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Okay to turn engine by hand without oil?
Posted: Sun Jan 21, 2018 12:07 pm
by whc03grady
My new oil drain plug crush washers won’t arrive until tomorrow. The oil is out. Is it safe to turn the engine by hand in the meantime, to adjust the valves? No risk of embolism or something weird?
Re: Okay to turn engine by hand without oil?
Posted: Mon Jan 22, 2018 7:58 am
by Bleyseng
Sure but only by hand or a wrench on the alt nut.
Re: Okay to turn engine by hand without oil?
Posted: Mon Jan 22, 2018 9:03 am
by Amskeptic
whc03grady wrote: ↑Sun Jan 21, 2018 12:07 pm
My new oil drain plug crush washers won’t arrive until tomorrow. The oil is out. Is it safe to turn the engine by hand in the meantime, to adjust the valves? No risk of embolism or something weird?
Safe.
I should mention that I often start the engine with no oil in it and run until the oil light goes on to drain the filter and galleries.
I know, can you believe it?
Colin
Re: Okay to turn engine by hand without oil?
Posted: Mon Jan 22, 2018 6:53 pm
by whc03grady
Okay, cool.
I figured there was enough residual oil hanging around the bearings that hand turning was okay. My mind got hung up on the oil pump, though: if it ran dry would it be able to compensate once there was oil in the pan again? Obviously, I guess; it's not really a closed system (cf. the mammalian circulatory system).