Priming the oil system after hibernation

I have searched and come up empty, is there a way to engage the gear on the pump and prime the system prior to starting? I have a tool for Chevy small blocks that connects to a power drill and drops down the distributor hole to engage the pump, wondering if such a tool exists for the LDT/LDS. If not, would draining/filtering the oil from the pan and dumping it back in do anything? I know one solution is shut the fuel off and crank it for a bit, but I don't really want to put excess strain on the starter.

Has anyone found a way aside from pucker up and let er rip?

My opinion- this is a solution in search of a problem. There's plenty of residual oil to provide adequate lube for a gentle start.

It's easy to be all OCD about these things. I've talked myself out of worrying about it, with decades of effort.

Start it, idle it, drive it.

I've always cranked for a few seconds with the engine stop pulled out. Still takes a few more seconds for pressure to register on the gauge, so yes the rods are getting pounded with whatever oil is still there from last run.

During oil starvation the mains fail first. The rods are fed from the mains but the cross drilling works as a centrifugal pump to keep the rods fed while starving the mains.

98G said:

My opinion- this is a solution in search of a problem. There's plenty of residual oil to provide adequate lube for a gentle start.

It's easy to be all OCD about these things. I've talked myself out of worrying about it, with decades of effort.

Start it, idle it, drive it.

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I agree with this. I've been starting and running vehicles manufactured 1942+ for years and never had a problem with them sitting for six months or longer and starting them up at some point. They have run at least once a year though. I'm sure many here who have recovered trucks and started them for the first time in years haven't had problems either.

I always hated the self-draining multifuel oil filter.

The truck in my avatar has a 24 volt marine oil pump plumbed through a check valve into the port where the sampling valve used to be. It has a 1 PSI switch that turns out a red light on the dash. Takes about a minute to prime the system, much longer in cold weather. I doubt it was worth the trouble, but it was a fun project.

I wasn't as concerned about pressurizing the system as a was just filling up the filter, it took about 10 seconds to build pressure before.

Sandia National Labs did a very interesting study on failures of Electro Motive engines used as backup generators at nuclear plants. Everything was good until the early 1990's and then they started seeing silver in the oil. EMD engines use silver faced bearings. EMD engines don't have a drilled connecting rod so there is no pressurized oil feed to the wrist pin or piston carrier (the piston can rotate freely and sits on a silver faced thrust washer).

Anyways, it was determined that a ban on chlorinated engine lubricating oils sudden made prelubrication more important. So keep that in mind when operator older vs newer engines. The Cat 3500 engines I mentioned earlier drain their oil filter housings while sitting and we saw very minimal additional wear on the engine that wasn't prelubricating.