Oil in the sump

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T.Hanson
Posts: 1696
Joined: Wed Jul 26, 2006 7:39 am

Oil in the sump

Post by T.Hanson »

Building a 3.5 M30 on a stand. Pulled, cleaned the sump, oil pump good, ran fine, no smoke when removed from old chassis. Replaced gasket, re-fitted and torqued the pan.

Is it necessary, or a good idea to fill the sump to full on the dipstick while rebuild is in progress ?

I've not loosened or removed the head, to be rebuilt. A towel currently covers the valve train, not the cover. Do I need to do that, remove the head, oil the jugs, replace the head, valve cover,... if the rebuild might go until spring ?
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Mike W.
Posts: 2889
Joined: Wed Aug 30, 2006 12:12 am
Location: Sonoma County

Post by Mike W. »

No, keep it relatively dry. The crank and bearings are where you really don't want dirt. A little dust on the valve train isn't optimum, but really won't hurt anything. If you pulled the pistons and assembled them dry you would need to lube them, but not otherwise. Nothing in the pan until it's installed and almost ready to go. Squirt some oil on the cam just before you bolt the valve cover on.
Mike W.



02 525ita. Wife's, aka grocery getter
02 530i. New to the fleet, 3 pedals.
03 QX4, AKA the Datsun. Finally got the 4WD vacationmoble to stop smoking.
07 Xterra. Still on the DL, a purchase from hell.
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