How long should it take before I see oil at the rockers?

B

BlackRat

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Mar 27, 2008
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Ok the new Milodon oil pump is in. I started to prime the engine with and old shaft and housing. Made it about a minute and the shaft started sliping in the drill once I got resistance on the pump. I tightened the shaft again and it slipped again so I am going to go and rent one.
How long should it take before I see oil at the pushrods? Plastic oil guage line still shows no sign of oil even though it is plugged into the block just above the oil filter.

Thoughts??

Thanks
Wade
 
If you're using an old shaft, just grind a couple of flats on it. That should stop the slipping.

Getting resistance tells me the pump is working- it could take a few minutes to get oil coming out of the rockers. Your mechanical OP gauge should register as soon as it sees pressure- no oil required in the line- the air trapped in that line will make the gauge move by itself.
 
You know you are moving oil if the drill slips and starts to struggle.

You may get oil at some rockers and not others unless you rotate the engine.
 
There are two different "design" priming tools: one without and one with a collar - AutoZone has the one with collar, that's the one you want to use. They rent it at no charge, just a "deposit"....
 
TimAT said:
If you're using an old shaft, just grind a couple of flats on it. That should stop the slipping.

Getting resistance tells me the pump is working- it could take a few minutes to get oil coming out of the rockers. Your mechanical OP gauge should register as soon as it sees pressure- no oil required in the line- the air trapped in that line will make the gauge move by itself.
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Nothing at the mechanical guage. Needle never budged.:hissyfit: If the pump is turning and I feel resistance what else could be the problem. Is it a straight shot from the pump to the filter? Have I just not given it time? I don't understand how this could happen after 500 miles. Nothing has had time to wear.
 
Take the line off at the port above the filter. Leave it off. Turn the drill while someone watches for oil. That or you will hear it spurt out. Messy, but quick test.
 
big_G has a good idea- or take the line off the back of the gauge and stick it in a bucket- same result, but maybe less messy.

It'll take a bit to fill the filter and get pressure thru the system. Pressure is the resistance to flow, so all the passages and cavities have to be filled before pressure will show.

I'm still trying to get my head wrapped around what the problem could be. I know a SB has a plug in a passage just above the rear main cap, but I don't think a BB has that same plug.
 
Ok like I said. If it is something stupid, it will happen to me. I had these 2 things installed. Had not had any problems. As all of you know out of the blue I lost oil pressure. AFter renting the priming tool and priming for 10 minutes with no luck I was about to give up. Just for the heck of it I pulled these 2 peices off and reinstalled the stock filter adapter. Instantly I had oil pressure!!!!!!! I looked for clogs and saw nothing in these peices. So how in the world did they kill the OP!?!?!?!:hissyfit:

Now the big question when I get it started back up is, did I hurt the bearings??????:twitch:

trd-1350_w_s.jpg


mor-23775_w_s.jpg
 
The stock filter adapter broke on me so I replaced it with a billet adapter with no bypass. Essentially it is just a straight thru to the filter.
 
Couple of things going in your favor- it was just at idle, engine was not really warm, you caught it early, and the engine never really saw any load. All those, plus the fact you're using good quality oil probably saved the day.

Some 35 years ago there was a certain Vette that got a new engine under warranty- the original engine had a spun main. Took one main cap off, filed the tangs off the back of the bearing, OILED the back and dried the front. Ran for 20 minutes with the pan and oil pump on the bench. Got hot, locked up. Went back the next day and it started right up and ran for another 20 minutes- got hot and locked up again, made a really bad noise too.
Rep pulled the rest of the caps and they all still had oil in them and looked fine.
 
TimAT said:
Couple of things going in your favor- it was just at idle, engine was not really warm, you caught it early, and the engine never really saw any load. All those, plus the fact you're using good quality oil probably saved the day.

Some 35 years ago there was a certain Vette that got a new engine under warranty- the original engine had a spun main. Took one main cap off, filed the tangs off the back of the bearing, OILED the back and dried the front. Ran for 20 minutes with the pan and oil pump on the bench. Got hot, locked up. Went back the next day and it started right up and ran for another 20 minutes- got hot and locked up again, made a really bad noise too.
Rep pulled the rest of the caps and they all still had oil in them and looked fine.
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Thanks Tim. I kept priming till I got oil from all rockers. I spun the engine over with the starter and it sounded fine. No binding or unusual sounds. I guess tomorrow I will know for sure when I drop the distributor back in and fire it up.

