Still no oil pressure

adamnreeves · Post by **adamnreeves** » Sun Jun 21, 2009 8:52 pm

Update on progress after spending much of the weekend in the garage with breaks for F1 GP!

It is all back together with a mech pressure gauge. I have used millers 20w50 semi synthetic oil. Started it up and boy it sounded rough initially. I did see oil pressure. Took of the supply hose to the remote filter to check oil flowing in the right direction. Turned over on starter only and saw globs of oil shooting out, good. Connected it all back up and fired up again, sounding better. With coolant around 60C I was reading oil pressure of 43psi at about 2000rpm.

I am using Rhoads bleed down lifters and someone did say to me a while ago that these are noisey.

The lifters seems to be noiser than my first engine start. This maybe paranoia. It might be the oil is thinner than the cheapo 20w50 mineral I used and the red cam lube I put everywhere added to the thickness of the oil I have now changed. It might be the rockers on the wrong way round as per my other post they do not have marks on the shafts to indicate which way and I was told be an engine builder that it does not matter. I have noticed the topside of the rocker arm above the valve springs have a small hole, this seems to be directly above the valve tip. This hole does not go all the way thru, you can see the underside of the metal pad that contacts the valve tip.

the fuelling is not correct yet, idle around AFR 12.5. I have not checked the timing yet.

Here's a you tube, does this sound excessively noisey. My last video before the oil pressure problem hovered around the exhausts at the back which would sound nicer I guess!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qo_lb9e-BZ0

CastleMGBV8 · Post by **CastleMGBV8** » Sun Jun 21, 2009 10:49 pm

Adam,

It is important to have the rocker shaft orientation correct, the oil holes in the shafts should point down towards the camshaft or you will have no oiling to the pushrod cups.

Pleased to hear you have oil pressure at last.

Kevin.

adamnreeves · Post by **adamnreeves** » Sun Jun 21, 2009 10:53 pm

Where are these oil holes exactly I didnt notice any on the shafts before I installed them. I cannot see any on the top. Is this something I could see with a mirror?

CastleMGBV8 wrote:Adam,

It is important to have the rocker shaft orientation correct, the oil holes in the shafts should point down towards the camshaft.

Pleased to hear you have oil pressure at last.

Kevin.

CastleMGBV8 · Post by **CastleMGBV8** » Sun Jun 21, 2009 11:09 pm

Adam,
They are located in the shafts where the rockers are positioned.

If you loosen off the rocker pillar bolts you will be able to slide the rockers sideways and see which way the holes are orientated.

You may find that you need to remove the assemblys and rebuild them to get the holes feeding the pushrod side of the rocker arms.

Kevin.

adamnreeves · Post by **adamnreeves** » Mon Jun 22, 2009 9:01 am

If I have to do that I am going back to the engine builder as I paid them to supply ready assembled rocker shaft assemblies as I had not done this before and didn't want to chance not doing it right. Is there no way I can tell without removing? I have HD adjustable pushrods which I spent an age getting each individual one spot on.

CastleMGBV8 wrote:Adam,
They are located in the shafts where the rockers are positioned.

If you loosen off the rocker pillar bolts you will be able to slide the rockers sideways and see which way the holes are orientated.

You may find that you need to remove the assemblys and rebuild them to get the holes feeding the pushrod side of the rocker arms.

Kevin.

CastleMGBV8 · Post by **CastleMGBV8** » Mon Jun 22, 2009 9:22 am

Adam.

If they came pre-assembled they are probably correct but for peace of mind it's worth checking.

You do not have to completely remove the assemblys, just slacken off the rocker pillar bolts enough for the pushrod end of the rocker to clear the pushrod and then you can slide one of the rockers sideways enough to see where the oil holes are.

If their in the right place ie. facing down towards the cam area you are ok and and just retorque the pillar bolts, doing each one a bit at a time so there no bending pressure on the shafts, make sure all the pushrods ends are seated in the rockers, it's only a 5 Min. job each side.

Kevin.

jefferybond · Post by **jefferybond** » Mon Jun 22, 2009 11:23 am

adamnreeves wrote:I am using Rhoads bleed down lifters and someone did say to me a while ago that these are noisey.

I've heard they are noisy too! I've got stock lifters and sometimes one or two get 'lazy' after a while sitting idle, and can take a minute or two to pump up properly.

Jeff

adamnreeves · Post by **adamnreeves** » Mon Jun 22, 2009 9:20 pm

Removed the left hand rocker assembly tonight. Moved a rocker arm across the shaft and could see the hole and it is pointing towards the cam. I did notice something that I did not expect the rocker shaft pedestals on the head, only the first and last one have oil holes, non for the middle ones.

topcatcustom · Post by **topcatcustom** » Mon Jun 22, 2009 9:30 pm

adamnreeves wrote: only the first and last one have oil holes, non for the middle ones.

Correct, and only 1 of them does anything, there is 1 in each end so it doesn't matter if you swap the heads left to right. Glad you are now all sorted- so was it basically just getting the engine turning quick enough by firing it up?

adamnreeves · Post by **adamnreeves** » Mon Jun 22, 2009 9:37 pm

that makes sense I did notice that the front one had oil dripping out when I removed the rockershaft and the rear did not, at least I think it was that way round. Yes I just had to bite the bullet and start-up the engine. Took me about 2 hrs pottering about building up the courage. This is a bit of a long thread but I have put the cause to this sudden loss of oil pressure down to a malformed OEM oil strainer bolt meaning it bottomed out in the hole by less than 1mm and came undone whilst I was tuning the engine the first time. Bad luck but thankfully the engine survived.

topcatproduction wrote:
adamnreeves wrote: only the first and last one have oil holes, non for the middle ones.
Correct, and only 1 of them does anything, there is 1 in each end so it doesn't matter if you swap the heads left to right. Glad you are now all sorted- so was it basically just getting the engine turning quick enough by firing it up?

adamnreeves · Post by **adamnreeves** » Wed Jun 24, 2009 10:14 pm

As per my new post I have now ran the engine sufficiently log enough to bring up to full operating temperature. The lifters are now quieter.