Does it make sense to create a slight pressure differential within an engine before doing a cold start to move the oil around? Something as simple as a hand pump connected to the oil cap would do the trick. But I don’t know if this would have any benefits?
Probably minimal benefit my guess, a block heater would be what would be advised from my life in ND
Almost zero benefit . And how many people are going to raise the hood and do that ?
There is benefit. But not pressure to the oil cap, that does nothing.
A pre oiler, commercially known as a Accumsump, can be used to store a bit of oil under pressure that can be released before starting the engine to reduce wear. There are also electeically driven add on oil pumps that do the same thing.
Considering most modern engines will run well over 200,000 miles simply with proper maintenance, doesn’t seem worth the trouble or cost.
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You beat me to it!
A modern engine that is well-maintained can be expected to go 200k miles–or more–with no need for internal repairs.
By adding an external oil pump, it is possible that one might be able to extend the engine’s life by… a bit… but the usually-ignored transmission will need to be overhauled/replaced by then, and in many parts of the country, chassis rust problems would make it impractical to keep “the old car with a good engine” but with a multitude of other–serious–problems.
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I’ve read that while most engine wear occurs at startup it does not mean those first few seconds for oil pressure to build.
“Startup” means the period before the engine warms up.
The pistons and cylinders expand at different rates with the rising temperature.
The mismatch plays havoc with clearances.
There are Formula 1 engines built so tight they can’t rotate at room temperature, so they pre-heat the engine before starting.
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Why not just crank motor with ign/fuel off?
The proper multi viscosity oil greatly reduces the wear at cold start up. Possibly more than pre-lubing. Pumping up oil pressure to a cold, still engine will not lubricate the cylinder walls, piston pins, and various timing components while the freer flowing modern multi viscosity oils can quickly be pumped and slung where needed. Most notably, pistons and cylinder walls are not lubricated until oil is sprayed up onto the cylinders below the pistons when up and into the oil control rings when down. SAE 30 oil is too thick to properly lube that area at a startup below 30*F.
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They make pre-lubers for turbo engines.
These supply pressurized oil to the turbo prior to starting the engine, and supply pressurized oil to the turbo after shutting down the engine to cool down the bearings.
Tester
Click and Clack went down this road 30 years ago…