sorry, gene, you are only partly right. yes, that is a propeller, but no it
does not scrub the oil off. you pull the prop through many times (or crank
over with the mags turned off) to bring the oil pressure up to pressure to lube
the bearings before startup.

At least that is what pilots who care about their engines do. That is a little
beyond the conprehension of some pilots to be sure, but not the vast majority.

Jax, that pre-luber mounted on the front of the engine is called a
propeller and it will move the pistons up and down in the cylinder to
check for liquid lock. It will NOT prelube the engine, in fact, it
will scrape the oil off of the cylinder walls since there is no splash
or spray lubrication to restore what the scraper ring removes....

There are STCs to install a small electric motor and pump on the
firewall for the purpose of prelubing... it is not from either
Lycoming or Continental and it is not visible from the front of the
aircraft.