VW engine pre-oiling priming system

[oldredkafer66]

The other day I was looking for a way to pre-oil my new engine going into my bug. I'm an old American V8 mechanic, used to pulling the distributor out and priming the engine with a drill and homemade primer shaft. I didn't like the fact that you had to crank a VW dry with the plugs out until you got oil pressure. I've used oil primers years ago, many times before, on race cars. Sure, I could go buy one from a race car shop for a stupid amount of money but I had a brain fart and thought, why not just build one?! All that's required is a reservoir, a line to hook up to the engine and a way to charge the reservoir with air. I found an old stainless 2.5 gallon water fire extinguisher that had a inflater fitting and pressure gauge built right in. You can get these all day long on your friendly local auction site, used or new, just make sure that it's immaculately clean and you have a dry air system, and I mean dry! I just modified the hose with a barbed fitting and adapters that allowed me to hook it into my oil pressure port. I then filled it with the 4 quarts that my engine required, aired it up to 40psi and had my buddy turn the engine over by hand while I injected the oil, all while it was still on my engine stand. It may not utilize the pump but if you've greased your pump and pre-filled your filter (if you got one) all your oil galleries will be full, your bearing surfaces will be oiled and ready to go. It may be a bit "shade tree" but it sure worked. I fired her up to instant oil pressure and went straight into the cam break in procedure.

[darzoom]

Though I would love to type out the steps, the following URL is a good overall explanation of the break-in procedure. Know it starts at build time with the proper lubrication when assembling the engine.

http://www.aircooled.net/vw-engine-break-in-procedure/