Hi, looking for some good news. I changed the oil and filter, and cleaned the screen on my 2000 Polaris 500. Opps, Never primed the oil pump when I was done. After putting about 150 miles on the machine, that's when I found out it needed to be done. The engine is running fine. I pulled the drain plug for the crank housing and there was the cup of oil they say stays in there. so did I get lucky? In anyone's opinion, should I be looking for an engine rebuild? Thanks

 

Don't sweat it.. If anything was going to happen it would have already by now. Pinching the oil tank vent line blocking air flow helps prime the oil pump quicker after oil changes and recommended anytime you pull the tank screen.Not pinching the line,then it takes a tad longer,but critical engine parts still have a film of oil to protect them until full oil pressure from the pump kicks in. Approximately 8 ounces does stay in the engine sump after the pump is primed. Plenty of people have forgotten to do this and haven't heard of any major damage in doing so. Now that you've drained the sump oil,pinch off the vent line and crank the engine up. Kill it after a couple minutes,let it sit a couple minutes and top off oil to top of the dipstick.

 

OK ...have to ask this here. Is priming the oil pump something exclusive for Polaris machines as I have never heard of this before except on engine rebuilds. Having read this article it made me wonder so I started reading my own equipment manufacturers recommendations and don't see anything about priming the oil pump after an oil change. Curious here !!

 

Polaris is about the only one to do this.. Mainly this is because of the dry sump engine with most of the oil in the tank. Not necessary to prime one under general oil changes,but they do recommend to block off the oil tank vent for a quicker prime whenever the oil tank screen and oil lines were removed. Just a CYA type deal from Polaris..Granted most do have some sort of priming method after engine rebuilds also. Like the older 700/800 engines. They have a priming plug you removed and squeezed in oil to prime the pump before you crank the engine..

 

seriously? ya gotto prime the pump when you change the oil? uggg

 

No,not really.. This was simply something that Polaris came up with that actually scared a lot of people over the years.. On the dry sump models with the remote oil tanks(Sportsmans and Magnums) when ever the oil line and oil tank screen was removed for cleaning and reinstalled,Polaris recommended that the oil tank vent line be pinched off to block air so the oil pump could be primed up faster. The instructions to do this came in every oil change kit and I got tired of telling people it really wasn't that necessary especially if screens weren't removed and just an oil and filter change was performed. Imo the only time it was really necessary to do this was on initial crank ups after engine rebuilds when engine parts were dry(except for assembly lube ) Even if you removed the screen and oil line after changing oil, a film of oil remains on the major parts and oil pumps would still prime up before any problems could happen. Just a cautionary suggestion from Polaris that freaked out a lot of people over the years..

 

I really appreciate the info youvery passed on old polaris tech. Thanks again

 

"Peace of mind" If it was sold by the bottle,I'd buy a case at a time..