Engine Pre-Oilers, Worth It?

These kits are made using what looks like heavy duty marco pumps. I've used such a pump in order to prime my rebuilt engine, it worked great: I could see 3kg of pressure on the dashboard. A permanent install is more tricky (the oil pickup design is challenging) , but I will probably have a look at it: our cars can remain in storage for several months in winter and I already have the pump, so why not? If the car is driven on a regular basis, this is probably useless.

If you do want to make your own kit, avoid the cheap chinese pumps like the plague: i had only trouble with these.

 

Don't know about the pre-oiler (do you have a link?), but that TR start-up was just terrible/poor -- definitely not "normal" for a properly tweaked-up TR running on both banks initially.

 

I have always seen more issues with pre oilers due to leaks and electrical issues then they were ever worth. I have two clients with 512TR over 100k miles. Not sure what the point is.

 

I can see a pre-oiler and heater needed to fire up an old radial engine with seriously heavy oil requirements. But on a road car? Not even remotely necessary.

 

Pointless with today's good synthetic oils.

 

On our long engines, some journals do receive the oil later than the ones that are next to the oild feed. On my 400i, it can take some time before the (1.6m!) chain receives all the oil it needs.

Unlike the more recent engines, installing the pre-oiler is simple (there is a hose between the pump and the engine block). So pre-oiling could make sense.

This being said, for now I kill the ignition, cranck the engine untill the idiot light goes off, connect ignition again and that's it for taking the car out of winter storage.

Originally I was removing the dinoplex connector, but I have now installed a heavy duty switch which makes it easy. The switch has to also kill the thermo-time switch and cold start injectors, as I noticed, the car would complete the pre-heating delay before I actually crank it.

 

You should also make sure the injectors are not squirting fuel into the cylinders, otherwise all the unburnt fuel washes the oil off the cylinder and dilutes the oil.

This can simply be done by disconnecting the fuel pump fuses.

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Billions of cars without pre-oiling seem to be working fine. There is no load on the engine.

Revving the engine near top RPM before the oil is FULLY warmed up is very bad however and many manufacturers now limit RPM until the oil gets up to full operating temperature. That is oil and not water temperature that may get up to temperature in just a few minutes. The oil should be in the 200F range before revving it up. This is something in your control without add-ons.

Ali

 

Just to add a recent personal experience.

I had the timing chain of my 412 out of the car, it laid in the shop for over two weeks. I then placed it underwater for a full day with soap (the idea was to try to clean it to use as a souvenir), but it was VERY difficult to remove the oil from the chain. The oil sticks/bonds very well with the metal surfaces.

Only with a strong solvent was the oil removed from the chain.

 

On very high strung race engines (358 V8, 900hp) I would use a drill and spin the dry sump pump while using an oil heater on the oil tank. The engine only gets fired after we see some temp movement on the oil temp gauge. That is needed because the clearances are set to run with temp. Street cars are not like that. I see no need on street cars that are driven even if they sit for r few weeks. On cars that I work on that haven't run in many years, I will spin they with the fuel pump fuses out until I see oil pressure, then fuel it and fire it.
Pre oiler on a street driven car is a waste of money. Surely there is another $1500 upgrade you would enjoy more.

 

You don't have to spend $1500: see the rebadged Gavarino pump (black photo), next to a 211€ original marco pump (diagram):

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Even if it's used on seldom occasions a pre-oiler makes our life much easier: On the old colombo, you just disconnect the oil cooler, remove one argus fitting, connect the pump on the hose, push the 18 litres of oil the car deserves and no guess work: you won't damage your newly installed journals. On the newer cars, you could fill the engine through the oil pressure sender.

If you feel the electric pump is overkill, you could repurpose a cheap garden spay and achieve the same: https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/cylinder-head-gasket-searching-advice.619195/page-2#post-147157492 (Riffledriver's tip).

So no need to spend $1500 in order to pre-lube an engine.