The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop NO OIL IN ROCKERS.

I HAVE A 235 WITH HYDRALIC LIFTERS .I SHOW 30 ON
MY OIL READING .BUT IM NOT GETTING OIL ON THE ROCKER ARMS.ITS A REBUILT ENGINE....HELP

Frank when I got my truck running I too had no oil to the rockers. By the way they look they haven't had oil for a long while. However here is what I did.

I removed the rocker arm assemblies. Then with a very large syringe (2 oz) I tried to draw oil up to the top of the head. Well after a quite a few atempts I was able to do so. My oil passage was just plug with junk. I am sure that is what has happened to yours. Once I got mine unplugged I sprayed some carb clean down the oil passaged. Ofcourse I changed the oil before I ran the truck. This not something that is impossible to fix just takes some time.

Good luck

Another thing that works real good is use weedeater line. It is long and just stiff and flexible enough to run it through.

Frank:
Another thing to check: one of the headbolts is unique in that it has a channel drilled in it. I think it is for oil flow. If you didn't put it back in the right place, it could be a problem. At least I think it is for oil flow, I couldn't find anything in the manual on it. Maybe someone else knows exactly what it is for.

Frank--

Good ideas. The other thing I do is drain the oil put a quart of new oil in and fill up the crankcase with kerosene. Run the engine at idle--(dont drive it) for 10-15 minutes. You'll be surprised what comes out of the oil pan. Cleans em up pretty good.

I thought due it's lubricating qualities diesel was best for that?
P.S. Also much less flammable?

Frank:
One more thing, in my 261 block there is an oil tube that needs to be connected. It appears to carry the oil from galleys inside the block and to that headbolt I mentioned in the prior post. It's easy to miss. It is located inside the pushrod chamber, the side plate needs to be removed for access. I'm not sure if a 235 has the same arrangment though, I thought my 235 block was the same way, but I am not certain.

DonZ. , Do you have a picture of that head-bolt?

I have heard of that bolt, but believe it was only on very few early engines. Most people have never seen one.

Frank, What year 235 do you have? The oiling to the rockers changed in 1959. It would help to know for diagnosis.

Frank, you say the engine is rebuilt,was it disassembled and cleaned properly? A rebuilt engine should not need to be flushed out.Maybe some gasket goo got in the oil hole in the block?The oil comes up a small hole in the deck of the block to a matching hole on the head, then detours to the head bolt which has a reduced shank are like all the headbolts, then detours again to feed the oil tube to the rocker shafts.As Dave says, the oil path through the block was changed several times.
From 38-62, only two headbolt part numbers are listed for 216-261, long and short except for a drilled bolt used when a 59 block is used with earlier parts to reduce the oil flow to the head.

Tony's right--I didn't see that this was a fresh rebuild--need to track ur problem down. Looks like ur plugged gettin to the head.

Frank, The oiling for the rockers on a 1955 235 begins behind the side cover at the very rear. The block is drilled through into the camshaft oil gally and has a restrictor fitting with a 1/16" orafice in it. From there a tube runs up and forward to the center of the block, up around the head bolt, through the head, up through the oil distributor/rocker connector, and out to the shafts.
One of the most common places for the oil to be stopped is the 1/16" orafice fitting. Occassionally the tube can also become plugged.

The problem is in the head bolt that goes through the center rocker shaft stand. It oils through the threads,when I rebuilt the 57 235 I have in my 37 I did not pay any attention to the head bolts and put thread sealer on all the bolts not realizing thet it oiled through the threads. What I did to get oil to the rockers was take the bolt out and with a die grinder with a cutoff wheel ground a slot through the threads about a 1/8 deep and reinstalled and retorqued and now the rockers are getting oil. Another thing I might do to keep more oil in the rockers is crimp the oil tube on the end so all the oil that goes to the shaft comes out on the rocker arms.Jeff

Jeff, as far as I can see,the oil passsage is a 3/16 hole next to the center right headbolt. the oil to the rockers doesn't go through the bolt threads but passes by in the oilway.No where near enough oil to lube the rockers could pass by bolt threads torqued to 90 ft lbs.If that was the case all the 235-261's would have non oiled valve gear.

Let's try to run some air pressure through. Surely air is much thinner than 30W. I bet no air will even go through.

what about in an emerg. you teed the line on the side by the oil press. switch and brought a new line around andup to the plug in the center top right casting of the head if i,m not mistaken this plug is in direct alignment with the center right headbolt and was drilled and tapped in at the fact. in the mach. process

I was told by a few people to either drill a hole through the center of the headbolt almost to the top and out the side or grind a groove through the threads. I was not getting any oil to the rockers and now I do, I might have something put togather wrong on this motor and might have to look into the oil passage but grinding a groove through the threads worked in getting oil to the rockers.

iknow the out side 'bypass' line will work cause there was one on my 55chev from orig owner back in 1970...eng had oil/sludge prob & he added that line also had abought 140000 miles on it at the time

albiet this is only one way around the prob. .....why would a rebuilt eng have a gunk & sludge problem?... :rolleyes:

