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MG MGB GT V8 Factory Originals Technical - Late model Rover- no oil pressure

I have a newly rebuilt engine with the late model front cover, serpentine drive, gerator oil pump. Apparently, the pump was assembled dry. In preparing to start the engine, I cannot get any oil pressure while turning it over with the starter.

Is there a way to prime the pump without removing the front cover? Forcing oil through the oil sender bung does not do the job. The front cover is equipped with fittings for a remote oil cooler (now plugged). Can oil be pumped into these openings to prime the pump?

All help will be appreciated. Note this is not the early style Buick/Rover front cover with the filter screwed to the external oil pump. I know how to solve that problem.

Jim
Jim Stuart

Jim,
Can you pull your distributor and fit a loose distributor shaft or purpose built oil pump prime shaft over the oil pump drive shaft and use a drill motor to spin the pump?

Mark
Mark Marchbanks

Mark-

It is possible on the early covers to buiId oil pressure this way, but only if the pump is already primed. It will not prime the pump.

The serpentine front cover, 1994(?) on is totally different than the early one. It has a different oil pump driven by the crank, not the distributer gear, & a different water pump. In fact, the engines after about 1996 had no distributer, they were crank fired. The cover I have is from a 1994 Land Rover.

I can spin the oil pump by turning the engine with the starter, but as the pump is apparently dry, it will not create the required suction to move oil & build pressure.

Jim
Jim Stuart

Jim
Your not going to want to hear this but when we run in to this problem at work.On engines with this tpye of oil pump,ie Suzuski 3,4,cyl,new Chevy V8s and some Buick V6s we always end up pulling the front cover disassembling the oil pump and packing it with vasoline.
This is because the oil pump is located above the oil level and will not self prime. I have a feeling you probably already know this though, but can't blame a guy for trying an easier way!!!!!!!!!

Bill bill_jacobson@hotmail.com
bill jacobson

Sorry guys! It has been awhile and I had forgotten that I did use the vaseline trick when assembling the pump.

Mark
Mark Marchbanks

Jim

I have the timimg cover of my Serpentine engine removed as I'm modifying to make the filter remote so it will clear the steering rack on a right hand drive MGB. Looking at the oilways it would seem that you wouldn't be able to prime by pumping through oil pressure sender hole without filling the oil filter with oil because thats where the oil you put in will be going. You could try the oil cooler takeoff on the side as that goes hozizontally to the pump as well as having a small hole down into the filter.

I've never tried it so can't say wether it would work .. in fact I'm grateful for your posting as I've now made a note to prime mine with vaseline before I re-assemble !

Geoff
Geoff Richmond

Hi Guys,

I too have the serpentine engine and was going to fit the earlier front cover with distributor.
What is involved to get the distributor-less system to work without using the fuel injection.

Cheers

Mark
Mark Rawlins

Mark

According to the RPI web site there are three versions of the Serpentine timing cover. Two are distributorless whereas one has the hole for the distributor (pictured at www.rpiv8.com/engine-6d.htm ). My engine uses the latter (its from a TVR but the same set-up was used for V8 Land Rover Discovery between late 94 and 98, and maybe Range Rover Classics of the same period). So my guess is that you would need the distributor version of the timing cover, the distributor drive gear for the cam shaft (hopefully not a camshaft as well but I don't know) and the right drive gear for the distributor. This is assuming that the timing covers are otherwise identical. Once you've done this you still have the problem that the oil filter base is cast into the timing cover and gets in the way of the RHD steering rack .. I've had to customise mine to allow a remote oil filter, but as the job is not finished yet I can't yet confirm whether this has been successful.

I've no idea whether you can just fit the earlier type of timing cover, water pump and pulleys. I wanted to keep mine engine as close as possible to its original TVR set-up so did not look into this. Having not seen both side by side I can't tell whether they fit identically to the block. I read somewhere that the oilways are different in the Serpentine engines. Perhaps someone with an earlier timing cover to hand can comment on the difference to the picture at the link above.

Geoff
Geoff Richmond

Thanks to all who contributed. As an update, I did get the engine primed without having to remove the timing cover. I removed the plug from the side inlet from the remote oil cooler & inserted a plastic tube so that it reached the oil pump. As I had a spare cover, I was able to insert & mark the tube so I was sure it was actually reaching the gereator, & not coming up short. I fastened the other end of the tube to a pump type oil can, filled the filter, & pumped away while a buddy ran the engine on the starter motor. Took about 20 seconds to get oil pressure. Put everything back right, started it up, got a fast 60 lbs of cold oil pressure. After warm up, 30 lbs of pressure at idle.

As to some other issues raised, the serpintine cover I have was from a 1994 4.2L Rover. It is a dead nuts fit to my 1963 Buick 215 block. I used the stock(almost) Buick cam & dizzy drive, stock Buick distributer. I have a set of custom March aluminum pulleys for the water pump & crank, using a Buick harmonic balancer, as the Rover set up was just too long. Besides, the aluminum pulleys look soooo
nice. We have also put the same set up on a 3.9 Rover.

As was suggested, the oil filter fouls the steering rack on a left hooker, would probably be worse on the wrong side as used in England. I relocated the rack to clear, as I had to shorten the shaft anyway, rubber bumper car, early crossmember. On the other project, rubber bumper car, stock cross member, a block off plate was installed to replace the filter, & the remote cooler lines modified to include connections for a remote oil filter under the fender, just behind the headlight. Remember, these are US cars, left hand drive.

Jim

This thread was discussed between 05/12/2000 and 15/12/2000

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