Hello, a couple of months back I posted a message regarding an oil pressure problem that I had on start up. I have a 2000 Durango with the 4.7L. I had begun to hear upper valve train rattle on cold starts. The noise would last about 1-2 sec.s is all but it really bothered me and a problem like this I figured was likely to get worse over time and cause more damage to my engine. Feedback had told me to try different oils and filters but none of the combos that I tried helped. So I went ahead and bought a engine pre-oiler from Pre Luber Engine Products. I thought the kit was fairly expensive but if it would solve my dry start issue I figured it would be worth it. I have since installed the kit and am very happy with it. I simply turn the ignition key to the second postion before fullstart and wait for the pump to bring up the oil pressure which I monitor by looking at the dash gauge. Once the pressure is up I start the truck. No more rattles due to dry starts. The pump has a cpu module that powers it for ~30 secs. but the pressure usually builds up in less time than that. A basic working explanation is that oil is pumped from my oil pan through the pump, into a universal fitting between the oil filter and engine block. The standard kit is set up to pump oil back through the oil sensor opening but this would have been much more difficult to install. I am probably a 6 on a 1-10 scale of back yard mechanic abilites but I installed this unit in about 3 hours a few weekends ago. The hardest part of the installation was trying to find a place to mount the pump because of the limited pace in the engine bay area. So this message is for whoever it was that wanted an update on this. I'm quite happy with it and hopefully it will prolong my engine life.
Mike

 

thanks for the update... I was considering one of these for my CTD motor.

 

Good to hear it worked for your problem man.
I want to get one for my Dakota. (Convincing myself to pay $500+ is hard though, maybe once I pay some other bills off ).
I know dry-starts are bad on an engine, and I'll do anything to get the most life outta my little engine.

 

Sounds good but I can't see spending that kind of money for it. I think I'll just run synthetic. It leaves a film on the internal parts of the engine for dry starts as well as pumps a lot faster than regular oil. Besides it lubricates a lot better.

 

I know. I did quite a bit of reading and also use sythetic along with the pre-luber. Maybe its over kill but the cost is not that bad. Thanks, Mike

 

it also might depend on how much a new motor runs... CTD = ouch! (the one drawback to owning a Cummins)