[Skip Fix]

As others said you fell the drill lug way down as it starts pumping and it does take awhile to get it up to all the rockers and I usually rotate it 90 degrees and do some more several times.

[AG]

I always drive the pump until I get oil out of every PR onto the rocker before I start using an oil pressure gauge. I usually have to rotate the crank several times 90º before I get there. I use a Craftsman 3/8" drill and the pump really pulls it down, gets hot by the end. Done this with HFT, SFT and HR cams.

[pugslyx234]

I think if its getting hard to prime then its good. I always feel by hand that its getting tough to turn with a screw driver then good to go. You didn't perform a full rebuild so get it fired. Did you do the Cam bearings? I may have jumped the gun if you installed them incorrectly. Woody

[lust4speed]

I'm one of those that stops priming once the drill bogs down and I get a solid reading from the temporary pressure gauge. Why go to all the trouble to slather up the bearings with expensive assembly lube if you're going to stand there and hose it all to the bottom of the pan? If you have done your assembly correctly the top end will have enough lube already; and once pressure is up, all the galleys are full of oil.

It's never a good idea to let the smoke out of the drill .

[FrankieFeenixx]

Did you soak the new lifters?

[Cliff R]

By design some cam/lifter combo's make it very difficult, if not near impossible to get oil to all the rocker arms simply by running the drill and turning the engine a few times.

I've ran into this more in recent years as we are using more custom cam profiles with smaller base circles, custom flat solid set-ups, and retrofitting to hydraulic and solid roller stuff.

It's not really a big deal, as long as you make sure the oil band on the lifters is correctly located during engine assembly.

Many lifters are also metered, as I found out when using the Crower HIPPO lifters for the first time. We gave up trying to get oil to the rockers first time we used them, but they do a fine job in actual use of controlling oil to the top of the engine.

+1 on assembly lube, if you are going to wash it all into the pan with the drill anyhow.....Cliff

[sphynx88]

UPDATE:

Went down last night committed to running the drill for 10 minutes. After about 3, oil came out of 2 cylinders. Rotated the crank 90 degrees a few turns and several more minutes of turning, I had of out of each lifter.

Looks like i just needed a little more patience.

Thanks for all the help

[Skip Fix]

My 470/409 took forever to get it to the top on every one and I even used an old distributor to seal the passges or Chevies won't get it to the top. I think it was like Cliff mentioned where the oil bands of the lifters were.

On my Pontiacs I usually do it with teh valley pan off to see if there are any leaks around the lifters. My old 72 HO block did for a flat tappet around where the holes were tapped for lifter restrictors. Had to go taller rollers on that block.

[SRR]

I have also found that heating the oil up first will speed up lube times. Ben and I were priming his 400 on the test stand and the oil was not coming to all the rockers. I positioned a halogen lamp under the oil pan until the pan felt warm to the touch (20-30 minutes) Drill motor spun easier and it primed up fine after that.

[Ben M.]

It's also cold in most of the US this time of year, so as SRR says, cold oil makes it much more difficult to prime an engine ;-)

[cnc]

I agree just fired my engine and checking for oil by priming talked to my builder I told him I had oil to the lifter gallery But none to the rockers he said fire it up and watch for oil it can take some time ....all was good......