The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop 54' full pressure 235 oil question.

I installed a 54' 235 into a 1940 1/2 ton. It has a can type external filter. I read about routing the return line from the filter to the orifice in the head opposite the carb. I understand this was a common fix I'm concerned about the amount of oil getting to the top end. So, is there any reason to NOT return the oil from the filter to the top end rather than it just dumping back into the pan? Oil is coming out onto the rockers but to me it seems like there should be more. I don't want to pull the rack off. maybe a good engine flush. I've cleaned the pan, ect.

Only a little oil is needed at the rocker-arms.

I plumb the oil filter on the manifold side of the block.

The rockers need to only dribble oil onto the rockers to lube the tip and cool the springs and lube the ball adjuster and pushrod cup. Are you getting oil out of the no. 1 and 6 exhaust rockers (the end rockers)?

Mike’s question is important.

And, you might as well look for oil dripping down on all rockers.

The (simple) solution to that problem is to take the rocker arm assembly off (apart) and clean out the tubes and drip holes.

Sorry for not replying sooner. I'm having password issues.
Thanks for your responses. I may be over cautious. I'm getting oil out of all the weep holes. I just expected more. I plan to do and engine flush and will most likely plumb the filter return to the head. Thanks for your help.

If you are getting oil out of all of the weep holes, you have exactly what is required for this engine. More comes out as the RPM rises. If you provide more oil than what it is design for, you run the risk of flooding the valve guides with excess oil which then leaks into the head and you will start burning oil.

Interesting to know. Thanks.

Worse, too much pressure will cause the rockers to spit oil past the rockers and valves and hit the inside of the rocker cover depriving oil to cool the springs and lubricate the moving parts. Read that as killing the rocker adjuster balls, galling the rocker shafts (expensive repair these days), and potentially overheating the springs and valve guides (seized valve guide, and even more expensive repair)) among other maladies. If you decide to run the output of the oil filter to the side of the head to feed the rockers, just make sure you are dribbling at idle. If spitting, you will either have to abandon the idea, or pull the side cover, and remove the oil line behind the cover, and plug up both ports with brass fittings, and see if that reduces the pressure to to the rockers to a manageable level.

The oil coming from the filter outlet has already been metered through a 1/16" orfice inside the filter standpipe, so all the gloom and doom predictions about over-oiling is probably hyperbole. That being said, unless the internal oil passageways intended to lubricate the rocker arms are blocked for some reason, it's better to do it the way the factory intended and just dump the filter outlet back into the oil pan. If you're running a Babbit-rod engine, a 216 or an early 235, the rocker arm lube circuit is exactly where GM chose to send the filter output. They changed the routing when they went to pressure-lubricated connecting rods instead of spray-oilers.
Jerry

Outstanding! I was told if the engine is brought much past 1500 rpm with the valve cover off the oil would just make a big mess when it over flows the head or shoots into the engine bay! Yet I recall as a lad my dad working on 283's and 327's with no oil mess issues and high rpm's. I'm itching to get back at this thing after a long winter of working on a 'British Invasion" car. (63' Sunbeam)
Thank for the insight.