So I wanted to prime my oil pump before putting the engine back in. Put the flywheel on, attached the starter, attached the starter to the battery... nothing. So something's suddenly wrong with the starter, great.

I'm not one to give up, so I decided to have a go at priming without the starter. I took out the oil pressure sender and loosened off the top oil line. Found a long bolt that fit perfectly into the hole in the flywheel - and started cranking. And lo and behold, it actually worked. Oil started coming out of the oil line, so I tightened that up, then it started coming out of the sensor hole, so I put my new sensor in.

Now, here's the q: How much pressure should I be able to get cranking by hand. I was getting about 60psi - that seems pretty high to me.

My pro setup:

Do the racing stripes on the engine match those on the car as well

On a serious note; Its cold viscous oil. On a warm engine it would thin and run more easily giving less pressure.

Mike

Yes the stripes match those on the bonnet (see my avatar pic)

That sounds good then, I was hoping I wouldn't need to pull anything back down again. The oil relief valve was moving free, so I left that as it was. Can't think of anything else that would cause it.

Just wondering why you needed to prime the oil pump ,have you just rebuilt the engine ?

Oil pump on a Mini is lots higher above the oil than on most cars.
If motor has been standing for a month or 3 I don't bother. But if it's been sitting in the corner for a year or 2, I prime the pump.
I fill with an oil can through the banjo bolt hole, turn engine backwards a couple of turns with a spanner, fill again, then put the bolt back in slightly loose and the oil sender out.
THEN I crank it with the starter. Tighten the banjo when oil runs out, replace the sender when oil gets to the hole and it runs out there too.

Why do I fill at the banjo bolt hole?
It leads down to the oil pump (as does the relief valve hole) but it's much higher up, so you can build a head of oil above the pump without it running out. No need to pull the relief valve out (in fact it keeps this oil in there, it can't run away).

_________________
DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

Hey Doc , yeah i understand all that , ( a great explanation for those that are not familiar as to how to do it ) . I've had to do exactly the same as you've described ,when in the earlier years of owning my car , i'd let it sit for extended periods and a couple of times it wouldn't pick up oil pressure .

To back up Doc's description , i did exactly that this afternoon. Because i dropped the engine oil out of my car last Sunday , and didn't get back to it today , just to be on the safe side i disconnected the oil cooler hose , and with an oil can , pumped some oil straight into the pump , when it fired up , oil pressure straight away, .

I was just curious as to why the engine had to be primed , ( may of been sitting for some time ? ) it sounded like the hard way to do it compared to the way that you have just described .

My gearbox spat the dummy, so I rebuilt it. Since there were bits and pieces of gearbox going through the pump, it would be a false economy not to replace it.