ASSEMBLY LUBE?

[illinilefttackle 399]

B) Hey Fellas- I thought I would ask, being a Kohler newbie. Over the years I have used STP as an assembly lube on car engines, even before there was such a thing as assembly lube. I use oil on the rings,piston,etc, but for bearings,lifters,cams-I like something a little sticker and slipery than just oil. What do you guys use?

By the way, I still do not have my bearings from Brian Miller. He may not get them himself til the end of this week! I could have gotten them right off the shelf hear locally-but didn't even realize it! If he doesn't have them in soon, I'm telling him to send my money back to Pay Pal so I can buy them here.

Don't think I'll order there again. I can't recall ever having as much of a problem with Machining, lost parts, back ordered parts in my life-I guess that means this is really going to be a sweet running engine when it's done.

Thanks-AL

[TT-(Moderator) 1,127]

I have never used anything but the HD30 oil that will be used once the engine is together. If the engine sits for a while before the initial start-up, I always pull the spark plug, squirt a little oil in the cylinder area, and turn it over a little before "lighting the fire".

Reminder:

Make sure you oil the camshaft pin well before installing the camshaft. 20 seconds or less of running it dry will result in a catastrophe! B)

[Curmudgeon 28]

I've always heard, and used, the oil that's going to be used in the engine. Nothing mixed up into who knows what kind of mixture that way.

[linen beige 14]

I use assembly lube or high temp grease in pressure lubed multi cylinder engines when putting them back together (oil only on the rings). Oil can run off the parts and leave them essentially dry. The oil pump washes the lube away as the pressure comes up. What little bit is there is either diluted or settles to the bottom of the pan. Splash lube engines can't wash the lube away and it can actually "cook" to the part and PREVENT good oiling! I use 30 or 40 weight oil on smaller, non pressurized engines. Again, there is not enough there to change the viscosity to any harmful degree.

[BPjunk 184]

I do use assembly lube when rebuilding a engine or transmission, the lube makes sure there IS lubracation in the need places when the engine is first started.

After the rebuilt engine is started it is run for 5 minutes then the oil is changed (head bolts also get rechecked for proper torque during this time) and the oil gets changed one more time after a hour of running time. I do this to make sure all dirt and metal particles are out of the crank case, metal shaving can be "hodden" in a engine block after machine work is done. Magnetic drain plugs are also a good idea. Remember oil is cheap metal is what is exspencive!

Wild Bill in Richmond, Va.

[Curmudgeon 28]

. Oil can run off the parts and leave them essentially dry.

If oil runs off leaving it essentially dry, then how come engines can be turned off are restarted many many many times? Seems like if the oil "just ran off" they wouldn't be able to withstand all those dry starts.

Not trying to be a smart butt, but this doesn't make sense to me.

[linen beige 14]

Guess that don't make sense the way it's written. I'm talking about in larger, multi cylinder engines. Say you oil the rod journal on #1 and install the rod. Now turn the crank and repeat for #s 2 thru 8. You have turned the crank at least one full rotation. You will likely do that several more times while putting in camshafts, timing gears, exc. Not to mention probably turning it more than once while lining up the tranny during install (most of us aren't set up to bench run a large V-8.). All that turning thins out the film with no pressure to replenish it.

A thin film of oil is not likely to still be much protection for the tight new parts on first start up, so I use assembly lube or high temp grease on pressure lubed engines. I also prime the oil pump and run it up to pressure with a large drill motor on the oil pump drive to fill the galleries with oil before I start one up.

On the smaller ones you can oil as you go and even have the block upside down for pan installation, and can pour a little over the rod, crank, and cam just before you flip it back upright.

As for dry starts, a lot of high end cars from the '20s and '30s had oil prime pumps that charged the lube system prior to start up. Some modern high performance cars use them today.

[illinilefttackle 399]

Guess that don't make sense the way it's written. I'm talking about in larger, multi cylinder engines. Say you oil the rod journal on #1 and install the rod. Now turn the crank and repeat for #s 2 thru 8. You have turned the crank at least one full rotation. You will likely do that several more times while putting in camshafts, timing gears, exc. Not to mention probably turning it more than once while lining up the tranny during install (most of us aren't set up to bench run a large V-8.). All that turning thins out the film with no pressure to replenish it.

A thin film of oil is not likely to still be much protection for the tight new parts on first start up, so I use assembly lube or high temp grease on pressure lubed engines. I also prime the oil pump and run it up to pressure with a large drill motor on the oil pump drive to fill the galleries with oil before I start one up.

On the smaller ones you can oil as you go and even have the block upside down for pan installation, and can pour a little over the rod, crank, and cam just before you flip it back upright.

As for dry starts, a lot of high end cars from the '20s and '30s had oil prime pumps that charged the lube system prior to start up. Some modern high performance cars use them today.

Linen Beige is right on. It has been said that 80 % of the wear in an engine happens right after starts. They still use "primeing pumps" today, it virtually eliminates the wear on start up.

I bet you wonder why I said I use STP as assembly lube-let me tell you a story about a 16 year old kid who was rebuilding his 2nd engine and thought he knew it all. He had traded work for a 283 corvette engine bored to 4 inches=301 cubic in.

He was installing it in his 55 C/Gas Chevy. He did use STP on the bearing and Cam and lifters as assembly lube because of the suggestion of an old roundy-round driver that competed at South Bend Motor Speedway in the Super Modified class.

When the kid fired up the 301 he didn't get oil up the rockers as he should. He was

stumped-no matter what he did he couldn't get oil pressure. He called his old friend who at his gas station-he told him to bring it by and he would look at it.

Well ,stressed out as he was at the time-instead of pulling it there-no help-the kid fired up the chevy and DROVE it 2 miles to the station. When he got it there, the old friend found that the boy had used the original corrvette oil pump rod(which is shorter) instead of the right one for the new(higher) dual quad aluminum intake. The distributor was not turning the oil pump! The old guy asked the boy what he had used as assembly lube-he said STP. The old man pulled the pan off the engine and popped off the rod caps-NO WEAR! The engine had run about 10 minutes with out oil pressure!

I never forgot that lesson!-Of course, the 16 year old kid was ME.-AL B)