I agree here. You might also have the issue of the main bearings in the wrong location. The main bearing with the hole goes in the block. If you got this main in the cap, you will not have any oil pressure. I also agree with you that not everyone has a money tree in their back yard like Raylar has and they have to do things themselves. Raylar...you as a professional motor builder should offer help instead of berating him for trying to fix his issue. Respectability has gone down here.

Since Melling has made, seen & installed more oil pumps than anyone I think I would follow their advice.

Go to their website and they have video about priming your oil pump by hand and say this must be done on a new pumps before installing them.

The video even shows you how to do this. I would follow what they recommend about oil pumps.

What they do in the video is exactly what the pump is doing in the pan when you prime it with a drill after it's installed in the engine... My point was that putting oil in the pump before installation is not a necessity to make the pump prime itself. I'm sure Melling makes the recommendation to do so to insure that the relief is not stuck, or that the pump actually has two gears in it, etc, or whatever, before it's installed in the engine. That being said, the original poster's issue is not being caused by the fact that he didn't submerge his pump and pickup in a dishpan full of oil and spin it by hand.

Exactly...but something else no one has addressed on the priming before you install it issue is...Just how does Melling or anyone else propose to keep the oil in the pump after you prime it? How do you keep it from running out?

Formula18, I am not trying to bash on your efforts to save money while trying to stay in boating, however there are litterly hundreds of posts here on OSO every two months or so of boaters who are trying to rebuild and build up their engines in their boats without the training and proper knowledge of all the systems, specifications, and exact parts, machining, assembly and configurations for what they are trying to do with their engine. Like yourself , they many times think they are saving a lot of money by buying their parts out of catalogues and internet sites, then going to a local machine shop for low cost usually inadequate block and head work, then trying to prep and reassemble the engine themselves without all the proper tools to check and properly establish correct clearances, and correctly assemble the whole assembly. Many times they do not know the differences between year and version types of the engine or the special attention that must be paid to the little details that a reliable trained vetran of marine engines in a good shop will know and practice because of his expierence and knowledge.
In this effort to save money and sometimes play with their engines as a nightime and weekend garage hobby, these individuals will end up with an all new broken, damaged or complete loss of core engine and then have to spend a lot more money, time and frustration trying to either get someone else to do the job or do it themselves again with sometimes same or still poor results.
What I am saying here is many boaters need to be careful not to take on engine projects themselves unless they have the knowledge, expierence, tools and ability to do a proper marine endurance engine build! The supposed savings they are trying to achieve is usually respent trying to get it right and they think they are going to be able to get a $3-$5K job for $1500. They will spend the $1500 but usually as posts like yours and many others here on OSO show they never got there!, or when they finally did they spent the $3-4K overall with a lot more wasted boating time and angst!
My final word to the wise boater, unless you are a good knowledgeable marine engine builder with all the resources you need and will use, do not attempt the project from the start. Use forums and recommendations to find the good engine rebuilders out there who can and will get it right for you the first time at a reasonable cost. If you can't really afford the costs associated with especially performance boating I would recommend you consider finding another hobby or recreation you can afford and enjoy!

I know I am going to receive a lot of criticism here even on OSO for my frank opinion and comments but it needs to be said and hopefully it will benefit more boaters than it will piss off!

Best of Luck, hope everything works out OK for you and others!

Best Regards,
Ray @ Raylar

Hmmmmmmmmm...seems that Raylar addressed my post when I said to help the guy instead of berating him. Also seems that that post has gone poof and disappeared...imagine that.

They (Melling) want you to make sure it will pump oil. Of course the oil is going to drain out plus oil will a still leave an barrier coat internally. Just like you want a an oil film internally on every other part. This is a self prime before the full prime also.

So your going to say its better to leave an oil pump completely dry before putting into use and lube the rest of the internals while building. Then why bother to lube anything your going to pre lube a motor anyways to take this a step further. Call Melling ask them all about it, this is what they have preatched and will tell you the same over the phone.

Just passing on what Melling has told me for many years. Damn dont kill the messenger here. I guess Melling knows nothing about oil pumps. Keep building your way and I will follow Melling advise for #1 any warranty issues and failures that could be the outcome. If you do this for a living it is always wise to follow what the Manu's put into words. good luck.

Dont mean to upset you dude, but I havent ever seen a Melling out of the box dry either. They always put oil in it as evidenced by most of it leaking out in the plastic bag/wrap it is in. I have just never primed an oil pump out of the box. I make sure that there is or has been oil in it and go on from there...never had any issues. But if Melling decides to ship them out dry...then I think you have a valid point.

Just put one in last night right out of their Melling box. Makes for 29 of them this year alone. The box and the oil pump that was shipped to me were dry as hell. Also be nice my wife knows your wife DUDE.

WIf you don't want to help the guy , then just stay out of this thread. So far you haven't offered anything at all to this thread. If his motor blows up tomorrow why do you care. Your not out any money. As stated earlier some people can't afford someone else to do their work. Some people also like to learn with help from others unlike yourself. You act like its guaranteed he will never have a problem if he were to have his work done by somebody else.