Jeff,I hear ya, anyway this is a photo of a 261 head gasket.In the middle of the gasket there is a triangular opening in the lower center.The head bolt hole is in the middle of this opening and there is a small oil feed hole in the block that also falls within the triangle.The oil then passes up between the shank of the head bolt and the headbolt bore in the head, then takes a slight bypass to the drillway that feeds the rocker supply pipe.If you have a headless block the oil hole can be seen.I might be wrong of course, but I remember checking out the oil passages a few years ago on a 261 I rebuilt.
261 headgasket

Could frank and me have 216 head gaskets on our motors without the triangle to allow oil up to the rockers?. On the 216 wasnt there a tube that came up from the block through the head to oil the rockers and maybe the gasket sets we got had 216 head gaskets instead of ones for a 235. If thats the case then it explains why grinding a groove through the threads on the headbolt allows some oil to the rockers. I am going to investigate this some more. Jeff

Do you guys need me to sort this one out?

Chip, these are running engines not blown up ones
Jeff, a 216 has a different number of head bolts, the gasket won't interchange, and the 216 has a tube. The oil floods the triangle area and then passes up along side the head bolt.Your stock headbolts should have a shoulder at the top next to the hexhead and the bolt is marked by a O on the head.You might have sludge in the area of the triangle or it's common for that headbolt bore in the head to be sludgy.

What would happen if they had the gasket upside down?

My motor has been rebuilt and only has about 2500 miles on it and the oil is changed twice a year so I hope there is no sludge in it. I had the problem of no oil to the rockers the minute I fired it up for the first time,I might have put the wrong headbolt in the center rocker stand. The valves need adjusting so I will try to fing the bolt with the o stamped in it and replace the one I ground a groove in it. I think when I make a junkyard run I will take a head off one and check the oil passages and head gasket to see if there is anything I did wrong when I assembled my motor. But if a temporary fix is needed,grinding a groove through the threads in the head bolt got oil to the rockers in my motor.

Another reason you may not get any oil to the rockers is that the cam bearings are installed wrong, in which case the cam isn't getting enough either.

The 1st series engines 53-55 used the oil line and restrictor in the pushrod cover. That small line can sludge up and require the bypass line that goes from oil pressure gauge port around to 1/8" pipe plug at head. Some people make the mistake and remove the line altogether, cutting off the oil supply.

The 58-62 engines didn't have this line. The lifter galley was drilled for hyd lifters even if solids were used. The galley oiled from the front and rear cam bearings and met in the center of the galley. At this point there is a vertical passage that goes from lifter galley to block deck surface. The oil passes thru the "triangle" space mentioned in the head gasket and into the head. The oil then flows around headbolt and then out of top of head into oil feedpipe.

There are two places you can check for oil flow. One is to remove the 1/8 pipe plug in the pass side of the head and check for oil or gunk there in head passages. I've examined both a '54 head and a '60 848 head: The casting of the head allows the oil to flow around the headbolt without using a special headbolt. Now maybe the gunk built up in the head could block the oil flow, or the bolt used was too long, but I've never seen a special 235 headbolt, never seen one in manuals and I've taken 4 different 235s of different years apart & never seen one. If somebody can post a pic of a factory piece, please do so.

The other place to check for oil flow in inside the pushrod cover. If your engine has a removable line, you can remove it and check for oil feed from the rear cam bearing. 58-62 engines didnt have the line, but the upper hole is still there, blocked by a 1/8" pipe plug. You can remove that and check for flow up to head or down to galley with compressed air.

When rebuilding an engine that doesn't have the internal removeable oil line, you must use lifters that have the oil groove machined into them. That allows oil to flow around them and to the next lifter, and to the rocker feed passage in the center of the galley.

55-57 engines were transistion years and may have a combination of whats been mentioned above.

good luck

chip

Does the 53-54 235 head gaskets have the triangle in it and will it fit the 55-62 motor. If they will fit is it possible that me and frank have gotten the earlier headgasket in the set and if it does not have the triangle that would explain the lack of oil. It would also explain why grinding a groove through the threads that it would allow a little oil flow to the rockers. I am begining to wonder if the gasket set had both designs of head gaskets that frank and I might have installed the wrong one. I am also going to look at some manuals about the grooved lifters as I dont remember the lifters having them. My motor has too many miles on it if the cam bearings were installed wrong as i have been driving the truck for three years and no motor problems yet. Since its getting some oil to the rockers now I wont tear it apart to investigate at this time but I am wondering what is not right with it.

AFAIK, the head gasket is the same 53-62. The block passages may be different between 53-62, but the oil travelled from block to head in the same place on all years 53-62.

My manuals mentioned the lifter groove needed in the 55-62 engines. Others here have pulled the 1/8 pipe plugs and spun oil pump with drill in their search for oil. It could be a simple thing like crud, wrong lifters, missing line, or pipe plug screwed in too far.

good luck

chip