preluber

[KICK]

Yes, Kick, thats right, if you observe the cool down period there is little or no advantage to a post luber. .

Pat

Well Pat, you made an assumption that I was talking about trucks and somebody actually taking the time to let it cool down.

but you are wrong.

I'm talking worst case scenario.

thats why I know the lubers are a waste of time. I was able to compare vehicles that had postlubers to vehicles that didn't, and the failure rate was the the same, for all practical purposes.

lotsa times what sounds good on paper provides no benefit in the real world.

Worst case scenario: you work at a large municipal tranist agency. the vehicle will get started and shut down at least 20 times a day. it will never idle down for more time than it takes for the operator to grab his stuff and get out of the bus. somebody else will hop in the seat next time they need to move the vehicle and start engine and generally floorboard the accelrator to build up the air pressure. they will get where they are going and turn the vehicle off.they are not going to wait for anything, they just shut it off.

and the vehicle with and without prelubers failed at pretty much the same rate. whenever they were ready to fail.

thing is a waste of money.

easier to take the time to wait a minute or so and then turn it off. you dont need a gage or anything, just let er idle for a couple minutes .

no tricks, no gimmicks, nada, zip ,zero has to be done other than wait the time it takes to smoke a cigarette.

 

[patrick_g]

Most cool Chris. Glad you found what you want. I am not the most widely experienced preluber guy around but have never seen or heard of one with both a pump and its own reservoir. My reservoirs have always been the crankcase of the engine.

Pat

 

[Egon]

On most stationery industrial engines pre and post lube scenarios are built into the start/stop cycle.

 

[patrick_g]

On most stationery industrial engines pre and post lube scenarios are built into the start/stop cycle.

Well, how terribly misguided those design engineers are wasting all that money on junk that although it looks good on paper doesn't actually stand a chance of being beneficial in the real world. Those guys need to get into a 12 step program for hand wringers!

Pat

 

[KICK]

if we were talking about a million dollar diesel engine in a yacht, or a stationary powerpplant that had a crankshaft that weighs tons and cant be removed without taking apart a building, I'd agree with the pre and post lubers.

but since this webswight focuses on honey do tractors with low buck run of the mill automotive type engines , a pre luber is just a placebo for the truly **** retentive among us.

 

[patrick_g]

Egon, I suppose the bean counter test is appropriate here. IF the cost of the cure is more than the cost of the illness then don't treat it. If the total cost of ownership of a pre/post luber exceeds the reasonable expectation of benefit then it is bad economics to buy and install one.

On the CHEAP end of the spectrum is the DIY unit made from a used propane bottle and a ball valve. Lets be lavish in throwing around our virtual money and say we spend $20 for the unit and maybe if we work slow, 3-4 hours of our time.

If the use of the tractor fist the category that gives dry starts then there is significant wear. If the tractor sits for a week between clusters of uses like it would for weekend or other sporadic users then the first start of the weekend would do more damage-wear than several hours of run time (based on general consensus of automotive engineers) NOT OPINIONATED GOOD OLE BOYS.

This seems like a slam dunk for a DIY preluber. Weekend users are poster children for letting the tractor sit for several days and then starting it several times in a couple day period. Given the low cost of the fab and install it should be easy to see that the benefit will far outweigh the cost of deriving the benefit. Now if you go with an expensive store bought preluber your ROI will be reduced or if you never let your tractor sit for more than a couple days without starting your potential benefit will be reduced.

I guess the answer to whether or not a preluber is a good idea is "IT DEPENDS."

Pat

 

[KICK]

did ya ever notice how many 30 year old tractors are available that still run.??

some of them sit for months at a time.

they never smelled synthetic oil

or seen a grease gun

Yep, it depends.

 

[doxford jim]

if we were talking about a million dollar diesel engine in a yacht, or a stationary powerpplant that had a crankshaft that weighs tons and cant be removed without taking apart a building, I'd agree with the pre and post lubers.

but since this webswight focuses on honey do tractors with low buck run of the mill automotive type engines , a pre luber is just a placebo for the truly **** retentive among us.

Hi Kick,

I think you are a bit off base with your assumptions on this - do you own one?

I have had a prelube pump on my F250 for pushing 16 years. Not only has it been very handy to prelube the engine in the truck that has sat unused for several months, it has also been handy when doing oil changes etc. and taking oil samples without making a mess.

Without the preluber I would have lost my engine one time driiving on the highway. I have an after market oil pressure gauge installed and while driving I noticed the oil pressure drop slowly over a period of a couple of hours. Since the oil and filter had been changed just days before, I was pretty certain the cause was mechanical. I checke the oil level which was fine - also smelt it for diesel contamination - none. I switched on the prelube pump and drove the last thirty miles home with adequate oil pressure.

Checked the truck the next morning, lots of oil pressure, level OK, so I decided to do some errands. As the engine/oil warmed up, the pressure dropped again. Again used the prelube pump to get backhome. Something screwy was going on. Was it the oil pump or the pressure relief valve on the filter base? Had the base replaced and still the same problem. Finally went to an International truck shop and had a talk with the head mechanic there. We decided to drop the oil pan and replace the oil pump and pickup tube and while at it, the main and bottom end bearings.

When they opened the engine they found that the clamping bracket for the pick up tube had lost the locking nut. This allowed the tube to vibrate and eventually crack 3/4 through. This allowed air to be sucked in when the oil viscosity dropped when hot, resulting in low oil pressure. This was the problem with the engine. Apparantly I found out later, this was a common problem with the 6.9 diesel engine causing lots of engine failures.

Anyway, the bearings were all renewed - some signs of cavitation showd, but the crankshaft was good. The pickup tube broke completely when removed from the engine. The new oil pump and pickup tube installed and the engine has been good now for 230,000 km.

My point here is, the $200 or so I paid for the prelube pump, more than repaid me don the road - over and above all the other arguments that have been mentioned here.

For my money, I would install another prelube pump on another expensive diesel tomorrow, without a doubt because I know it will be money wellspent.

Thanks for reading,

Jim

 

[cp1969]

For my money, I would install another prelube pump on another expensive diesel tomorrow, without a doubt because I know it will be money wellspent.

Apparently not many people agree because the things are rarely seen. I've never seen one on a road vehicle. I'm not questioning whether or not they work--they may do just exactly what they're claimed to do. But so many people run without them, with good success, that it is hard to convince the masses that a problem exists with the stock oiling system that needs solving.

 

[KICK]

I dont question if the things work
common sense tells you the preluber works.

question is does it provide a benefit that you need and then it becomes clear than since most engines dont have one and generally outlast the machine they were installed in, you find yourself answering your own question with a NO.


While we all want to live forever, it aint going to happen.

same goes for machinery.


I want to know why it took 14 years for the oil pickup tube to come loose?
stuff like that dont usually come loose unless somebody forgot something or recently worked on it and forgot to tighten something.


I digress.

gotta go mow some weeds