Topic: Oil at Rockers

[bryancobb]

Hey guys:
If I have 4 rockers that are not getting oil to them through the pushrod, does anyone have a secret to clearing the blockage or whatever?
I made sure the little oil hole in the rocker is clear and pushrods are clear too while I was installing new valve seals last weekend.
All lifters pumped up quickly and the engine runs smooth as a sewing machine.  I made a 30 mile trip on I-75 at 70 MPH to get temps up and that didn't help.
I really don't want to unbolt the intake manifold if I don't have to because there is evidence that the engine has never had a wrench turned on it past the valve covers.

I was CONSIDERING putting mineral spirits in the crankcase instead of oil and running it for a few minutes??  Mistake??

I also was considering spinning the oil pump with a drill at higher than engine rpm??

I guess the best answer is to remove intake manifold, huh?

March 1966 Mutuchen C-Code Convt.

[CharlesTurner]

Why don't you think some rockers are not getting oil?  Are the pivots completely dry?

If you need to clean the push rods, just loosen the rockers and pull them up.  Can be soaked to remove sludge/gunk.

Might be a serious sludge problem in the engine if oil galleys are getting stopped up.

[bryancobb]

After a 30 minute drive while the car was idling, I removed the valve covers.  While the engine idles, I can clearly observe the oil supply flowing out the pinhole at the top of the pushrods, and filling the cavity in each rocker.  Then it watterfalls over the end of the rocker and oils the top of the valve before running down onto the head and flowing to each end and then into the crancase.

It's apparent which rockers are only getting oiled by splashing from other rockers.  It probably would run like that for years but I KNOW each rocker should be getting a steady stream that's about 1/32 in diameter.

[CharlesTurner]

So you took the valve covers off with the engine running and didn't make a mess of the engine bay?  Oil should be pumping at a higher pressure that what it sounds like yours is.

[bryancobb]

At Idle, oil pressure is only 25 to 30 psi and goes up with engine rpm.  I dialed the idle down to yo 800 rpm or so, temporarily.  This made the oil pressure even less.  At that rpm, hardly any oil got on anything.  A few drops did get on the exhaust maifolds but quickly burned off.

Keep in mind Charles, the car is a "DRIVER" right now.  I probably wouldn't have done that if it was show ready.

Bryan

[Aussiemach]

At low revs you won't have much oil flow there but each should show some flow.
I would remove the valve covers and try again.
Blip the throttle to increase the revs a couple of hundred briefly, you may find that the increased oil flow and pressure is enough to give oil flow to those last 4 rockers. (you may get a few more spots of oil splash)

If you need to remove the pushrods to check for blockage be careful when removing the pushrod that you don't pull the lifter out of place. (then you will be removing the intake!)
Rotate the pushrod while lifting to break the oil film seal. I like to return the pushrods to the same lifter where it was working and the same end too.
Also check the pushrod to rocker wear, on some rockers it's possible the wear allows the oil hole to become restricted or missaligned.

[bryancobb]

Aussie,
You probably didnt see that I have replaced all the valve seals with Viton ones.  When I did that, I checked all the pushrods and rockers to confirm there was no oil obstruction.  Then I drove it at highway speed for 1/2 hr to get everything hot and have high oil pressure to get the flow going.  Then without shutting it off, I removed the valve covers to check for flow.  That's when I found the problems with 4 not getting oil.  It could have been that way for decades, because at highway speed, enough oil would splash on the 4 dry rockers to avoid any problems.  There's only VERY SLIGHTLY MORE wear on those 4 rockers than the rest.

[Aussiemach]

Bryan your right, I got carried away there!

[bryancobb]

Well...as bad as I hate to, I'm gonna remove the intake manifold that has never been off, tonight, to clean the lifters and figure out why some of my rockers aren't getting oil.
The oil pan had a handful of large crumbs where the hardened valve seals had disintegrated and wound up.  My guess is some of the smaller particles of the valve seals got into the oil flow and clogged the outlet hole of some lifters.

HERE'S MY QUESTION: Are the 289 hydraulic lifters serviceable?  It seems like to me that there is some type of clip that allows disassembly.