a few thoughts for you...

I recently revived a dead '91 tsi awd, and I had fears of what you describe. Here are a few of my thoughts:

1. oil lines hooked up correctly? Did you make a closed loop anywhere with that new oil cooler? Double check...
2. is your oil pressure gauge hooked up right? double check...
3. is your oil pump gear ok on the timing belt? nut tight?
4. did you remember the oil pump strainer and NEW gaskets?
5. are there any oil leaks?

I doubt you hurt anything at 100 rpm for a minute or two.

Just my $0.02..

 

The oil cooler is hooked up right. I got some speared banjo fittings and used the stock banjo bolts when i plumbed up the B&M oil cooler. The oil filter is also bone dry. The engine is still full of oil, i have no leaks from the oil pan, which is the only place the oil has been so far..

I guess i need to pull the oil pan and check the pick up, but how the hell would i know if it were clogged or something? This is a JDM engine that was shipped here from Cali. Is there any way to squirt some oil or air through the pickup so i will able to tell for sure if there is a blockage somewhere?

 

Tear it back down to the timing belt, TDC it, and remove the timing belt. Use a socket on your electric drill to spin the oil pump sprocket clockwise to prime the oil pump. That way you will know for sure if your oiling system is working before you go tearing back into it. You won't build real good oil pressure just using the starter, it doesn't spin fast enough. The electric drill method works pretty well.

Also, if your oil cooler is thermostatically controlled, it won't have oil in the lines until the oil reaches thermostat temp for the first time (usually somewhere around 140*F). A 90 oil filter housing has a 140* thermostat in it for the oil cooler.

The oil filter being dry is pretty odd. How long were you cranking it for?

 

I did 6-7 cranks all about 10 seconds each. And yes...the oil filter being dry freaked me out. I'm going to pull the oil pan to check the pick-up. Then i'm going to submerge the pickup in oil and spin the oilpump with a drill to see if that works. If not, i may just set my car on fire.

 

The way around that problem is to pack the oil-pump with petroleum jelly in the first place *smack*
Save ya a lotta time and trouble.

Did anything while you were inside there?

Like a BS eliminator kit?

The pump WILL NOT prime itself , and the drill trick is an old muscle-car trick , but it may not work on these cars , the oil -pump is setup differently.

 

The drill trick works on DSMs, I and countless others have done it before. There's nothing special about a DSM oil pump. You don't have to pack it with grease or petroleum jelly, just spin it up with the drill before you put your timing belt on, and it will prime itself. Everyone thinks you have to stuff a ton of grease in the oil pump because the VFAQ guy said so. All you do is spin it with the drill for 20-30 seconds, then go about doing your timing belt install and getting things ready to fire up.

If you're doing it with the motor on the engine stand, you can prime it on the stand with the drill. You just have to use a good oil filter like a Mobil 1 that has a good anti-drainback valve so the oil stays put while you install the motor.

Honestly before you pull the pan off I'd try the drill. As long as you have a new gasket on the oil pickup tube (with NO RTV), and the bolts torqued down correctly on pickup tube, front cover, etc... I doubt you'll find anything when you take the pan off. I'd try the drill first, but it's your car.

Also, I forgot to mention that when I rebuilt mine, I didn't have the oil system put together yet when I installed the t-belt, so I couldn't use the drill trick. Cranked it for 30 seconds total (10 on, off, repeat) then put the MPI fuse in and started it. You won't see the pressure increase on the stock gauge, but you're just trying to give the oil a head start. When you put the motor together you should have oiled everything liberally to avoid startup wear.

 

This is a JDM engine that was shipped here from Cali.

Did you take the motor apart to look at it and do the timing belt while the motor was out? Maybe it's just a loose oil pump gear, worst case senerio bad oil pump?

My question: Shouldn't the oil pump be primed already if it was a used JDM motor?

John

 

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My question: Shouldn't the oil pump be primed already if it was a used JDM motor?

John

We tore it down and put it back together, good thing too. There was a bearing that was getting eaten pretty good.

 

We tore it down and put it back together, good thing too. There was a bearing that was getting eaten pretty good.

Sorry getting late,dumb question. Did you use the old oil pump when you put it back together?

John

 

your car can run at idle for quite some time. when i put in my engine, i just started it. after 3-4 seconds, it built pressure. I didnt give it any gas, just let it idle. so....do it my way, which is probably no worse on your engine than 10 oil changes, or do the drill method.

 

Im gonna do the drill method. Unfortunately it'll be this weekend before i can try it due to work and Thanksgiving. Believe me, i'll keep you all updated, b/c once i get this baby running, i'm gonna have tons of tuning type questions, ha ha. Thanks.

