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440 loses oil pressure

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old hatt

Contributing Member
Maybe someone can tell me a quick fix for this situation. After an oil change or upon initial start up after being laid up for the winter my starboard engine (440) will have no oil pressure. I pull the pump and pack it with grease and off we go. Is there anything else that can be done to stop this from happening or something else that i could do rather than pulling the pump and packing it. Thanks
 
Same thing just happens to me. I think the quick fix is to pull the distributor and drive gear, insert a priming tool ( I made my own: 24 inch 5/16 hex rod and drive counterclockwise with drill motor. This primes the pump. From now on, I will be running engines more frequently.
 
That's the problem with external oil pump arrangements. (The old Buick 215 V-8 was notorious for that.)

To avoid this hassle, you might consider installing what circle track racers use: it's a quart reservoir of oil held under pressure. An electric solenoid opens on start up to prime the bearings. The motor then has enough oil to start up without damage, even if the oil pump takes a few seconds to prime itself. The reservoir recharges itself automatically when the motor is running, and the solenoid closes with ignition OFF to repeat the cycle.

Jeggs or Summit Racing sells them.


Jeff
 
old hatt said:
............ After an oil change or upon initial start up after being laid up for the winter my starboard engine (440) will have no oil pressure. .....................
Click to expand...

And it's not happening on the port engine? One pump looses prime and the other don't? What's different? Same oil? Same type filter? Are you filling half the oil filter when replacing? Rebuild/replace pump? Breeched pickup tube sucking air or plugged up pickup screen.
 
Yes, same oil, filter etc. I don't see any leaks but like Jeff suggested all it takes is a slight air leak. I will check that further. Does anyone think a new oil pump would possibly correct it? Could you introduce additional oil through filter port? Thanks everyone for your replys.
 
The B engine oil pump (being external) is simple to replace. A worn one after long period of non use could have loose enough clearances that suction may be lacking. I would get a quality, blueprinted high volume pump and see where that takes you. Relatively inexpensive and non invasive. Maybe reevaluate oil level in pan and type of oil used. Definitely change oil after running and try to prefill filter as much as possible. I run HV pumps in both A and B motors and have had no problems.

A quote from a published source...

[h=3]"When making recommendations to customers, I use the following guidelines. If the customer has a rear-sump oil pan—where the deepest part of the pan is toward the back of the vehicle—and the oil pump is in the front of the engine, with that big, long oil pump pickup tube in between, I would recommend that a high-volume oil pump be used."[/h]
 
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