Dry starting refers to the time between your engine start and the introduction of oil into your engine or oil pressure. It's during this time that most of the engine wear occurs. Metal against metal waiting for oil to lubricate the surfaces. Imagine engine parts in their dry state after sitting through the winter or in-between trips or even each morning. For RV engines, the intervals between startups creates more severe wear than that experienced by your automotive engine. The abrasive metal particles that are rubbed off in these dry starts accelerate engine wear. How can this be prevented?

Many people will pull their distributor and hook a drill up to the mechanical oil pump to Iube their engines before startup. Others remove their spark plus and turn their engines over until the oil "idiot light" goes off. This would be a good idea for all of us, but it obviously isn't practical.

Well, now it's possible to pre-lubricate and pre-pressurize your engine before starting. A device on the market in the automotive and marine industries since 1986 and 1990 respectively, has been introduced into the RV market. It's a patented pump and motor assembly called the Pre-Luber. The Pre-Luber is designed to pump oil from the oil pan into the oil sending unit of the engine prior to engaging the engine. It achieves up to 55 psi of pressure and completely bathes the engine in oil to prevent dry starts, oil starvation and the destructive metal-to-metal contact before oil pressure is achieved.

Not only will this pump automatically prove and pressurize the engine before starting, it makes oil changes a lot easier, and will continue to run after an engine is shut down to cool off critical engine parts and turbo bearing to prevent coking

Independent tests show the application of the Pre-Luber to an engine significantly reduces friction at engineer start up and is shown to reduce bearing wear by as much as 53 percent. That means nearly double your engine life.

The Pre-Luber can be activated by the opening of a door or more commonly when the key is turned to the "on" position. A small electronic control module automates all the function via a signal from the ignition sensing wire. There are no switches or buttons to fool with on the dash or control panel. Turning the key to the "on" position starts the 20-second pre-lubrication cycle.

Post lubrication can be advantageous for those with turbos. Heat spikes occur after engine shut off and creates coking of oil. This can also be eliminated with Pre-Luber. The turbo version provides a post lubrication cycle of up to five minutes to provide continual oil flow through the engine and turbo. This facilitates engine and oil cool down, thereby preventing coking of the turbo and warping of the engine.

Another advantage of the Pre-Luber is the simple and easy oil change. The hose connected to the outlet side of the pump can be fit with a quick disconnect and allows you to run that hose to a container where the oil can be eliminated from the oil pan. Turn the ignition and pump the oil. Most oil can be discarded in about one minute.

Installation is simple and no special tools are required.

The Pre-Luber is sold as a turn key kit and includes the pump and motor assembly along with the necessary fittings, hoses, mounting screws, control module and wire harness. Your mechanic can normally install a Pre-Luber in about an hour; the rest of us can do it in about two hours.

For more information,  call ESP Products at (610)970-8944.