Shepherdguy
Junior Member
Okay, so I am having an issue with prepping for start up after doing a repair from my Hemi 5.7 camshaft/lifter failure. I tore the engine apart (in vehicle) and replaced the lifters, camshaft, water pump, oil pickup tube and tube o-ring, and oil pump. Engine rebuilding lube was used on the lifters and camshaft to aid in the turnover and everything was torqued to spec. The stock oil pump was replaced with a 6.2 oil pump with the pressure relief spring being swapped from my stock oil pump. Everything was put back together except the radiator and hoses (for now), and I hooked the battery back up with the fuel pump fuse still out. I hooked up a scan tool and brought up the oil pressure PID to check for the pressure build up while cranking; and during cranking, the oil pressure never came off zero. I double checked the oil pressure switch connector to ensure it was connected all the way and it was. I also brought up the oil pressure on the communication center on the dash and it also stayed on zero during cranking. I'm going to take a shot in the dark and say that this oil pump does not self-prime. Prior to cranking I had put about 6 of the 7 quarts of the oil in (5-20 full synthetic) and I also filled the new oil filter up with oil before installing it. As for a potential of the new oil pickup tube having not be hooked up to the oil pump, I am 100% positive that was not the case. I installed a brand new o-ring on the pickup tube and installed into the oil pump and torqued the bolt to spec, so no prime is the only thing I can think of. I believe that if I overfilling the pan with oil just to try and get the oil level up to the pump level, then the pump would prime and then I can drain out the excess oil, but I figured it would be best to check here as there are folks that have either experienced this already and folks that are more "technical" than I am. There has got to be a better way short of tearing everything off the front again just to get to the oil pump. And to get the oil pump back off, I would have to drop the oil pan again and remove the pickup tube. And to do that I would have to remove the cross member again. Hindsight being 20/20, I wish I had filled the oil pump with white molly grease or something. And advice on what would be the best solution at this point?