

Of course like an idiot I filled up all the fluids (Coolant) before priming the system but I didn't expect it to be an issue. Really don't want to take it all apart but I have got to get this thing going ASAP.

 

The only thing I can think of that might help is to fill the filter as much as you can, put it back on and keep cranking. I would think it's that or tear it back down. Then again, maybe run a hose from the pressure gauge/sender port up high to a funnel and fill that up with oil. It's going to make a mess though I'd bet.

 

I tried pouring oil down the oil pressure gauge tube but its so small it just wouldn't flow. I'm thinking about getting a garden weed sprayer and making a pre-oiler out of it tomorrow. Basically forcing oil into the block through the oil pressure gauge port. It should push oil into the pump and to the bearings. I'm afraid if I keep cranking this thing anymore I won't have any assembly lube left on the bearings. That should work right?

 

That's a good idea.

That should provide some oiling to the rod and main bearings. Might well even prime the pump. Good luck!!

 

Kenai, are you in Kenai Alaska?

 

Akwheeler,

No, I am in Idaho but I used to spend my summers up there. I'll actually be going back for a week this July, its been over 10 years since I've been. Great news and bad news. I made a pre-oiler by using a bug spray bottle and some fittings. I filled it up with a quart of oil and pressurized the system via the sending unit port. I had oil pressure within 5 seconds of cranking. Put it all back together and it fired right up......except sweet smelling white smoke is literally pouring out of the exhaust! No way I have a bad head gasket, I just finished the rebuild and everything was machined and torqued to spec.

I can't imagine a bad head gasket producing that much smoke on a fresh rebuild. I wonder if I got something hooked up wrong and am dumping coolant into the intake.

 

I just did a coolant pressure test and found a little leak at the heater valve but no drop in pressure. Did a combustion leak test with the chemical testing on the radiator cap and no problem indicated with combustion gases in the coolant. WTF! Still can do a leak down test but if I had a failed head gasket that produced this much smoke I can't imagine I wouldn't see it when pressurizing the cooling system. Double checked my coolant lines and I dont see anything hooked up wrong. Any ideas?

 

Just did a leak down test and everything looks great only 10psi drop on each cylinder and I only hear it in the pan, nothing in the radiator. I wonder if there is water in this gas?

 

how long did you run it? before you started the rebuild did it blow a head gasket? Maybe the exhaust was filled with coolant before and you just need to get it up to temperature and blow it out? I'm from the Kenai area but I work out of town and going on vacation in July. Have a nice stay and leave lots of money like a good tourist!

 

Ha, I'm probably the poorest tourist. I'm just hoping to stock the freezer. So, the truck belongs to a friend. I called him to say the truck runs great but blows a ton of smoke. He said it did that before he had me rebuild the motor, he assumed the head gasket had blown. When I tore it down the motor was real wore out.

There is water dripping from the exhaust, maybe I should drill a hole in the muffler to see if anything comes out. Has anyone ever had an issue with the throttle body leaking into the intake? Seriously, the smoke is nuts and if you rev the engine it's billows out like a steam engine.

 

with all of the pressure testing you did I would say the proof is in the pudding, if you aren't loosing coolant it must already be in the exhaust, and it doesn't evaporate very well. you could drill some small drain holes and tack weld them back up after you verify there's no more liquid.

 

I always like to follow up when I finish the project. The exhaust was full of coolant from the head gaskets blowing. I drilled to holes in the muffler and watched it stream out. Ran it for another 5 minutes and it cleared up. As a side note I got a Code 52 on its maiden voyage and it lost all power. I did replace the pigtail for the knock sensor when I did the rebuild but was having fits thinking about a bad knock sensor or even the new wire. I did some testing and it ended up just being a poor connection between the knock sensor pigtail and the harness. Sweet!

 

Good Job!!