Rocker oiling or lack of .

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mbaird

mbaird

mbaird
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I am reassembling my engine after blowing a freeze plug and replacing bearings because I didnt like the look of them and I wanted to double check the oiling system due to what I considered insufficient flow to the top end.
Oil pump was gone thru , all galleys cleaned , cam bearings checked for alignment , cam holes verified, oil feed from cam to shafts checked for blockage ,HS rockers so orientation of shafts doesnt matter. Still no oil coming out when I prime it with 1/2 HD drill . Same as before the rebuild .
Here is the kicker... I am running Crowed severe duty HIPPO roller lifters with pushrod oiling as well ! I can see a little oil seeping from a few of the cups but this engine should be gushing oil from the top end !

What am I missing ?
 
If the lifters have what most builders would consider the “correct” oiling hole orientation/placement, then there is no direct connection between the oil hole in the lifter and the oil hole in the block.

The oil hole in the lifter would be parallel to the axle(for a Mopar), and above the oil band.
The oil has to squeeze between the lifter and the lifter bore to get from the oil band into the feed hole for the pushrods.
That is how the oil is “metered” to the top end.

If the lifter to bore clearance is too tight, or the band is at the wrong height so it’s not accessing the oil hole in the block...... then you get poor oil delivery to the top end.

The first check is to pull a lifter out and see if oil is flowing freely from the oil gallery in the block.
 
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I just had a customer with a SBC that was experiencing that problem.
He ended up doing this mod to the lifters(which isn’t all that uncommon).

You can often get by with barely more than a scratch to connect the band to the hole.

E3FE059F-15CF-49AC-97B0-C18AE987353E.png
 
PRH said:
I just had a customer with a SBC that was experiencing that problem.
He ended up doing this mod to the lifters(which isn’t all that uncommon).

You can often get by with barely more than a scratch to connect the band to the hole.

View attachment 1715809546
Click to expand...

I can see a little oil squeezing by the lifter while priming .

And why no oil to the shafts via the traditional method ?
 
Hold on...did you turn the crank when you were drilling the pump? The camshaft will expose the oil holes in a timed manner and if you prime with that port not lined up, you dont get oil. IIRC those bands are always flowing oil past them at lift or not (?) so the whole lifter galley gets same oil.
 
I turned the crank several times in an attempt to line up the holes. There is a certain point that lines them up but I dont recall how many degrees that is .
I do feel better that at least a little oil is weeping from the pushrod cups on the rockers. It could be that Harlan Sharps dont allow as much oil to flow out between the rockers and shafts ....
 
were your cam bearings all lined up? Didnt see if you changed those. If your getting any oil with a pre-ube speed, your gonna get a lot more at idle.
 
I did check the alignment of the cam bearings. I have also done the oiling mods to the block and running a blueprinted pump . I should have too much oil .
 
It is possible I am being paranoid but I really don't want to get to my dyno session and scorch my valve train.
 
I forget the degrees of crank to align the Holes in the cam for oiling.

But if you are PR oiling should there not be a block on the oil passages from stock config to increase oil flow?
 
1969383S said:
I forget the degrees of crank to align the Holes in the cam for oiling.


But if you are PR oiling should there not be a block on the oil passages from stock config to increase oil flow?
Click to expand...

If I end up with excessive flow I will restrict the galley to the head to .060
 
I usually do this with my wife running the drill.. she's she's done it so many times that when the oil starts flowing she'll ball out here comes!... She can feel the RPMs in the drill increase as I slowly slowly turn the crank and then all of a sudden it'll start pouring out one side. Can I slowly turn into crank and she says there it is again!.. and the other side starts bubbling oil out of the shaft between the rockers...
Your window to line them up isn't very big so having someone run the drill while you slowly crank it again if they hold a steady Pace on the drill they'll feel it speed up...
 
Please expound on how and why the rocker shaft orientation doesn't matter.
 
j par said:
They could be upside down and backwards and oil would still come out...
Click to expand...
That's correct, however, the oiling holes need to be on the bottom so the rockers get oil to load bearing side.
 
RustyRatRod said:
Please expound on how and why the rocker shaft orientation doesn't matter.
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If pushing oil up the Push Rods then it seems the factory oil holes up from the #4 cam bearing should be limited and rocker shafts orientation is Nill! Yes?
 
1969383S said:
If pushing oil up the Push Rods then it seems the factory oil holes up from the #4 cam bearing should be limited and rocker shafts orientation is Nill! Yes?
Click to expand...

Only if he's using shafts that don't get oil. If so, how are the rockers oiled where they ride on the shafts? The spring pressure pushes up on the rockers. That means they wear the bottom of the shafts first and the bottoms of the rockers where they ride on the shafts. How in the world can shaft and oiling hole orientation be "nill"?

Paint me a picture.
 
RustyRatRod said:
Only if he's using shafts that don't get oil. If so, how are the rockers oiled where they ride on the shafts? The spring pressure pushes up on the rockers. That means they wear the bottom of the shafts first and the bottoms of the rockers where they ride on the shafts. How in the world can shaft and oiling hole orientation be "nill"?

Paint me a picture.
Click to expand...

I would love too, I am old school and never dealt with PR oiling! Why do this? is there a balance between rocker top and Rocker bottom oiling?
Please explain!
 
mbaird said:
I turned the crank several times in an attempt to line up the holes. There is a certain point that lines them up but I dont recall how many degrees that is .
I do feel better that at least a little oil is weeping from the pushrod cups on the rockers. It could be that Harlan Sharps dont allow as much oil to flow out between the rockers and shafts ....
Click to expand...
I don't remember, either. @70aarcuda (Tony) always reminds me. Maybe he will chime in and tell us about the camshaft oil timing.
 
Of course you want the rocker oiling holes at the bottom... But my point was The rocker shaft itself will get oil any damn way you oriente it...
 
j par said:
Of course you want the rocker oiling holes at the bottom... But my point was The rocker shaft itself will get oil any damn way you oriente it...
Click to expand...
Sure it will, but you still want the highest concentration in the highest load area. On the bottom, just like the factory designed it.
 
RustyRatRod said:
Sure it will, but you still want the highest concentration in the highest load area. On the bottom, just like the factory designed it.
Click to expand...
Just like I set mine up today...
Again the only point that I was making was to someone else's comment... In theory you can put that shaft on upside down and backwards and it will still receive oil.. well I highly recommend you don't do this the point of the whole entire thread is that he's not getting oil up to the shaft... It's just a matter of lining up the cam holes with the drill going...
For all those reading along do not Orient the shaft upside down and backwards...
 
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