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Has anyone installed a pre-lube system?
- Thread starter Jozseph
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I have one in the garage that I bought for a turbo project I was going to do in my Mustang II back in '84; still have it.
cucvrus
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What is a pre-lube system? I hope not all them small tubes leading to each grease fitting that you can grease all the fittings from one location. WOW.
A "Pre-Lubricating System" is used before an engine is started, produce oil pressure in the engine before you start an engine.
Prelube FAQ;
See URL: http://www.varnaproducts.com/Pages/Prelube-FAQ.php
cucvrus
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WOW after 30+ years I don't think it will make much difference. Not worth the effort or expense. My new truck don't even have that. Just another add on that is not needed on these old iron and steel CUCV's. More things to go wrong. Not much of an advantage IMHO.
Assel
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The only engine in a vehicle used by me with a pre-lube system was a CATERPILLAR 775E Quarry Truck with a 28L V12 Turbodiesel (~800 HP) ..I dont think its necessary on a 6.2, just do oil changes regularly and you should be good.
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The idea behind the pre-luber was to have oil pressure before you crank your engine, and after the engine is shut off.
Mine has a brain-box which is really a timer that controls when the pump comes on. So you get in the car and turn the key to run (just before start) and the pre-luber pump comes on and pressurizes the oil system to prevent dry starts and engine wear. Once you hear the pump shut off you start the engine. So your oil pressure warning light is off (or your oil pressure gauge shows positive pressure) before you ever crank the engine.
The bigger benefit was at engine shutdown; the pump would come on and run for a period of time to cool and lubricate the turbo bearings while it was spinning down; which greatly extends the life of the bearings. The turbo on some engines will spin down from some hundred-thousand RPMs for some minutes, and without oil to cool and lube them they get hot and what oil is there cokes and sticks to the bearing surface.
A side benefit was after an oil change. You would run the pump for a couple cycles to fill the filter. Some lube places didn't like to work on turbo cars because after the oil change they would destroy the turbo waiting for the system to fill and pressurize. If you think about when you change the oil in the 6.2, even though I fill the filter before install, the oil pressure warning light stays on for 20 seconds or so; now imagine an engine where you can't fill the filter body with oil, that light will stay on for 30 seconds or more, and if you had a turbo spinning there with no oil going to it for cooling and lube it would be destroyed.
One other side benefit was you could install a QD fitting and use the pump to drain the oil; useful for a few weird cars that had difficult-to-reach oil pans. Boaters use them for this reason.
A different branch of the prelube idea was one that used an accumulator. The engine's oil system would fill and pressurize a small accumulator and at shut down it would meter oil to the turbo bearings. It has limited applications but is much less complex.
On my little 4 cylinder Mustang II it would run the pressure to 50 psi before start. I never got the turbo installed so when I sold the car I took it off. It's in line to be the pump for my used-motor-oil-trans-fluid system for moving the oil slurry through a filter and into the tank on the M1009.
Mine has a brain-box which is really a timer that controls when the pump comes on. So you get in the car and turn the key to run (just before start) and the pre-luber pump comes on and pressurizes the oil system to prevent dry starts and engine wear. Once you hear the pump shut off you start the engine. So your oil pressure warning light is off (or your oil pressure gauge shows positive pressure) before you ever crank the engine.
The bigger benefit was at engine shutdown; the pump would come on and run for a period of time to cool and lubricate the turbo bearings while it was spinning down; which greatly extends the life of the bearings. The turbo on some engines will spin down from some hundred-thousand RPMs for some minutes, and without oil to cool and lube them they get hot and what oil is there cokes and sticks to the bearing surface.
A side benefit was after an oil change. You would run the pump for a couple cycles to fill the filter. Some lube places didn't like to work on turbo cars because after the oil change they would destroy the turbo waiting for the system to fill and pressurize. If you think about when you change the oil in the 6.2, even though I fill the filter before install, the oil pressure warning light stays on for 20 seconds or so; now imagine an engine where you can't fill the filter body with oil, that light will stay on for 30 seconds or more, and if you had a turbo spinning there with no oil going to it for cooling and lube it would be destroyed.
One other side benefit was you could install a QD fitting and use the pump to drain the oil; useful for a few weird cars that had difficult-to-reach oil pans. Boaters use them for this reason.
A different branch of the prelube idea was one that used an accumulator. The engine's oil system would fill and pressurize a small accumulator and at shut down it would meter oil to the turbo bearings. It has limited applications but is much less complex.
On my little 4 cylinder Mustang II it would run the pressure to 50 psi before start. I never got the turbo installed so when I sold the car I took it off. It's in line to be the pump for my used-motor-oil-trans-fluid system for moving the oil slurry through a filter and into the tank on the M1009.
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cucvrus
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My power stroke Ford F250 had a switch that the engine did not start till the oil pressure hit the turbo bearings. At least that was how the dealer explained it to me when I complained that it started harder then my CUCV. It last 372K and I sold it. Never had a turbo put on it so it must have worked as designed. i am just saying a 6.2 is as crude of a design as any engine. it cranks and gets oil and the oil drains back down after it is shut off. Seems like a lot of trouble to install something that supplies oil pressure before and after the engine is started. if it was a good thing the military would have it on all the trucks. They put everything else on trucks that they sell before any of the extra things would benefit the vehicles. Post pictures when you do the installation.
dmetalmiki
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As mentioned, anything that produces good oil pressure at start up up does absolutely no harm, All my trucks have them..mindst, they are multi-fuels.