Easy oil prime?

[Hubert]

I am finishing up a coupla weeks or 3 of a repair job including new oil cooler, lines, remote filter, rear seal, clutch etc. I'll fill the filters full of oil on install but the cooler & lines are going to be dry plus upper engine and turbo have probably drained oil too.

I think I should pump oil around a little first before cranking. I don't have any special oil pump drive tool and am thinking of unplugging my remote mounted FSD and spin her over, rest starter, and repeat a couple of times before cranking.

Is this a good idea, not required, or is there another good trick?

[Barry Nave]

Good ?
I thought our oil cooler was a By-pass system,don't know. I've known of a few that have done this and just start it up,watching oil psi build.
Full psi system,then does the oil get cooled before going to the main areas?

[grape]

take the glow plugs out, just like spark plugs on a gas engine to relieve stress on the rod bearings if they are dry.

[Hubert]

I don't think my bearing are dry I haven't taken the engine apart only dropped the pan and cleaned it. Its just that its sat for several weeks now and I know oil has drained down some and I am going to add several cubic inches of dry volume to the system.

I think I will try and pour a little oil in the cooler and lines and do the fsd trick.

For anyone else:

Rear port or port closer to the flywheel is oil from engine to cooler. Front port is return from cooler as I understand it.

I found this in the helms book FYI.

A gear type oil pump pressurizes the oil with an enclosed pressure regulator. The oil pump uses bushings in the gears and a plate support the gear shafts. An oil pump drive operates the iol pump. The oil pump drive is driven by the camshaft.
The pump draws un-pressurized oil through a pickup screen in the oil pan. The pump pressurizes the oil distribution system. ... The oil flows from the pump to an oil cooler. The oil cooler bypass valve protects the oil cooler from high pressure during cold ambient temperature start up. The bypass valve is in the engine block oil galley to oil cooler passage. Next the oil flows from the cooler or the bypass valve to a full flow filter. The oil filter also has a bypass valve too. The oil filter bypass is located in the block above the filter. From the filter or bypass the oil flows to the mail oil galleries. An oil pressure sensor is located on the left main oil gallery. Oil flows from the main galleries the camshaft bearing bores. The channel in the camshaft bearing bores supplies oil to the camshaft bearings and to the main bearing oil galleries. Oil flows from the channel in the upper main bearing shells to the holes for the piston spray nozzles. The piston oil spray nozzles are pressed into the block. The oil flows from the upper main bearing shells to the connecting rod bearings. The oil then flows from the main oil gallery to the turbo. Oil from the turbo drains back to the crankcase through a gallery in the block.

Adlibbed and copied from 1997 C/K Truck Service Manual Book 1.
Published by North American Operations GM Corp. Warren MI. 48090
1996 info dated 5/29/96