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1967 440 hp no oil on driver side rocker arms while priming

1carlover

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My 440 engine is fresh from the machine shop and I've reinstalled it in my 67 RT. With the distributor removed and with drill and priming rod in hand I began counter clockwise rotation of the oil pump. I was vey surprised to find that I have no oil going to the top side of the driver side head. I've tried searching for answers to this problem in the fbbo forum and the only thing I could come up with is the engine shop either seriously screwed up, or that by having the number 1 cylinder set at tdc, at that position has covered the hole for oil to flow to the top of the left side head. However If the engine was actually rotating the oil galley hole would only be blocked for a split second but otherwise would get oil for the rest of the cam rotation. I don't know if I misread the post but I was hoping someone could shed some light on this before I pickup the phone and start yelling at someone.
 
Try rotating the engine by hand maybe 180 degrees and try priming again. Or maybe the rocker shaft is upside down....oiling holes go down towards the exhaust.
My 440 engine is fresh from the machine shop and I've reinstalled it in my 67 RT. With the distributor removed and with drill and priming rod in hand I began counter clockwise rotation of the oil pump. I was vey surprised to find that I have no oil going to the top side of the driver side head. I've tried searching for answers to this problem in the fbbo forum and the only thing I could come up with is the engine shop either seriously screwed up, or that by having the number 1 cylinder set at tdc, at that position has covered the hole for oil to flow to the top of the left side head. However If the engine was actually rotating the oil galley hole would only be blocked for a split second but otherwise would get oil for the rest of the cam rotation. I don't know if I misread the post but I was hoping someone could shed some light on this before I pickup the phone and start yelling at someone.
 
I always have someone running the drillmotor for priming while I turn the engine 320* in order to get one camshaft revolution. The valvetrain only oils when the oil holes line up, not all the time.
 
Oil hole to feed the rocker shaft only lines up once per revolution of the cam. You got lucky and the right side is lined up. Rotate the crank in small incriments and youll find the left side lines up too as long as the bearing is in correctly.
 
I don't know yet but will first have to find out how to tell if it is. I'm still not getting any oil to the left side after rotating the crank 180. I'll probably contact the local engine shop I used for the rebuild and see what they have to say. Thanks
 
Rotate the engine some more and do it slowly. The cam turns half the speed of the engine so the oil holes probably haven't aligned yet for the other side to oil....and if that doesn't do it, then the cam bearing isn't in right and will have to come out. I've heard of people running a long drill bit down the head and punching a new hole in the bearing but don't think I would do that.
 
I don't know yet but will first have to find out how to tell if it is. I'm still not getting any oil to the left side after rotating the crank 180. I'll probably contact the local engine shop I used for the rebuild and see what they have to say. Thanks

Go 360deg....and watch the oil squirt!
 
These guys are telling you the truth, when I primed my motor for the first time I had the same question. After some research I found that oil is fed from the bottom of the cam bearing and then has two hole at the tops (left and right rockers) the cam has an angled hole drilled threw it that will line up with two at a time "an oil pulse". It would be hard to get the alignment right without knowing where it is, having someone rotate the motor while you prime should allow you to get it feeding oil.
 
Rotate the engine some more and do it slowly. The cam turns half the speed of the engine so the oil holes probably haven't aligned yet for the other side to oil....and if that doesn't do it, then the cam bearing isn't in right and will have to come out. I've heard of people running a long drill bit down the head and punching a new hole in the bearing but don't think I would do that.

agree, your going to have to slowly rotate it while priming. if that doesn't work then the machine shop didn't line up the cam bearing correctly.
 
My 451 had the same problem. When the engine is at TDC #1 firing, then the oil will feed to one head only. I had to rotate mine awhile while my son primed it. I even pulled the bolt out on the 4th rocker pedestal back to see if oil would come out. As I slowly rotated it, all of a sudden oil shot out clear across the room from that pedestal. Try that, it will work.
 
Wow I'll be sure to have my safety glasses on if I remove that 4th pedestal. I just hope it isn't the bearing lined up incorrectly. As far as turning over the motor I will have to wait until I get the dash back in and the engine harness plugged back in otherwise I'm just wearing down my drill battery. Ill give it a try again tomorrow.
 
Turn the engine over manually with a socket and breaker bar on the bolt on the front of the crank and as mentioned above, check to see that the rocker shaft is in properly if you still can't get oil on that side.
 
Got a few hundred miles since rebuild. Driver's side sounds like a sewing machine when going down the road. Was reading this post wondering if no oil to the rockers could be the problem? Noise sounds like it's up high. Can I pull the valve cover and coil wire, crank it over and verify without making a big mess?

Also running maxed out oil pressure on a freshly rebuilt and calibrated gauge at idle until the engine is hot.. then idle will put oil pressure at 3/4, near max on the highway. Have not tried a new sending unit yet but that is on the agenda.
 
You would not have made it a few hundred miles if you didn't have oil to the rocker arms. They would have locked up by now with no oil. Go ahead and pull the valve cover so you can see if anything has loosened up or moved around but I'm sure you'll find plenty of oil in there.

This is an old thread and I'm sure the OP was just confused on how a Mopar provides oil to the rockers. For some reason people don't bother to read the FSM or look at the parts. They just assume that oil should squirt out all the time but that isn't how they are designed.
 
And what cranky said above
cam is half speed so you have to go around crank TWICE to cover cam around once
There was a posting recently, maybe on FABO that showed which crank positions gave oil feed
 
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