Engine Nube. Reman with no oil flow.

Hey guys I am not a regular on but i am an avid XJ fan in need of some major help. I have spent the last 2 days trying to get the reman in my 96 XJ running and running right. After much fooling with the timing i finally got it to start and idle. But after idling for only a minuet or so it starts to squeal and stalls out. i pulled the belt and checked all my pulleys and found that the alternator was in rougher shape than i remembered so i replaced it and tried again. Same thing starts great runs great for 60 seconds then starts to bog down and stalls. Watched the oil pressure and it is not reading anything at all. So i pulled out the sending unit and it was bone dry not even a drop of oil on it or the adapter it screws into. i haven't pulled the filter yet but i am assuming that it will be the same. Oil pump is new, came with the reman, but could it be bad? How can i test the oil pump? what else can i check? any an all help is welcome

Most people take a steel rod, flatten one end a little so it fits in the distributor shaft slot. Put it in a power drill and turn the pump over that way. I'd do it with the filter off and see what happens. It is going to be messy. Or maybe with the sending unit removed and see what comes out.

Oil pumps don't move air well when they are dry, you can usually get them primed with the rod and drill trick.

I've never done a *Jeep* reman. I have replaced a Jeep oil pump. I always take the cap off the oil pump and pack it with Vaseline, then use the electric drill trick.

Try turning your motor over by hand, using a socket and ratchet on the harmonic balancer bolt. See if it is really stiff. They turn over moderately hard by hand, but not excessively so. If you can't get the motor to turn with a half inch drive ratchet and using one hand something is likely wrong. Try not to slip off the bolt, it can be hard on your knuckles, don't try to turn it so hard you snap the harmonic balancer bolt off.

Hopefully your main bearings aren't toast or too tight. I've seen reman motors where the mains were too tight from the initial setup, they don't last long.

No oil pumping when the motor is running is really bad. Hopefully you didn't run it very long.

Best case scenario is your oil pressure sender or gauge isn't working and your problems are something other than the motor trying to seize up.

did you install the oil pump?

usually you can prime it like 8mud says, but sometimes they just won't.

In that case, pull the oil pump, pack the gears with vasoline or grease, reinstall and then prime with handdrill.

video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-v4rk0sTo20

No oil pressure can also be a symptom of cam bearings that were not installed correctly.

I gave the hand drill trick a go and it worked perfectly engine now runs properly. I had tried on another forum to get info on what i should do before starting my reman and what to do after starting but no one had anything to tell me so priming an oil pump was not something i knew about.

what brand of reman. engine did you get?

I've never seen a company that sells an engine without some "instructions" for installation.

Usually, the first warning on the sheet covers voiding the warranty by "wiping" the rear seal from lack of lubricant, and how to prime the oil pump in order to ensure that doesn't happen.

Prime the pump with a large flat head screw drive cut off and chucked in to a drill.

Even if the cam bearings were installed incorrectly you still should have some oil pressure.

Get a mechanical gauge and replace the stock sending unit with it temporarily.

Check under the front cover and make sure that the front oil galley plug is there, behind the cam sprocket.

If the engine shut down from lack of oil there may be damage already.

There are a few checks you can do for common install issues on the oil pump: http://www.jeepstrokers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=2671