No oil at 4.3L pushrods!

[Volphin]

5 hrs on this build, pulled VC on starboard side for a ticking roller rocker arm. Readjusted it, but then something told me something wasn't right. Yep, only the first pushrod is pumping oil! WTH? It hasn't even had it's first oil change yet! Pressure shows good at the gauge. These are the roller lifters that are new, and a comp cam. Haven't pulled the port side yet. I'm going to pull a few pushrods to ensure the oil passages are clear. Any ideas? No odd sounds from the engine.

 

[Volphin]

Pushrods are clear. One rocker is seized on the stud. Gonna hit it with some penetrating oil.

 

[jimmbo]

Defective batch of lifters? Incorrect Lifters? Who rebuilt the engine?

 

[Volphin]

I did. LOL She was oiling fine on running valve adjustment after the build and during her test runs. Late last season I developed a rocker tick and put her up thinking I would just adjust in the spring. There seems to be a little oil in the bilge too. Maybe an oil plug backed out on the block??? IDK.

 

[Volphin]

I'm so mad I took the day off to beat it into submission!

 

[Silvertip]

No oiling up top + oil in the bilge = immediately check oil pressure. No/low pressure means no oil up top.

 

[flipbro]

Pushrods are clear. One rocker is seized on the stud. Gonna hit it with some penetrating oil.

If it's seized from lack of oil pb blaster isn't going to fix it. Sounds like a plugged oil galley. Who built it?

 

[Volphin]

No, it's not going to fix it. LOL But it may loosen the bond with a little heat. I have oil pressure, lots of it. Just no oil from 11 of 12 pushrods on that bank. The oil level is fine too. Oil condition is good. I was reading somewhere that if the 4.3 distributor is not oriented properly that it can effect oiling. It's possible I guess? I always set the timing by ear/throttle response. The only other thing I can think of besides cam bearings (HIGHLY unlikely) is that an oil gallery plug has worked loose and is bleeding off the pressure from the starboard gallery. I've built lots of engines and this is the first time anything like this has ever happened.

 

[flipbro]

Did you replace the front 3 oil galley plugs in the front under the timing chain cover and the 3 in the back of block? Is it possible you pushed or spun them in to far and covered the oil hole just behind them? Just a thought..

 

[Volphin]

I had a stern discussion with this engine tonight:
I explained...
"What we've got here is failure to communicate.
Some engines you just can't reach...
So, you get what we had here today, which is the way she wants it!
Well, she gets it!
I don't like it any more than you do."

[FONT=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Now, that said, I did what any good wrench would do. I drank some beer and studied some schematics.
Believe it or not, SBC is the easiest puppy to build, although far from my normal engine of choice.
So it has to be something simple. It's not like I haven't done these before. Pushrod engines. BAH.
As I was studying the oil galleries and the flow of oil, I was reminded of something my instructors told me decades ago.
Eliminate the simple things first. Where does oil go after it is pumped from the sump? The oil filter, then on to the galleries.
This cheap-o oil filter looks very guilty too, what with the ink fading off of it and all. Hmmmm.
Somewhere WAY back in me noggin tells me this was supposed to be a temp filter because I use K&N for oil filters.
I can only imagine the cam lube, engine assembly grease and whatnot in that media.
So, I'm going to pull it off and give her a fresh transfusion. I'll clean up the rockers and retest.

And drink some more too.[/FONT]

 

[Volphin]

Did you replace the front 3 oil galley plugs in the front under the timing chain cover and the 3 in the back of block? Is it possible you pushed or spun them in to far and covered the oil hole just behind them? Just a thought..

If that was the case, there would have been no rocker oiling when the engine was primed with a drill on the stand, and none at startup and subsequent valve adjustment. See my suspicions above.

And thanks for your input! Sometimes the heat gets to this old man and he doesn't think straight.

 

[jimmbo]

You said you had oil lots of oil pressure. The oil sender is downstream of the filter so a clogged filter should cause the oil pressure to read low. It won't however as there is a bypass to allow unfiltered oil through in case of a plugged filter. The engine gets lots of oil, just unfiltered, which might just might contaminate the lifters.
My 2002 5.7 VP had a remote oil filter added. The input and output hoses were swapped at installation. Oil filter had a drainback(check) valve. It worked real good and kept oil from entering the filter, the bypass also worked as intended. At 115 hr, the engine sounded like it had mechanical lifters, oil filter was cold, even after 2 hrs running. Dealer admitted installation mistake and tore engine down. Pistons and rings worn, crank bearings worn, camshaft bearings almost gone, Con rod bearings almost non existent, and lifters very badly worn where the cam contacted. I received a new engine at no cost. Dealer ate the cost.

 

[NHGuy]

Vol, post this on hotrodders.com. Those guys do engines all the time, I bet a few of them have had this happen.

 

[NHGuy]

Found a guy with a similar problem.

Ahh, it won't paste..he found rtv in the oil galleys! Maybe it dropped in the oil sender hole when installing the intake.


locking the main oil passage. I removed the silicone and I now have oil to the lifters. Now I am wondering where the silicone came from and if there is any more anywhere else. The guy at the local machine told me that he doesn't thing it would be from the intake rails. He said that it could be in the oil pan but he doesn't think it would get past the screen on the pickup. The only other thing I can figure and he said it was possible is if I didn't have the oil sending unit plugged when I installed the intake and silicone fell down into there. Thanks for trying to help guys.

ok, removed the engine today. I removed the three plugs on the back of the engine and found a piece of rtv silicone blocking the main oil passage. I removed the silicone and I now have oil to the lifters. Now I am wondering where the silicone came from and if there is any more anywhere else. The guy at the local machine told me that he doesn't thing it would be from the intake rails. He said that it could be in the oil pan but he doesn't think it would get past the screen on the pickup. The only other thing I can figure and he said it was possible is if I didn't have the oil sending unit plugged when I installed the intake and silicone fell down into there. Thanks for trying to help guys.