FE-FC Holden Discussion Forum

G'day all, I've had my wings clipped in the wagon, it seems to be a bit more clattery & noisy than our other greys  >:(

On inspection of the rocker gear while the engine is running there is no oil coming out of the feed line  :o

Removed the side plate and the oil feed line to make sure of no blockages & it's clear, stuck wire down the hole in the block, sprayed with WD40, blew it out with air, started her up with the covers off...........still no oil  :P

Anyone got any suggestions before I pull the motor & take it back to the bloke that rebuilt it  ???

Ta Gary

Gary, other guys on here may disagree with me, but I would be biting the bullet & pulling it out. Heard too many horror stories of crook oil pumps & blocked oil galleries.
Colin.

Gary, reread your post. Have you tried starting it with the oil line removed? Maybe the block in the rocker shaft is blocked?

Gary,

Rather than run your engine with no oil pressure I would remove the distributor and make up a shaft that can be run off an electric drill. Essentially this is an old distributor that has had the gear removed or turned down so that it doesnt engage the camshaft.

This will prevent any further damage until such time as you can ascertain why there is no oil pressure. From this point I would remove one of the camshaft gallery screws (that is removed to connect the oil filter) and see if you can get oil to flow out of the gallery. If you still cannot get oil to flow from the gallery then I would be removing the motor and returning it to the person that built it.

I once had an issue with an exchange red motor that I fitted and couldn't get oil pressure on. Turned out that the crank hadn't been cleaned out after the crank was ground and it was still full of carbon, metal grindings and emery dust. Ruined all the bearings in the engine as well as the new camshaft  >:(

Keith
F4 ;)

Gary

I forgot to add to check to see if there is any debris that comes out of the engine when you remove the cam gallery plug. This may give an indication of any damage already done or residue that has been left behind.

Keith
F4 ;)

Thanks for the tip Keith, I will try the plug/s you suggest, but I do have oil pressure, double checked it by removing the feed line to the guage, pumps out well, although it's possible that there may be other supply issues inside.

The problem seems to be confined to the supply of oil to the feeder line in the block that goes up to the rocker gear.

Gary

Hi Colin, didn't notice your reply! no we pulled the rocker gear of & had a look at the brass block, it's all clear & so is the line, have run the motor with the oil line off, still no oil coming out down the bottom.

As far as the oil pump is concerned, I supplied the engine rebuilder with a heap of parts, including new oil pump gears.

I think I am just about out of options, may have to pull it out   :'( 

Gary,

Seeing how you already have oil pressure to the bottom end then from memory there is a camshaft bearing that has two oil holes and this supplies oil to the rocker gear. The correct camshaft bearing may not have been installed where it needs to go or may not have been lined up with the holes correctly.

Maybe there is someone that has Grey Engine disassembled that could check and confirm that the oil feed from the camshaft has the two holes in the bearing

Keith
 ;) F4

Hey Gary.
Sorry to hear your having a few issues.
My advice would be to call Mal and ask him around for a look.  ;)
Regards
Alex

Mal was kind enough to already have had a look Alex, I've done what he suggested plus a few other things.

I have a pulled down motor in shed Keith, although in the book, it mentions that the feed is supplied via a groove in the camshaft that slings it somewhere or other, I know where I'd like to sling it!

I suspect the cam bearing has turned preventing the oil passing through the 2 holes or the groove is completely clogged. This motor was evidently recod several years ago but only started up recently.

Mal.

Well, just got the donk back in & running, I suppose just inside a month to R&R an engine is pretty slow going, but a lot of other stuff has been happening in between.

The bloke that originally reconditioned it only had it for 4 or 5 days. He sheepishly admitted that he had installed the cam bearing that feeds the rocker gear upside down & supplied & fitted new ones at no cost.

There was a little bit of oil up there, this must have somehow splashed up there, we had done about 500 miles before pulling it out, luckily we trailered it to Mt Gambier.

So hopefully it will be back on the road soon  :)

Just as well at no cost ;D ;D ;D

cheers
John

We're all due some luck sometimes Gary, I am pleased that your motor is ok.

Hard to understand an experienced rebuilder making a mistake like that though.

Cheers
JOhn