 

your car can run at idle for quite some time. when i put in my engine, i just started it. after 3-4 seconds, it built pressure. I didnt give it any gas, just let it idle. so....do it my way, which is probably no worse on your engine than 10 oil changes, or do the drill method.

Also depends on what kind of lube you use when assembling. I really don't believe in using assembly lube on 4G63s (not through personal experience, but I've heard stories from people who know what they're doing). I just drown everything in Mobil1 10/30 when putting it together. Cams, journals, bearings, everything gets a bath in the good stuff. What you're shooting for is that you get a thin film of the synthetic oil in there to protect until oil arrives from the oil pump. Syn will do a better job of staying in there where dino oil will get pressed out when you torque the caps down.

The drill method is absolutely fool proof though and is the best way to do it.

 

Okay, i finally got to take everything off and spin the oil pump with a drill. Yet again...no fucking oil was moving. I tried it with the oil filter off too just so i could see if even a trickle came out. I know the balance shaft is spinning b/c the engine was moving a good bit. SOOOOOO I guess i gotta start tearing shit apart now. I guess i should start easy and take the oil pan off....but what the hell am i going to be looking for? I know if i see the pickup laying in the oil pan that will be a pretty good giveaway,...but i doubt thats gonna be the culprit. Help me!

 

help

 

Your oil pump might be shot. Better get a new one just in case.

Saber!...!...!
=oP

 

My best wild-ass guess is that the car is at some radical angle with the fronts or maybe just the drivers front or drivers side only jacked up & the oil pan pickup is partially over the oil sump level & sucking air so it can't catch a prime.

Drill running the correct direction?

Could the oi pressure relief valve stuck open & cause a failure to prime?

I did forget to put oil in a car one time - caught it when that IDIOT lite came on - HEY there Mr. Idiot.

 

Found it! I pulled the oil pan and found nothing, so i pulled off the oil filter housing and the holes were about 80% blocked off with RTV from when my "masta mechanic" uncle was helping me. I've pretty much had to redo everything he touched so far. i

It was pretty funny, i took the oil filter housing off, tried the drill thing again...and got a FACE FULL OF OIL!! I'm talking a stream like a cow pissing! LOL...it was great.

 

I'd be whooping me some uncle a$$

He coulda cost you a new engine.

Probably already have some bad main-bearing damage

 

O.... M.... F.... G.... can I beat your uncle with a balance shaft? Please?

Hope your motor is OK. You might want to pop the bearing caps off just to check it out while you have the pan off. At least you could get a look at the bottom bearing halves, and the crank journals. Enough of a look to see if you damaged anything cranking with no oil. The starter is pretty low speed, but still no oil is no oil.

Also, if he assembled anything else in the oiling system (front case, oil pickup tube, oil pump), I'd take it back apart just to be sure. RTV in any of that crap is bad, mmkay?

 

Its an X-tremely rare occasion when you'll have to use RTV on these cars. The parts fit together VERY well , and most times I've only used a little copper-spray to seal things up.....even on the oil-pan.

RTV is for the American cars....where the parts fit together so badly you can see light under them even when torqued down TIGHT.

Most of the manuals even warn AGAINST using RTV because it can block the smaller oil passages in the engine , such as the one's for the piston-squirters


Tell your uncle to go back to zzzz

 

Yeah, he is a mainly an American mechanic, but he said he has a good bit of experience with foreign cars like toyota and such. I just primed the engine again, and the oil light went off....should i still pull the front case off? I really dont' want to...i'm tired of laying under this damned car. I plan on eventually taking the b-shafts out, so i'll pull the front case then. The pickup didn't have any Ultra Grey sticking out from the gasket so i dount he used any there.

 

Unless he put the front case on..........I wouldn't worry about it.

Ultra-Gray is some craaaaaappy stuff. Its just too gooey.

I've used it to make a TB gasket B4...and it worked

 

Car running now, good oil pressure, yay. Note for future engine builders.....don't use RTV sealant on the filter housing!!

 

Also, if your oil cooler is thermostatically controlled, it won't have oil in the lines until the oil reaches thermostat temp for the first time (usually somewhere around 140*F). A 90 oil filter housing has a 140* thermostat in it for the oil cooler.
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I found this to be untrue I just rebuilt my motor installed a 90 oil filter housing and air/oil cooler. When I went to prime the engine with a drill oil came pouring out the oil cooler Holes on the filter housing. OIL EVERYWHERE

 

This is a great article, but i want to add in, how are us 90 guys suppose to use the drill method when our engine is on a stand in the garage? I don't really want this to have this oil cooler just hanging there while Im trying to prime the engine, I guess there's no other way to do it though.