440 Engine No Oiling To Rocker Shafts

[Auggie56]

OK like I said it will be late next week till I get back out there to follow up with everyone's information. I just needed some extra encouragement here. I'll get back to you with what I found.

Many thanks for all who posted.

 

[Mike67]

Tried it both ways the valley had high flow of oil in it one way only.

It has to be counter clockwise and may take a bit for it to pick up & get all the air out..
I recommend using a 1/2 drill as well.

 

[66Satellite47]

The cam bearing needs to be checked both from the bottom and the top for oil flow. Ya the drill sure has to be in reverse. OOPs done that wrong. My 1/2" Milwaukee drill motor has also tried to break my arm a few times!

 

[BeepBeepRR]

One problem I had and got no oil to the top of the engine was I missed a plug inside the timing cover that you have to put in from the bottom. I missed that plug and the oil pump would pump oil straight up. and then dump it right back into the oil pan.

This is easy to miss for first time engine guys. And I thought I was very thorough when I built the engine.. Just missed this plug. Its pretty much right above the cam hole behind the timing cover.

 

[66Satellite47]

One problem I had and got no oil to the top of the engine was I missed a plug inside the timing cover that you have to put in from the bottom. I missed that plug and the oil pump would pump oil straight up. and then dump it right back into the oil pan.

This is easy to miss for first time engine guys. And I thought I was very thorough when I built the engine.. Just missed this plug. Its pretty much right above the cam hole behind the timing cover.

View attachment 1267473

Ya, that would surely be a problem. The crank & rods won't get any either.

 

[BeepBeepRR]

Ya, that would surely be a problem. The crank & rods won't get any either.

Sadly I ran the engine for like 3 minutes or so thinking all was well. Ended up replacing all bearings. $250.00 oops. Although when I pulled the bearings very minimal problems with them but I replaced them just to be safe. I had a crap ton of money invested was not going to ruin the engine for 250 bucks worth of bearings.

 

[66Satellite47]

Bearings are fairly inexpensive. Crankshafts not so much. My 1st drag motor, 426W stalled a few times on the return road. Burned oil smoke. Pulled the valve covers, a lifter out of the bore. Towed the car 350 miles home, pulled the motor, had to chisel the bearings off the crank. Took it direct to the dumpster & started building my 1st 440.

 

[MOPAR MARTY]

This is beyond frustration. I had a shop West of Cleveland who claimed to be highly experienced in this engine. I couldn't find anyone local to do the work and any of the suggested shops were much further away plus that 440 shop in the Detroit area only does the work unless they do a hundred percent rebuild.

So here's my tale: I have a a nine year history on Mopars in the seventies so I'm hardly a shade tree mechanic. This engine is out of a motor home and I went through it completely. Once I replaced the worn parts, new old stock oil pump, checked the pressure valve operation and it performed as designed. I was pretty sure she would be ready to go. However before I put it in the car I used that oil pump drive shaft tool and a hand drill to see how the oiling would work. It didn't, only a trickle came from number four two lifters? I pulled the heads and the oil galley from the block to heads where dry. I tore the engine down and found no oil was getting through due to the cam bearing associated with the block oil passages block due to miss installed bearings. Drilled both sides out, reassembled the engine. Again using the oil pump drive I had a torrent of oil in the valley but none into the rocker shafts. I pulled the heads, used a coat hangar and probed the oil galleys in the heads. I found they didn't go strait through, but with shop air I had air circulation. What stumps me is why? I have to wait till late next week to get back on it.

Many thanks

i too had oiling issues my old stock pump quit . i went to the local federated/road propoarts store & got a MELLING oil pump now i have 75# running 65 on the highway & around 50 @ idle maybe yur nos one has something plugged up u may want to try tock auto put in the year (I used 1970 chrysler new yorker , they all had 440s in them . ) now the motor home motor u got . what size plugs r in it ? 5/8 " or 13/16" most had the 5/8" for better oiling those r low compression heads & sould be milled a min of 25 thousands thar should get the compression close to 9-1

 

[Archie Duiker]

This is beyond frustration. I had a shop West of Cleveland who claimed to be highly experienced in this engine. I couldn't find anyone local to do the work and any of the suggested shops were much further away plus that 440 shop in the Detroit area only does the work unless they do a hundred percent rebuild.

