I have my 392 Hemi running. Seemed to be running well. The problem that I seem to have is, when I let it sit for a couple of days there is valve train noise on the passenger side for 10 to 15 seconds at initial startup. It then goes away. When I pulled the valve cover the exhaust rockers look to be oiling but the intakes are pretty dry. I pulled the system and checked to see that the shafts and rockers are installed correctly. I blew air through all the passages and get no restriction. I filled the shafts with oil and reinstalled the rockers and still have the same problem. Any ideas?
The first pic is the exhaust rockers that are getting oil. The second pic is the intakes.
Arno

Intakes

If the exhaust shaft is getting oil,but nothing to the intake shaft, then the hole in the intake shaft is not lined up with the oil feed hole in the stand.

That sounds like it could be the problem. I loosened all the rockers and slid them down the shafts to make sure the oil holes and grooves were in the right place. I'm taking it that that does not garantee that the oil hole is lined up in the stand correctly?
Arno

If they are stock shafts, check to make sure the holes in the end (where the cotter key would normally go) are straight up and down. Other than that I think you would have to pull the assembly off to take a look at the oil hole alignment.

OK,I pulled the rocker assy to check out the oil hole alignment. The oiling hole is aligned with the rocker shaft. I can see it with a small light and I took my caliper and measured from the base of the rocker stand to the underside of the shaft(see photo). That is 1.230. I then measured from the bottom of the rocker stand down inside the oiling hole and came up with 1.830. By examining the rockers a little closer and looking at TR's photo it appears as though the intake rockers should get oil first. I again shot air through the rocker stand oiling hole and got air from each of the individual intake rockers oiling holes. I'm confused, these things should be oiling unless I'm not getting enough volume coming through. But even then, the intakes should get oil first. Hmmmm. Any other thoughts?
Arno

subscribed

I have now checked the rocker assembliy a second time and everything appears in order. The oiling holes are all clear and line up. I then thought that maybe the oiling hole may be misaligned between the rocker stand and the head. After some careful measuring, it appears to be spot on. So now I'm starting to think the issue is farther down in the motor. Maybe a lifter galley plug was left out behind the timing cover? I wouldn't think I would get any oil to the head at that point, or would I? I am getting some. The oiling to the head comes from a cam journal I believe. Maybe the cam bearing is misaligned with the oiling hole? I have never had one of these motors torn all the way down so if any of you has, I'm open to all ideas.
Thanks
Arno

I've not had an old Hemi torn down, but all the other Mopar motors that oil the rocker shafts through the cam bearing only send oil up through the port once every revolution, when the cam port lines up with the oil port in the bearing.
If the cam bearing was incorrectly installed, the oil hole may be only partially open, which would restrict the amount of oil getting up to the rocker shafts.

What concerns me is that the design of the oil ports in the rocker shaft should oil the upper rocker first, but is not. I bought a new Chrysler 360 block once that only had the oil passage through the block drilled part way. The way I discovered that was on a long trip with the fresh motor, I bent the push rod on either #1 or #8 cylinder (can't remember which). What I thought was oil flow turned out to be oil splash from the cam/ lifter area. Motor had very high idle oil pressure. No oil was coming through the rocker shaft. There was enough splash to lube the rockers around town, but the long highway trip prevented the mostly splash protected rocker on that one cylinder from getting enough lube and tightened up enough to bend the push rod. I had to pull down the motor and finish drilling the oil passage through the block and replace the rocker shaft and the rockers and push rods on that one cylinder.

The reason I wrote all of this is because I want to know if the oil you see on the lower rocker shafts is from the oiling system or oil splash from the cam & lifter area? Pull the rocker shaft, pull the dist, turn the oil pump with a drill and a pre-lube tool, and rotate the motor at least 2 full revolutions. If the oil passages are open, there will be no doubt, oil will shoot out of the passage at oil pressure force. Once fixed, the oil shot out of the oil passage on each side past the front tire on my 35 sedan. I'm betting the oil hole in the cam bearing is not lined up with the oil hole in the block and the oil you are seeing on your lower rocker shaft is from splash.
Sorry Gene

The way the hemi head is designed, there are no openings for any splash to enter. There are also no plugs under the timing cover. The cam plate covers the end of the main oil galleys. What kind of oil pressure does the engine have? Is this a hydraulic cam?

As TR says, there is really no way for splash to get up there, so some oil must be making it through. I get 75 lbs when I first start it, and 50lbs warm. It is a hydraulic cam. The ticking noise, when the motor has not been started in a couple of days, made me think that the lifters were not getting sufficent oil, which led me to a possible galley plug missing. I have built a Mopar small block and I forgot the hidden plug under the distributor. Now that makes some noise! I am currently planning on bolting the head on without the rocker assy and priming the pump and spinning the motor again to see how much oil comes out of the oil supply hole. I'm guessing it should shoot out pretty good spinning the pump at 800 rpm. If that looks weak I guess I will be pulling the cam.
Thank you guys for all suggestions!
Arno

Without the rockers on the head, you might want to run a wire down into the oil supply hole.... to make sure there isnt a head gasket blockage issue.

Thanks TR. I neglected to mention that I have done that. A friend also mentioned that there could be a piece of debris or some silicone that may have gotten into the passage and partially blocked it. He suggested blowing air backwards through the oil passage. I think I will remove the oil filter adapter tomorrow and try blowing air from the head through the oil passage and out of the block.
Arno

Well, I decided to pull the head today. Checked the head gasket alignment. It looked fine. I took a piece of brake line and put it into the oil passage in the block. When it got near the cam it ran into something spongy. My guess is a chunck of silicone. I put my shop vac on it and it was still there. I decided to prime the system with a drill again to see if it would blow out. I spun the motor while priming to get to the proper oiling location and at first oil was just kind of dribbling out of the hole. I rocked the motor back and forth a couple of times and I got a steady stream about 3" tall. I rocked the motor some more and all of a sudden the oil was shooting out 3'. I'm hoping this cleared the blockage. I will put the head back on with the rocker assy and prime the motor again. This will tell me if I now am getting oil to the intake rockers.

Sounds like you got it.

And some day you'll find an oily booger on the other side of the garage wondering where it came from.

glad you found it arno ! but i would wonder just how many other sillycone boogers are floating around in there and just where did it originate from ? that would bug me a bunch !

I almost never use RTV wen I build an engine, you have experience why now. I'll run a file across mating surfaces if need be and spray my gaskets with copper spray if need be. The only places I'll put a tiny bit of RTV is the corners of a multipiece gasket (intake and oil pan).

Any update?

Just got the new head gasket yesterday. I will hopefully get to put it back together on Sunday barring any more trips to the ER with my Dad. Spent a good portion of the day there Friday. Fourth time in the last 2 months.
Arno

Sorry to hear that. Hope that he's doing well. I still would love a ride in your car.

Got the Hemi all put together today. Spun the oil pump with the valve covers off and am getting good oil to all the rockers. Ran it for about half an hour. Sounds good! Not sure if I will pull the covers one more time just to take a peek. Thanks everyone for suggestions and comments. It sure is nice having a board to bounce ideas off of.

Phew ! That's good to hear.

Cool, thanks for the video. Looking forward to building mine someday.

I am glad to hear that you found the problem and have it fixed Arno.

Mark