I have been tossing the idea around in my head of getting a pre-luber, I was hoping some people who have them could comment. Is it worth it?

 

I copied an article about how to build a pre-lube system. My take on whether you need one or not would be how often you start your truck, it is one to three times a day I would say no, if you start the engine 10 times a day or your truck sits for long periods of time the pre-Luber would most probably a good thing. If you would like a copy of the article PM me and I can e-mail it to you.

 

I personally dont think that it's worth it. There are some machines that come in at work that have it on there and they don't seem to last any longer than any of the others.

 

The time it works the BEST is an engine that is not started often. When all oil films have fully drained back to the sump is when the most damage occurs (at start up). I see the other side of the coin as your thinking though.... more starts = more damage.

I've worked on ships that the pre lube pump kick on every hour for 5 minutes in case another diesel generator needs to be started quickly, we know that oil is still clinging to the bearings and wear surfaces from at least and hour ago. The ship I'm on now runs the pre lube pump the whole time the diesel isn't running in case of emergency start up.

Either way, it CAN'T hurt! rigging it so it turns on with your grid heater so it pumps oil for 20 seconds or so before you bump the starter would be real nice on the engine.

 

IMHO! If you see a lot of time between starts it may help cut down on bearing wear. I would think where it could benefit most would be at shut down to help remove heat from the turbo shaft bearings. We use them on boats with both gas and diesel engines because there is always motion if a boat sits in the water. This motion of a shutdown engine causes the oil film to squeeze out from the bearing surfaces in a short period of time causing frequent dry starts. The boat/engine manufactures also incorporate an oil changing system with the perlube pump.
Quick start emergency generating and pump systems use them because they are expected to go from shutdown to full load in ten seconds or less depending on application. Without a continuous supply of warm clean oil while shutdown they will self destruct in short order.

There are a lot of "million mile motors" out there that never had a prelube system. I personally think there are better places to spend a couple hundred bucks. But if you have the money and the desire, go for it.

 

Thanks guys for your opinions, it something I have been thinking about for the truck.