Ken,
I knew a refrigeration mechanic that took a hand oil pump and pre lubed his
small car engine from the driver seat before each start.  He wanted to
maximize miles out of his engine.  He had a fairly long commute each day.
He acquired a refrigeration oil hand pump and installed it with copper tube
to pump from the pan to the rocker cover.  I don't know his method or how
much he pumped before a start.  But I do know he showed the pump setup to
anyone that would look and he drove that little car for years.  He commuted
about 70 miles each way daily.  Ford Pinto.
These pumps are about the size of a bike hand pump with a lever handle like
a grease gun.  They have small pipe thread fittings on them.  They are
designed to pump oil from buckets against pressure into freon compressors.
Okie Eck.
-----Original Message-----
From: KENWILFY@AOL.COM <KENWILFY@AOL.COM>
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Date: Monday, June 28, 1999 8:40 AM
Subject: Re: pre-oilers (pre-lubers)

>In a message dated 6/28/99 1:10:13 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
>chrisgibbs@GCI.NET writes:
>
><< http://www.preluber.com
>
> I'd like to hear what the consensus is from the list, especially for us
>folks in
> colder climates!
>
> Regards,
> Chris Gibbs
> 88 Westie
> Alaska >>
>
>When I first heard about Pre-oilers (in aircraft mechanic's school) I was
>very excited.  The idea of prolonging your engine life, etc was very
>interesting to me.  However when I started asking the normal questions (Why
>don't all cars have them? etc) here is what I discovered.
>
>1.  Pre-oilers are an excellent idea for Aircraft because they do so much
>sitting in between use.  I mean the typical plane sits for weeks (or
months,
>or years even) in between flights.  This allows the oil to totally drain
down
>out of the motor and when you start it up there is no oil in many areas of
>the motor.  The main thing you want is a film of oil to be on the main
>bearings when the engine starts.  The oil acts as a cushion between the
>bearings and the crank.  If you don't have the oil there you get a lathe
>effect going on between the crank and the bearings.
>
>However on automobiles, when they are being daily driven or even weekly the
>oil drain down is not a real problem.  Especially with our Vanagons, if you
>use a good oil filter (Mann, Mahle, Knecht) these all have an anti-drain
down
>valve that helps keep the oil up in the motor where it belongs.
>
>2. The other thing I found out is the pre-oilers are very expensive.  The
one
>on preluber.com is around $500!  They also add one more component to the
>lubrication system which means one more thing to break, more lines that
might
>leak etc.  Also if your preluber trashes out will this dump pump parts into
>your crankcase oil?  "Keep it simple, stupid!" is my motto.
>
>So am I a nay sayer?  Nope, pre-oiling is a great idea.  However I have an
>easier, simpler way to do it and you won't even have to buy any parts off
of
>me (if you don't want to).  Install a kill switch into your system which
will
>allow you to crank the motor over but kills the spark and the injectors.
>This way you can crank the motor over untill it develops oil pressure (the
>oil light goes out).  Then flip the switch and crank the motor up.  This is
a
>cheap idea (only cost is your time and about $5 worth of parts), it is a
>simple idea that you could also use as an anti-theft device, and it will do
>almost as good a job as pre-lube without the extra cost and complexity.  As
I
>said the main thing you want to eliminate is the load on the bearings with
no
>oil cushion.  Yes compression will put a small load on the bearings but the
>majority of the wear would normally occur if the engine was actually
started
>with the bearings dry, so you will be eliminating the majority of the wear
at
>a fraction of the cost of the pre-luber.
>Just my idea, and opinion.  It is worth as much as you paid for it!
>Ken Wilford
>Van-Again
>Romans 3:23
>