Oil Pressure from Hand Cranking

[John P]

I have a 2-bearing spit & hope engine which didn't show any oil pressure after being unused for several months.

I've replaced the pressure relief spring & ball and also fitted new springs in the oil pump.

Nothing actually looked obvious although there was a small patch of what could have been rust on the relief valve ball.

I've put the engine back in the car but before adding all the ancillaries decided I'd try hand cranking it to see if there was now any oil pressure on the 0-10 psi gauge which there wasn't.   I did disconnect the feed to the oil pressure gauge at the crankcase and after some fairly brisk hand cranking oil did start to flow from the fitting.

Would you expect a measurable pressure from hand cranking or should I re-fit everything so I can try running the engine?

John.

[Colin Morgan]

If all is well with the engine, removing the spark plugs and turning the engine over on the starter should show some oil pressure?

["Slack Alice" Simon]

Do you know the gauge works?

If oil flows from the crankcase connection, then there IS pressure.

My gauge has the nasty habit of sticking at zero, and since the car runs at a normal 1 - 2 psi, I sometimes have to rev it to be sure the zero isn't really zero.

[John Cornforth]

Hi

I suspect that hand cranking will do more to raise your blood pressure than engine oil pressure ! Cranking on the starter motor (with plugs removed to give it an easier life) might eventually get the pressure up with cold oil. There isn't an awful lot to go wrong with the setup, as long as drive is getting to the oil pump and there are no gross leaks.

I don't want to teach Granny etc but the drawing in the Pubn. 1218 parts list on page 6 is misleading, the paper gasket goes between pump and crankcase, not between pump cover and pump.