426 Hemi oil priming, no oil driver's side

[69 hemibee]

Having an issue getting oil on the driver's side head. Primed the engine with a big drill CCW and rotated the engine two full revolutions and the driver's side is bone dry.

Loosened the four corner rocker stand bolts in hopes it would help get some flow but no dice. Anybody else experiences this too?

 

[Fran Blacker]

Wonder if cam doesn't have 360* groove?

 

[diesel_lv]

I didn't get any on my passenger side 383 after 2 or 3 rotations. Thought something was wrong. Finally had someone else run the drill and I "Very" slowly rotated engine. Finally got oil.

 

[66Satellite47]

Sometimes it takes numerous full rotations. If the feed holes in the cam go just past the feed in the head during a hand rotation, I won't see oil to the rockers. Had that happen numerous times, keep trying.

 

[69 hemibee]

Thanks for the info guys, never had an engine take this much time to prime.

 

[PRHeads]

What I do is..... with the drill running the whole time......
Turn the motor a few degrees, wait a few seconds, turn it more, wait again, turn it more, wait again, etc.

If you do it like that, and get 2 revolutions with no oil....... I’d say it’s a safe bet you have a problem.

 

[Hemirunner]

The two and four rocker stands are oilers. Make sure you have them in the right position.

 

[69 hemibee]

The two and four rocker stands are oilers. Make sure you have them in the right position.

I was reading about that in the manual but hoping I wouldn't have to pull the rocker stands. I assume they are interchangeable with the others?

 

[Hemirunner]

I was reading about that in the manual but hoping I wouldn't have to pull the rocker stands. I assume they are interchangeable with the others?

They’re interchangeable with the center and end stand which are both non-oilers. The other end stand is unique.

 

[khryslerkid]

I had the same problem on my 440 and ended up running a piece of wire down to the cam bearing. Put the rockers back together and had oil. I'm thinking the cam assembly lube was thick enough to keep the oil from coming up through?

 

[Cranky]

Rotate the engine slooooowly with the drill motor going. If things are right, oil should flow on up.....

 

[Jerry Hall]

I had the same problem on my 440 and ended up running a piece of wire down to the cam bearing. Put the rockers back together and had oil. I'm thinking the cam assembly lube was thick enough to keep the oil from coming up through?

I use a pipe cleaner down to the cam bearings. I've had this problem a couple of times on 440's. Also in the last week I told a friend that had the same problem on a 340 this. It was his problem also.

 

[HEMI-ITIS]

If you still do not get OP, check that the banana grooves are facing down.

 

[69 hemibee]

If you still do not get OP, check that the banana grooves are facing down.

The grooves on the end of the rocker shafts correct?

 

[andyf]

Having an issue getting oil on the driver's side head. Primed the engine with a big drill CCW and rotated the engine two full revolutions and the driver's side is bone dry.

Loosened the four corner rocker stand bolts in hopes it would help get some flow but no dice. Anybody else experiences this too?

You shouldn't have to rotate the engine to find the place for it to oil. Camshafts should be all drilled the same. Passenger side oils TDC on #6 and then rotate the engine 540 degrees for driver side to oil.

 

[Fran Blacker]

Hemi's cams are supposed to have a small groove in number 4 cam journal to let some oil through all the time.

 

[andyf]

Hemi's cams are supposed to have a small groove in number 4 cam journal to let some oil through all the time.

That is true and if the OP has a grooved cam then he has a serious issue. OP might have a wedge cam in his Hemi though. Hard to say. OP should know what cam he has in the engine but perhaps he bought the engine used or had someone build it for him or something.

 

[66Satellite47]

Interesting info. Never thought about it that way. Easier for me to just turn the motor over with the breaker bar & watch for oil flow.
BTW andyf, your book is FANTASTIC. I wish I had bought it 6-7 years ago. So much useful info, even for a guy that's seen lots of material before. Keep it up!