Engine rebuild on 39 Desoto not getting any oil pressure or fuel

[desoto1939]

A friend of mine just rebuilt the engine for his 1939 Desoto. he install a high performance New oil pump. He took the outer cover off the end of the Oil Pump and saw that it was backed full of grease.

 

They tried to fire up the car but are not getting any oil pressure and or gas up to the carb.  He knows that there is oil in the pan and gas in the tank.

 

Question: Does he need to prime the engine and oil pump and what does he need to do to prime the engine and oil pump.

 

Any and all help is appreciated.

 

Thanks,

 

Rich Hartung

Desoto1939@aol.com

 

[D35 Torpedo]

You always prime an engine.....pull the dist and turn the pump with a drill. Put dist back in and crank it till the gauge moves. Make sure that the distributor is actually indexing with the pump. 

[Sniper]

3 hours ago, D35 Torpedo said:

You always prime an engine.....pull the dist and turn the pump with a drill. Put dist back in and crank it till the gauge moves. Make sure that the distributor is actually indexing with the pump. 

 

That won't work.  The drive gear that turns the oil pump and meshes with the cam gear is attached to the oil pump shaft, not the distributor shaft. 

 

Since both the oil pump and the fuel pump are driven by the cam, one has to wonder if the cam is moving?  Pull the distributor cap and see if the rotor rotates as you crank the engine.  If it is then the cam is moving.  If not, you got issues.

 

Pull the carb top and fill the bowl with gas, as for priming the oil.  You could rig up a garden sprayer as a pressure priming tool and prime the oiling system via one of the oil gallery plugs that run along side the drier's side of the block.

 

[keithb7]

I too filled my oil pump with grease at rebuild time. I expected it to easily prime with oil pan oil. It did not. I pulled the oil pump and put it in a bucket of oil. I turned the drive back and forth by hand a couple of times. Reinstalled it and it worked great. Apparently grease isn’t a guarantee it’ll prime. 
 

Re fuel to carb: could be many reasons. Earlier info on the pump and recent engine work is not known to us. We can guess.  I might start by putting a vacuum on the fuel line where the bowl float valve is. Suck until fuel arrives there.  No fuel?  Work back from there looking for a hose kink, plugged flex fuel line near rad. Pick up screen in tank etc. 

Edited March 4 by keithb7

[39Al]

Thanks Guys,

I'll clean the grease out and prime it with oil.

[Jerry B]

It is impotent to completely submerge the whole pump in oil. not just priming. If you don't the shaft will cease in the bushings.

[keithb7]

No need to remove any of the grease in there. Just submerge it as is in the oil, and turn it by hand. 

[FarmerJon]

2 hours ago, 39Al said:

Thanks Guys,

I'll clean the grease out and prime it with oil.

 Check out the write up that Tony Smith did about these oil pumps. 

 

 

[Hickory]

What snipper said. I packed my pump with assembly lube and took a plug out of the oil galley by the dizzy and pushed oil through it. But diffidently check to see if dizzy is spinning. Put fuel in the carb by pulling the top. But i like cranking it without it starting till i see pressure on the gauges so i did the carb after alot of cranking.

[desoto1939]

Update from my friend with the 39 DeSoto.

 

As per all of the input from everyone and i forwarded it to him. They primed the oil pump and reinstalled the pump and was able to get oil pressure and gas up to the carb.

 

Thanks for all of your help for my friend that lives near York, PA.

 

Rich Hartung

Desoto1939@aol.com