2007 XB12R project

[MALIBUXB12R]

Hi guys, to make a pretty long story short I picked up a super nice 12R limited with less than 500 miles on her a couple years ago, it had been laid down but visually almost zero damage. It did however have one of the mounting bolts on the front engine mount/cyclinder head broken. I pulled the motor and bought a brand new head and replaced, then it sat for the next 1.5 years. I'm now reinstalling the motor but I want to "prime" the motor with oil before I fire it up if possible, #1 I would like to have oil pushed through all parts for the obvious reasons and 2 because the push rods in the front cyclinder have zero oil and I would think that could be an issue?
Any help here would sure be appreciated!!!

 

[ali]

Did you use assembly lube when putting the motor together?

 

[MALIBUXB12R]

Yes, but I have read that the push rods can take a while to get oil running through, also read a while back of a way to force oil through system, wish I could remember where

 

[Cosworth]

pull the spark plugs and rotate the engine.

 

[ReadyXB]

pull the spark plugs and rotate the engine.

[up]
Charge your battery and crank away!

 

[MALIBUXB12R]

I was thinking more along the lines of pulling the return Oil line from the oil cooler and popping some oil through that way

 

[rchuff]

Would do what Cosworth said it is much easier and don't have to worry about any leaks.

 

[Chicknstripn]

I second what Cosworth said.
Put the bike on a rear stand. Remove the plugs. Put the transmission in 5th gear and start cranking away on the rear tire. Very similar to the process of manually rotating the flywheel when checking your timing, only you'll want to turn the rear wheel for a while if you're hoping to pump oil through the whole engine.
From experience I've had this method work great once. And not so great another time. I don't know what I did differently during the two rebuilds. But one start was nice and quiet. I could tell oil was where it needed to be. The second engine rebuild I did exactly the same as the first and the front cylinder was a little noisy at first. As oil pumped its way there it quieted down in seconds.
Hope that helps.

 

[Dellinger]

I just went through this on my 100% dry rebuilt 08 XB12. I left it in neutral with the plugs pulled, keep them in the wires and ground them to the frame with a jumper. Ignition systems like to discharge the way they were designed to or can be damaged. Unplug the fuel pump and crank away at bursts of 20 seconds or so till the oil light goes out, crank some more for good measure. Reinstall plugs and start.
This is the process I got from a great V-twin shop in my neighborhood. Make sure there is oil in the crank case or the pump will suck air and the oil light will come back. This happened to me. When I started it the pump was air locked.I had to rotate the engine down to pull a breather and dump half a quart in. Primed some more till the light went out and oil was returning to the tank. Fired up and had no chatter.

 

[Chicknstripn]

Dellinger is totally right. Reading his post totally refreshed my memory as to why my first rebuild started smoother than my second. The first engine rebuild I did I could not get the engine to actually crank over. My TPS sensor was bad and I didn't know it. So I was inadvertently priming the engine with oil when I was attempting to start the bike. As soon as I replaced the TPS the engine fired right up and was nice and smooth.
So comparing the two methods I would go with pulling the plugs and using the starter to prime the engine as opposed to rotating it manually. That was the difference that made my first engine rebuild fire off so much smoother... ....when it finally fired up.
Good info Dellinger

 

[Dellinger]

Heads up if you have an old ecm use it so you don't get trouble codes on your good one. I have a EBR ecm and don't know how to clear any issues up if they show up. With my old ecm connected the check engine light is on.

 

[MALIBUXB12R]

Thanks for the help guys, much appreciated!!