No oil pressure after changing rockers

Having a difficult time getting oil pressure on my engineI. I changd the rocker arms and pushrods and try to prime the engine. Are use the long Allan key tool on a drill in reverse while I turned over the engine. At about 290 degrees had some oil coming out of the drivers side rocker shaft (I couldn’t see any coming out of the rockers so I remove the Allen key at the end of the shaft) and then I turned it over more and had lots of oil coming out of the passenger side rocker shaft. Opened the dhafyvthere too

Reassembled everything started the engine still had no oil pressure

I’ve done this a couple times and no pressure. I am not sure what I’m doing wrong

Do you have no oil pressure or no oil to the rockers? The rocker shaft feeds are timed on the #4 cam bearing and a cross drill hole in the camshaft journal.

turn the dampener to 90 deg (1/4 turn) before TDC #1 compression (& there should be (3) partial slits in addition to the full TDC slit to make that easy) & preoil & the pass head should be oiling then turn the dampener to 20 deg ATDC #6 compression (use the timing tab as a ruler) & preoil & the drivers head should be oiling. As you know, CW with the drill. EDIT I plumb a cheap psi gauge into the top rear block NPT port to see how much pressure I actually have.

If there is no pressure on the gauge while you're running the priming tool, this is not likely related to the rockers.

Figure out why there is no pressure before starting the motor again.

I had originally primed the engine with the drill in forward FYI

I changed the oil and filter

I took off the oil pump to check if the pressure release was stuck, but it slid back and forth easily

There isnt any pressure with the drill I will switch to a mechanical gauge to double check

You will feel the pressure in a hand drill when you get pressure. If none, it will feel like the drill is free-wheeling. When you get pressure, it will torque the drill in your hand. You can tell without a gauge when you have pressure and when you don't. Do you have the oil holes in the rocker shaft facing the correct direction?

HS rocker shafts have oil holes top and bottom.

I was concerned about that as well. Here is what they look like but it doesnt look like I can screw that up.

you had good oil pressure before you changed the rockers. I can't imagine the rockers doing it. You look to see all the rockers are going up and down. I have seen a lifter jump out give you 0 oil pressure.

Yes Good oil pressure before.
Good question as I pulled a roller lifter to look when I thought I had another issue
I adjusted all the valves and all moved up and down

You are spinning the oil pump priming tool counter clockwise with the drill motor, correct?
Sometimes they, different motors, will take a lot longer to prime than others.
You had oil coming out of the passenger shaft so you had oil pressure then
What changed from then to now?

You ran the drill backwards and emptied the pick up tube is what I think happened.

If you're using the same filter you had on it when you ran the drill backwards, try a different one.
Do a semi-fill of the new filter before installing it...... Try repriming....... Counter clockwise rotation.

Also, you pulled the pump off.
If the pump to block gasket is damaged around the pick up hole it'll just suck air instead of oil.

Please let us know what the solution to your problem is...as I am thinking about roller rockers and pushrods too!

Mark

We have seen a drop in oil pressure after installing H/S and other rollerized rockers since they tend to bleed more oil off quicker.Check the shaft saddle in the head and make sure that it's seated and not bleeding off there.Them try shims on ether side of each rocker to contain the oil in the rockers.A good check is to remove the rockers and run the drill and see the oil come out of the head stand this is the best way to determine if the rockers are the issue.If you don't have flow and pressure look elsewhere.Make sure the undercut shaft hold down bolts are in the correct hole.How much oil pressure did you have to begin with before the swap?

It had HS rockers on it before, it's only a ratio change.

Agreed, you will feel the drill torque when it catches/builds pressure & you gotta go CW. I add the gauge cuz I want to know that I have enough psi.

CW is for small blocks. CCW for big blocks.

Oh I thought this was a SB the OP was dealing with. If not then yes my bad.

spin drill counter clock wise

Forward rotation on a drill is clockwise. Wrong direction for a big block.

I think your main problem is that big round thing hanging off the front of your engine. Send it to me , I'll pay the postage. LOL Other than that, you had oil at both rockers, did you re-fill the new filter with oil? you do have oil in the crank case right? I would look at the oil pump gasket sucking air. Try priming again .

FYI to line up the passages for the heads to oil (big block), turn the dampener to TDC #6 firing & preoil one bank then back up CCW the dampener 3/4 turn (to #8 TDC firing) & preoil again for the other bank. Cut a strip of paper 17.082" to use as a ruler on your dampener if needed to go from #6 back to #8.

did you ever figure it out

OK back at it today
I had lots of oil coming out the shafts and then with the plug back in, thru the rockers. But I still can hold the drill with one hand, not feeling like much pressure. I didnt start it to check, (electric gauge and cant see it and rill at the same time)

If you can hold the drill with one hand you dont have much oil at or in the pump. you are 100% turning it anticlockwise ??

Yes I double check each time I try and prime it, But I assume it wouldnt come out the rockers shafts if I had it in forward, Is that Right?

IIRC 70 lbs

Correct, but if it is coming out of the shafts the drill should be trying to break your wrist, something strange here.

Any word on what fixed your oiling problem?

Your nuts are on upside down. The first picture looks like no plug in the end of the shaft

do you use a swinging pick-up or static in the pan?

You could of called a few locals to come over and sit in the car and watch the oil pressure gauge even if it is not a Mechanical gauge. I have run some what of the same set up years and years ago. I restricted the oil to the heads because of it being roller everything. What oil pump are you running, there is always an improvement there that can be done. What oil are you running. If this is just a rocker change go back and read B.G.Racing post. If you have not solved your problem by the time your read this post, there are plenty of locals that can come and give you a hand within a hour of were you live.

Stupid question but are you sure the oil holes in the shaft are pointed up?

I didn't read all the posts (yet) but you could get a mech gauge & some cheap plumbing fittings & plumb the gauge into the oil psi sender 1/8 NPT port so you can see it while priming. As said with pressure you will feel it on the drill even with light oil.

If there is oil running out the ends of the shafts and no plugs were installed that would be the issue."big holes"

I think he had the plugs both in and out and yes, if the plugs on the shaft are not in the shafts, there's the open.

This question was answered on the first page. A question to you, Why would you want the shaft holes up?

I thought that's the way I remember them going, it's been a while.

Most aftermarket have shafts drilled top and bottom , original stock only have one side drilled, it is to be installed down for rocker lubrication.

We got it all sorted out. It was a gauge issue. It is running decent pressure now, after the rocker shafts had the oil pouring out. Running proper pressure again.

Thank you all for the Help.

I did not feel the "wrist twisting" as described but it did read decent pressure with the drill and then I started and its running good pressure


I am going too mock up a second mechanical gauge in the engine bay instead of just the electric gauge in the interior. You cannot be inside the car and in the engine bay at the same time, so I was reliant on my son to read the gauges for me while I was priming

An easy way to do that is to place unplugged drill and shaft in the pump, use wire to turn drill switch on and then go to where you can see gauge and then plug your drill in. You can basically be in both places at once. It works!!

Auto shut off when the drill winds up and pulls the cord out of then wall.