I still don't understand exactly what happened and why.
 
BlackRat said:
I still don't understand exactly what happened and why.
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IMO you need to get to the bottom of this or you'll never be comfortable driving the car( I wouldn't ). There has to be an actual reason this happened.
Hopefully you did have pressure and "reading" it was the issue.
It sounds as if some of the components you removed fixed the problem or did it ?
Did these items block the pressure,block the reading of pressure or did they somehow cause the oil pump to loose its prime ?
I hope your problems are over but given your past luck I wonder. :confused2:
edit-( I would measure from oil pump to bottom of intake to be sure the dist drive is engaging the oil pump shaft securely-an anal suspicion I know)
 
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DWncchs said:
IMO you need to get to the bottom of this or you'll never be comfortable driving the car( I wouldn't ). There has to be an actual reason this happened.
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I agree. I know this is a frustrating thread to read. Imagine being the one working on it.:eek::smash:

I don't have an oil cooler. I was using this adapter simply for the 2 plugs so I had somewhere to screw in my oil temp guage. The black adapter was installed because the stock one cracked last year. This setup has been working fine for months. I even did my dyno runs back in august with this setup.

The mechanical oil line was screwed directly into the block "above" where the oil filter and adapters are during priming yesterday and never got oil after 10 minutes of turning the pump. This was with a new K&N filter installed. Once I remeved those peices and reinstalled a stock style bypass (Not the broken one) I got oil to the guage almost instantly. Doesn't oil hit that area before hitting the filter?

Is it possible or make any since that somekind of vacuum lock scenario was going on preventing oil from the pump to circulate? Not sure that even makes sense.
 
The cooler adapter can not be plugged, the oil has to flow through the adapter. You need to use a cooler or plumb it with a line connecting the two ports so the oil will have a path.

The one I have has an oil temp control built in it, it will bypass oil around the cooler until the engine reaches 180* than it will divert all the oil to the cooler.

Does your adapter have this function? This may be why you had oil pressure for a while.

Not sure how the oil was getting to the engine with the cooler adapter plugged.


Neal
 
496BBC said:
The cooler adapter can not be plugged, the oil has to flow through the adapter. You need to use a cooler or plumb it with a line connecting the two ports so the oil will have a path.

The one I have has an oil temp control built in it, it will bypass oil around the cooler until the engine reaches 180* than it will divert all the oil to the cooler.

Does your adapter have this function? This may be why you had oil pressure for a while.

Not sure how the oil was getting to the engine with the cooler adapter plugged.


Neal
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If this is the case then I built one hell of a bullit proof motor.. I hope.....:wink:
 
Here is an update and another couple of questions.:D I got everything put back together but the distributor in. While I had the valve covers off I checked the valve settings. All were right at .012 which is what I set them to cold last year before the dyno run. Being that they are all where they were can I safely assume that I did no damage to the cam?

I kept my mechanical guage this time and mounted it to the firewall. I am getting consistent 55 psi readings. unfortunately it appears that my electric guage inside the car is hosed up. It is pegged all the way to the right and does not move whether switch is on or off. Any ideas? At least now I know it is the guage.

Thanks
Wade
 
I'd have to say the valves being right where they were is a good sign- the cam get oil to it's bearings of course, but pretty much the rest of it is just what gets thrown up from the crank and leaks down past the lifters.

Your electric gauge- what happens when you disconnect the sender? Does it stay pegged or peg the other way? The normal gauge is only reading a variable ground- the resistance to ground is what drives the gauge.
 
TimAT said:
I'd have to say the valves being right where they were is a good sign- the cam get oil to it's bearings of course, but pretty much the rest of it is just what gets thrown up from the crank and leaks down past the lifters.

Your electric gauge- what happens when you disconnect the sender? Does it stay pegged or peg the other way? The normal gauge is only reading a variable ground- the resistance to ground is what drives the gauge.
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Tim,

It is staying pegged the whole time.
 
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