Would a pre-oiler lengthen engine life?
 

Would a pre-oiler lengthen engine life?

Has anyone cobbled up an electric pre-oiler?

Ed, I am very sorry you brought up this subject... when I bring it up people are actually against it.. I don't know why,, the big trucks have them on their engines... and I have always wanted one... LOL..... Greg

OH, forgot the original question... yes it will lengthen the life of the engine.... Greg

You can buy pre-oilers. I once saw a company selling them for diesel motorhomes. They were expensive--over $600. They seem reasonable to me.

Here is a page of url references:

http://www.google.com/search?q=engine+pre+oiler&rls=com.microsoft:en-us&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&startIndex=&startPage=1

This was sent to me by one of our members....

www.wetstart.com

Thanks Greg for the info!
What I don't understand is why they are so bloody expensive!

Couldn't one use a pump from a fish tank???
and a simple switch???

I suppose I should try it, but am too lazy at the moment. Pulling the head on Helga, new chain and investigating #1 hole which puts out 80# of pressure...not what it should be, eh?

A preoiler will indeed lengthen the life of the crankshaft, camshaft and associated bearings. In an over the road truck this is important because the upper end can more easily be rebuilt.

In a car, however, the engine is most often taken apart for cylinder or valve related reasons, not shaft and bearing reasons. For this reason, the preoiler would not typically add to engine life.

Have a great day,

Ed, I don't know why they are so expensive,,,maybe the people just want that much profit....LOL...and have little competition....
You need a pump that will do some high pressure movement of a fluid that will sometimes be very hot...and it needs to be plumbed to the engine in some way that it can not become a liability for the regular oil pump....so it needs a fail safe... valve which will direct its output to the bearings then allow the engine driven oil pump to deliver to the same oil passages.. without it providing being a ' leak' in that system.... but even these things don't explain the high cost... they like to bundle things and make them "automatic" so the price can be higher... but they could be operated by a spring loaded normally off button.. if the plumbing and materials and pump capacity are correct.....
They use them on aircraft,, even gas engined aircraft.... so maybe IF Larry is correct then maybe they increase reliability...as compared to longivity... which , if you are just looking at ONE engine,,, is kinda the same thing.... :), Greg