So here's my tale: I have a a nine year history on Mopars in the seventies so I'm hardly a shade tree mechanic. This engine is out of a motor home and I went through it completely. Once I replaced the worn parts, new old stock oil pump, checked the pressure valve operation and it performed as designed. I was pretty sure she would be ready to go. However before I put it in the car I used that oil pump drive shaft tool and a hand drill to see how the oiling would work. It didn't, only a trickle came from number four two lifters? I pulled the heads and the oil galley from the block to heads where dry. I tore the engine down and found no oil was getting through due to the cam bearing associated with the block oil passages block due to miss installed bearings. Drilled both sides out, reassembled the engine. Again using the oil pump drive I had a torrent of oil in the valley but none into the rocker shafts. I pulled the heads, used a coat hangar and probed the oil galleys in the heads. I found they didn't go strait through, but with shop air I had air circulation. What stumps me is why? I have to wait till late next week to get back on it.

Many thanks

Have you checked to make sure the rocker shafts are installed correctly? The oil holes are at a 15 degree angle. They need to be at the bottom, 15 degrees toward the exhaust manifolds.

 

[John Hogan]

Really good video on this subject

 

[66Satellite47]

Great point, check everything!

 

[Weggie]

What? Seriously

Yes when I took my RB 426 apart the previous owner had the rocker arm tube in improperly so the rockers were not being oiled properly.

 

[Auggie56]

Have you checked to make sure the rocker shafts are installed correctly? The oil holes are at a 15 degree angle. They need to be at the bottom, 15 degrees toward the exhaust manifolds.

I did, thanks for your input.

 

[Auggie56]

Really good video on this subject

Pretty informative John, thanks. My cam is a new Jeggs cam, ground for this low compression engine per their engine/cam tech. Oil pump was NOS recommended for all big blocks in the sixties if I recall. It was the first thing I took apart fully and found no debris inside, relief valve nice and free, cleaned it reassembled and reinstalled. After I found the two top holes blocked in the can bearing, where I had only a trickle of oil, re-drilled them and had a torrent of oil from the lifter valley. I'm afraid to say I didn't go any further and reassembled the engine only to have the present problem, no oil at the rockers. Looks like the pistons and crank needs to comeback out, where I'm sure after taking to you guys I'll find that miss installed number four cam bearing is still a problem. Many thanks for you time gentlemen. If it's warm this weekend I'll let you know.

 

[33 IMP]

@Auggie56 , if you pull the rocker shafts off the heads, do you have oil coming out of the head passage?
I agree, I think the bottom hole in the #4 cam bearing is your problem.

 

[Master Gunner]

Another thing to check is the oil passage in the block to the cam bearing. Some machinist's don't know that mopars oil thru these passages and don't run a bottle brush the passage after machining the block.

Mark

 

[66Satellite47]

Ya, a thorough bottle brushing is required on all the passages. That cam bearing can be a pain. When I rebuilt my 1st drag motor, 426W we noticed the #4 cam bearing was slightly off. Maybe less than 1/4 of the hole diameter. It had good oil pressure but we replaced all the cam bearings. We were real careful on all the motors we did after that. And made sure that little bottle brush went through nice & easy.

 

[Auggie56]

Ya, a thorough bottle brushing is required on all the passages. That cam bearing can be a pain. When I rebuilt my 1st drag motor, 426W we noticed the #4 cam bearing was slightly off. Maybe less than 1/4 of the hole diameter. It had good oil pressure but we replaced all the cam bearings. We were real careful on all the motors we did after that. And made sure that little bottle brush went through nice & easy.

I did that brush thing after the block was cleaned, but didn't post cam bearings.

 

[Auggie56]

OK, tore her down today and found I must have drilled all three oil passages in that number four cam bearing. I took a fine piece of wire and probed all oil holes and found none blocked, block, crank and cam included. So it looks like since I didn't turn the rotating parts (cam shaft four journal) when I tested for oil pressure was the problem. I'm glad I did tear her down so I know for sure all holes are clear. Now for another hundred bucks of gaskets and I can retest and finish assembly.

Many thanks for everyones input.

 

[Daves69]

I can't seem to find where I actually found this way back. Maybe you can verify during your reassembly.......

Out of the box, maybe check your lifter/bore clearances.