pre-lube prior to first time startup

[Dan Bocek <dan@di.com>]

I'm getting close to starting the engine of my RS2 equipped TQC!  But 
before I do, I thought I'd ask how the list felt about prelubing an 
engine prior to cranking for the first time.

Since the oil pump on the 5 cylinder is driven directly by the crankshaft 
(not like the distributor driven American V8's) I see know way of just 
turning the oil pump without turning the engine.  So, what I did was take 
the plugs out of the engine, filled the pan with fresh oil, disconnected 
fuel and spark, and started cranking away.  Now the bad news - I never 
saw any oil comming up through to the head.

My thought is that the oil pump is not primed (the car has been sitting
for over a year, so the oil sump is well and truely bone dry), so that all
it's doing is sucking air.  Question is - how do I prime it??? 

I had a few thoughts: 

1) Jack rear of car up and let oil flow towards 
front of pan, where the oil pickup is.  

2) Pop off the turbo oil feed line and pour some oil into that.  Since
this is close to the first place the oil goes once it comes out of the
pump, hopefully some of it might flow into the pump, through the gears,
and fill the oil pickup line in a reverse fashion. 

3) Overfill the pan with oil so the pickup point will be gauranteed to be 
submerged, and thus primed.  Question is, how much oil would this take?  
One would have to be very careful not to pour in too much oil, or the 
pistons would "hydraulic" into the oil.

Please, there have to be at least a few people on this list who have run
up against this problem. Any thoughts, comments, or additional ideas are
welcome.  Thanks! 


                                                         Dan Bocek
                                                         dan@di.com