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I finally went to start my s5 keg in the FB today and started by pulling the oil filer off and letting the starter turn the engine to build oil pressure. I tried for hours but never saw anything hit the filter pedestal. I removed spark plugs, poured oil into the filter neck directly, and disconnected the front oil cooler hose at the cooler until I saw oil dripping out when I poured up top. Based on other posts I found here I also spun the engine backwards a few times by hand after that. Unfortunately I still have no oil coming up.
So... is there anything else I can try before I bite the bullet and pull the front cover off? This is my first ever rebuild on a rotary and it's possible I forgot a woodruff key on the oil pump itself. I built it in the fall and I honestly don't remember if it was there or not.
If I do pull the front cover, will I have any issues if I don't pull the oil pan? The engine hasn't been run and all parts are clean, so I'm guessing the front cover gasket will not be stuck. I'll just have to scrape and redo RTV in the front of the oil pan.
Here's a picture of the current state of my project: S5 block in the GSL-SE with FC subframe
i had one like this, it just refused to prime, and i pulled the top oil cooler hose off (at the cooler) and poured oil in there, which goes to the pump, that did fix it. if not i guess you need to pull the engine and see what happened
i had one like this, it just refused to prime, and i pulled the top oil cooler hose off (at the cooler) and poured oil in there, which goes to the pump, that did fix it. if not i guess you need to pull the engine and see what happened
You did the top hose, the one that goes to the rear iron? I did disconnect the bottom one already but didn't directly fill it, but it's the bottom hose that goes to the front cover that I read about disconnecting. It's possible the GSL-SE hoses and cooler I'm using are different too
Well, just thinking out loud.... there’s a o-ring on the front cover that’s different for S4 - S5 if you have the wrong one in there you lose oil pressure. Search it.
It might be be possible to get the front cover off while motors still in the car... something to do w propping the clutch pedal engaged as to not drop the front assembly’s bearing.
Dont quote me. But I’m sure this will give you some good reading on the search. Or even maybe how to diagnose if the wrong o-ring was used w out pulling motor. ...????
I have an S5 front cover and used an S5 rebuild kit that contained the larger teflon O ring. I'm >99% sure that part is right. I'm far less certain about the oil pump key. Now that I know my oil cooler is hooked up backwards I wonder if the pump is just sucking up air from the top of the cooler and never picking up the oil from the bottom though, so I'll try swapping those hoses and adding oil to them directly before I get to that point.
My question about pulling the front cover without removing the oil pan is really about whether it'll cause an oil leak at the pan later. I'm reasonably confidant I can get it apart because nothing is baked on
with the one i did, i pulled the top hose off the cooler, and just held it up and poured oil in it, and then turned the engine by hand until it did something. if you crank it with the starter, and it does start working, the oil will go very far!
After disconnected the oil cooler hose going into the front cover and filling it to the brim with oil, I could turn the engine by hand and see it drop an inch or so at a time as the oil was sucked in. It definitely had a lot of air trapped in there. After that I used the starter and it didn't take very long for oil to come out the filter pedestal. Thanks for the tip about filling that hose directly. I was very close to pulling the front cover off my new engine...
One thing I'll note is that I don't think my oil cooler lines are actually backwards. This is a GSL-SE oil cooler and GSL-SE hoses hooked up to an S5 block, and if I try to swap the hoses so the front cover hose goes to the bottom bung on the cooler it doesn't reach. Putting the rear iron hose on top also causes a weird crimp in the line. I'll double check with the first gen forum but I think I had it right.
sweet! its really odd to have one of these air bound, i've only had the one do it...
front cover hose goes to the top of the cooler, the long hose goes to the bottom, if you're using the stock cooler and lines, i'm not sure you can get it wrong?
Yeah you definitely can't mix up the hoses. Maybe I read a post somewhere that said to fill the lower hose with oil and it got me thinking they were backwards. After rereading these comments I think I just got confused.
Top hose -> front cover; bottom hose -> rear iron, on an FB GSL-SE or an FC.
I've only done a few rotary engine builds, but one extra step I take prior to 1st start up is to hook up a mechanical oil pressure gauge to the rear iron banjo bolt (I have a spare banjo that is tapped to accept a 1/8NPT fitting), and crank the starter with fuel & ignition disabled to prime the pump. It typically takes a solid 5~10 seconds of cranking before you see pressure on the gauge if you're starting with a dry cooler & lines.
