The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop 1954 235 Oil Flow To Valve Gear

I thought I posted this yesterday, but must not have pressed 'Submit'.

My 3800 has a 1954 235 in it. Stock as far as I can tell. The valve cover has the four vents in it, and the valve gear is filthy. I also noticed that some of the valve spring retainers are dry (rusty) even after running the engine for more than an hour. It appears to be only the center four, but there are pictures in my Webshots album. Dirty valve Gear Page 5, the first two pictures in the last row.

I've been assuming that the oil gets to the valve gear like an SBC and squirts out the end of the pushrods. Is that correct?

Any ideas what would make those cylinders go dry? The truck sat for a long time, but started right up.

You posted this question in Big Bolts!


Stuart

The oil is feed into the center rocker arm shaft. It sounds like it would be a good idea to pull the rocker arms and clean everything up.
Cleon

You just made my day. Maybe I can keep from pulling the whole head for another few weeks.

saw the pictures looks like a challenge. ron

Do you think that most of that stuff got in there through the four vents in the valve cover? It's difficult for me to believe that it would run very long with all that stuff in the oil pan.

I have seen many 216s and 235s look just like the images in starkweatherr's album. It is amazing that they run as well as they do. The cause is almost always due to blockage in the oil passages to the rocker arms. As 31,32,33 suggests, remove, disassemble, and clean the rocker arm-shaft assembly. It would also be a good idea to remove the pushrod cover and clean out the small tube that runs from the aft end of the pushrod gallery to the the fitting near the upper-center of the block , like this . That is how the oil gets to the rocker arm assembly. After reassembly and before starting the engine, it would be a good to drive the oil pump ( with a screwdriver bit in a drill?) until you see oil coming through all of the rocker arms.

Hoyt

That sounds like the perfect procedure. Thank you very much. Should this go in FAQs?

You don't need to pull the distributor to check oil flow to the rockers. If your starter & battery are good you can pull the spark plugs & crank the engine over with the rocker line disconnected. You'll get oil to the top of the line within 10 seconds at normal cranking speed. If you oil everything up good during reassembly (after cleaning your valve train) you won't hurt anything by doing the test.

Thanks. Sounds good to me. Love Sweetie, BTW.

Thanks. I'm kinda partial to her myself.