Ask the Editors: How To Test My Oil Pump
Predator with a dry top end?
We’re almost afraid to ask, but how are you determining that the machine fires up well but that the there is no oil reaching the cylinder? Ordinarily running an engine without oil in the top end will result in the engine seizing along with other disastrous outcomes (such as warping the head).
Ordinarily oil pressure tells a lot of the story in determining whether or not the oil pump is functioning as it should. Use the link below to the Predator owner’s manual which will give you all the factory specifications. Most ATV engines contain a port for connecting an oil pressure gauge. This is how to tell whether or not the oil pump is functioning properly:
From the symptoms you describe, it is also possible your oil pump lost its prime. Oil pump priming procedures must be performed any time the oil hose connection between the oil tank and pump inlet has been disconnected. Here are the instructions to that procedure:
Above all else, though, avoid running the engine for anything greater than testing the pressure if you’re relatively sure the top end isn’t receiving oil as the repair bill could become catastrophic if your theory is correct.
