No oil to sendint unit when priming mystery

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mbaird

mbaird

mbaird
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Priming my new build and I am not getting oil to the rockers or sending unit .
Engine is a magnum based 408.
Lifter galley plugs ( including the one in front of intermediate shaft ) are installed front and rear . Plug above rear main is in . Plug under oil filter is in .
Oil filter filled with oil while priming.
Turning the priming shaft with 1/2” drill clockwise.
I loosened the plug I used to cap the sending unit galley to allow air out ( I knew that was unlikely) and oil to seep out without coating my ceiling with oil. Turned engine over by hand while priming even though it pushrod oiled .

What am I overlooking?

I didn’t fill the pump with oil but it worked fine before the rebuild and the filter was full so it’s obviously drawing oil..

Head scratcher !
 
The right rear oil galley plug in the back of the block in the bellhousing area intersects directly with the passage to the sender port. Remove that plug and inspect. If that plug is possibly too long and blocking the port passage, that would do it.
 
RustyRatRod said:
The right rear oil galley plug in the back of the block in the bellhousing area intersects directly with the passage to the sender port. Remove that plug and inspect. If that plug is possibly too long and blocking the port passage, that would do it.
Click to expand...
Ah …. Is there a measurement I should go by ?
 
I used my dipstick to measure the depth of the small plug under maincap and it was just under 7 1/2” which is correct . Would that mean I have a clear shot to the oil feed?
 

mbaird said:
I stuck used my dipstick to measure the depth of the small plug under maincap and it was just under 7 1/2” which is correct . Would that mean I have a clear shot to the oil feed?
Click to expand...
If you measured from the top, I would think surely yes. So you should have pressure there. Have you primed it with the sender completely out?
 
RustyRatRod said:
If you measured from the top, I would think surely yes. So you should have pressure there. Have you primed it with the sender completely out?
Click to expand...
No . But I did loosen it to the point it was wiggling. No sign of oil on the end of plug or seeping of oil around threads.
 
Is it possible for my pump to be cavitating yet pump oil into my filter ? Filter was empty when installed but full of oil after priming .
 
Ok… pulled the plug and taped a cap with paper towel stuffed inside it on and now have oil to the galley . But I also put a new wix oil filter on . Not sure if the removing the plug completely or the new filter did the trick ?
Still no oil to the rockers though . Ran the drill for about 45 seconds…. May take longer ?
I did see some rockers move so that is progress .
Will try again for a longer period but is seems like it should not take long .
I will also install a pressure gauge now that I have oil to the galley .
 
The first filter was a new Mopar unit but had a small dent in it . Didn’t think it would hurt the flow any and since I planned on changing oil and filter after break in it was a logical decision.
 
Oil to the top end goes through the cam, but only when the cam is in certain positions. You may need to turn the engine over to rotate the cam until the oil holes line up in the feed from the bearing?
 
This is a 5.9 Magnum with oil thru rockers . No shafts .
I made sure lifters were installed with feed holes towards oil galleys .
I will install a gauge to check pressure today . Luckily motor is still on the stand in case I have to disassemble.
 
Might be a stuck relief valve in oil pump but this was the pump I had in the previous engine and it had great pressure.
 
mopowers said:
Probably a dumb question, but what does this mean?
Click to expand...
The hydraulic roller lifters have an oil feed on one side that needs to be lined up with the lifter oil galley feed holes . Because these use a dog bone instead of a link bar you could install them with the oil feed facing away from the feed hole .
 
What do the lifters look like? Do they have a reduced diameter in the middle?

I've read that some big cams can lift them high enough that the oil cavity thus formed will dump pressure out of the bore

competition-cams-pro-magnum-hydraulic-roller-lifters-35.png


I also came across this:

BAM lifter mod

Bought a set of BAM solid roller lifters with the steel bearing. These are oil thru w/pushrod oiling. Assembled the valve train and primed the oil pump with my cordless drill. I have oil at the lifter, but not up the pushrod to the rocker. I called BAM and the gentleman tells me i ha...
board.moparts.org board.moparts.org
 
mbaird said:
The hydraulic roller lifters have an oil feed on one side that needs to be lined up with the lifter oil galley feed holes . Because these use a dog bone instead of a link bar you could install them with the oil feed facing away from the feed hole .
Click to expand...
Oh, that feed hole. Stupid me. Thanks for clarifying.

I think those holes should face the valley. Not sure it really matter since on some they're actually on the side (parallel with the roller shaft). The get oil regardless because they connect to the oil band with a groove.
 
mbaird said:
Ok… pulled the plug and taped a cap with paper towel stuffed inside it on and now have oil to the galley . But I also put a new wix oil filter on . Not sure if the removing the plug completely or the new filter did the trick ?
Still no oil to the rockers though . Ran the drill for about 45 seconds…. May take longer ?
I did see some rockers move so that is progress .
Will try again for a longer period but is seems like it should not take long .
I will also install a pressure gauge now that I have oil to the galley .
Click to expand...
The passages must be aligned with the holes in the cam bearings to get oil to the top. That's once per revolution. You have to turn the engine a little at the time, prime and wait.
 
mbaird said:
This is a 5.9 Magnum with oil thru rockers . No shafts .
I made sure lifters were installed with feed holes towards oil galleys .
I will install a gauge to check pressure today . Luckily motor is still on the stand in case I have to disassemble.
Click to expand...
So the feed holes are installed facing the center of the engine? If so, that's correct. Since there is a groove in the lifters, it doesn't matter which way the holes face for oil FEED, but it does matter that they face the engine center line. If not, the lifters can drain with gravity with the holes facing the outside of the engine and cause some ticking on startup.

"ALL THAT" said, I think you still should put a manual oil pressure gauge on it. Now's the time to see if there's a problem there.
 
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