I have been trying to get oil up the pushrods via a priming rod but so far I can only get one rocker to squirt. The engine is a crate L82 4 bolt that has been sitting for 10 years. I am sure the lifters need pumping up but I already installed the intake to get the priming pump to fit correctly so I am kinda stuck. I have been turning the engine over with a torque wrench while using the priming rod and only one rocker squirts. The only other thing I can think of to try is to use the starter motor while using the priming rod. I heard that some of the priming rods are garbage and dont close off the passages correctly but I really dont want to modify my spare HEI to make another tool. The gear would have to be ground off and then something welded on top. Not my choice.

 

You are correct, if your priming tool doesn't have these 2 lands it will not seal off the oil passages that sends oil up to that one side.

 

Don't worry about it, the engine has to run to properly get each lifter to pump up and supply oil to the rockers. It will pump up fine once you start the engine and have oil pressure and motion.

 

 

My priming rod has those bosses but they may be loose. Would nice to see oil up there before i fire it up to make sure nothing is wrong with the engine. Now is the time to look at it altgough the intake is on. As far as pressure, its there with the drill on. Removed the pressure switch and it gushed out.

 

You're probably fine, but did you change the cam bearings? If the inside bearing isn't installed all the way, you will lose oil pressure to the top end.

 

I cranked the engine by hand a bit, then I raised the oil pressure again.
I repeated this several times, after which I got oil coming out of each push road

 

I bought the engine already built but since oil is coming out of one rod, the gallery must be semi ok. I tried the hand turn then pressure, next will be the starter motor and oil pressure.

 

On the last couple SBC engines I've rebuilt I had to run the drill with a cut-down distributor priming tool for quite a while to get oil to the rockers. Like you, I also turned the crank, probably 1/8 to 1/4 turn occasionally to allow oil into and through the lifters which is what oils the top end. Probably don't really need to mention this, but I do it all with the spark plugs out to make turning the engine over easier. I think that it's even more important when using the starter to crank the engine. I don't like to load the bearings with compression pressure until the engine is actually ready to fire up.

Lynn

 

Squirt oil into the center of each rocker arm and fire it up.

 

Squirt oil into the center of each rocker arm and fire it up.

 

I dont think i can continue the engine build until i get all lifters to show oil. I used the starter and the primer rod, still only only rocker working. I did notice something on the primer rod spool, the diameter is the same but the spool is spread out vs the hei. Not sure if that spread could cause the galley not getting blocked off. I do have an extra hei but dont want to ruin it to make a priming rod. Its either that or the intake has to come off. Any ideas?

 

By chance can you switch the Distributor gear with the one on the priming tool ? If so then you could probably use the HEI to prime it with out ruining it. The last Engine I built I primed for close to an hour before I got oil to most but not all Rockers its been running fine.

 

Your over thinking it. Its fine. Besides using the priming tool, you should be rotating the engine at the same time. BUT, put distributor in, take pugs out, disable fuel and spark, and crank the engine for a few seconds, then cool off a few seconds. Do this a few times and consider it done!

 

Start it up.

 

Before deciding to "Just Start it Up" - might I suggest doing a few other checks.... (To me the fact that you have oil coming out of one rocker is more concerning than having no oil from any rocker...)

A number of years ago - I was building a SBC, and one rocker was just not seeing any oil. I did a lot of checking, and found that a bit of the cylinder head casting was hanging one pushrod up a touch, and it was very close to the top of the lifter - but not touching, so no oil was flowing up through that pushrod.

I would start by removing the oil pressure sender - and hooking up a good old fashioned oil pressure gauge. Make sure that you are seeing a min of 30 psi with the drill turning the priming tool.

Then run the priming tool for a solid minute or so - try to rotate the engine at least 180 degrees during that prime session. Now - pull out each pushrod - after a minute of seeing oil pressure - you should have each pushrod more or less filled with oil, so when you pull them - a significant amount of oil should drain out of each pushrod. (My bet is that is not going to be the case.). If you had little or no oil in the pushrod - then you need to see if oil is coming out of the top of the lifter, so more oil pump priming - while holding the lifter against the camshaft - and verifying that each lifter is supplying oil out of the little recess the pushrod sits in. If it is - the pushrods may be clogged up, or they may not be making good contact against the lifter . If oil is not coming out the top of the lifter - see if swapping the lifter around matters (you know you have one lifter that is working correctly - as you had one rocker getting oil... Does the issue move with the lifter - or does it stay in place ???

 

I would just start it. It ain't gonna hurt anything to run it for a minute if the rockers aren't getting oil (especially if you pre-lube 'em) and it'll very likely....get oil w/in that minute and you can move on.

 

I dont really care about the dry start aspect. I care about the functionally of the oiling system. This was a crate motor that sat for over a decade so I want to make sure a rat turd is not stuck in the galley. I had a 350 el camino that hosed the engine due to lack of front bearing lube because chevy put the sending unit next to the oil pump, not at the end of the gallery where my #1 bearing hosed. I cant just fire up the engine, only lower intake is installed. I am at the stage where I need to make the decision whether or not to add all of the tons of parts (injection) to complete the engine. The rocker that is getting oil is the last #7(by the pump) and it pours oil out while engine is turned over. I have read that if the priming rod is not a perfect fit you will never get oil to the lifters. As far as moving the lifter around, the intake is on and I really dont want to remove it, I did a decent job installing it. Pulling the rockers isnt on the top of my list either, it was adjusted, when I bought it, guy said it ran. So my thoughts for things to try are:
1. Try a better fitting priming rod
2. Put the HEI in the engine and use the starter motor to turn it over.
3. Look with flashlight to see if tops of lifters are oil soaked (I think they are) while priming
4. Put a pressure gauge on sending unit (not sure what it should be with a drill motor on it)while priming.

p.s. is there another place far away from the oil pump where I can also check the oil pressure.

 

I didnt build the engine in the el camino, was original so I didnt f;it up. Said it had oil pressure but since I was on the freeway doing 70mph, #1 bearing starved at the high speed and wasted the engine.
Lots of engines like mopars have the pump in the front and the sending units at the back of the gallery so that they know the pressure is a full run.

 

I primer rodded a few different new/rebuilt SBCs and never got any oil to the top end no matter how long I primed. Wasn't an issue. Once it fired up, they all squirted within a minute. If you are worried about it, dump some new oil over the top end and into the valley over the lifters. Fire it up!!