The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Do 216's w/dippers self destruct if driven up mts?

I've been told that you can do damage to the early Chev 6s that have the oil dippers to lube the crank bearings if you were to drive up a mountain road uphill for an extended time

Apparently the oil goes to the back of the oil pan & the dippers can't pick up any oil?

I don't totally understand this. Is this their only source of oil?

This sounds crazy.....could it be true?

I need the engine experts to address this please.

Not that I am aware of. They have an oil pump that feeds the mains and vavletrain and keeps the dipper troughs full as well as shoot oil into the dipper as it comes around. I think the damage may occur from over-revving the engine attempting to go up the hills faster. These are rear sump engines and the suction for the pump is in the bottom of the sump.

Someone else with more/better experience will weigh in on this.

As long as the oiling system has been taken care of (regular oil changes) it'll be fine. Lots of myths out there about the low pressure 216 and 235, most are untrue.

Kid
Not sure where you got your information but its not accurate. I live in Flagstaff Az. 7000 feet, thats a mile and 1/2 up AGL.
I adjusted my oxygen sensor to max. and my 51 1/2 ton purrrs like a kitten.
Its a myth.
D@C

The dipper troughs are for low engine speeds such as idling. At road speed enough oil should be supplied by the squirters to prevent any damage.

Never having the chance to work on the 216 I know very little about them, but I would think if the dippers actually dipped into the oil in the pan then it would aerate the oil to the point it couldn't pump.

My impression was that the nozzles squirted the oil into the dipper as it came around close enough to catch the oil coming out of the dipper regardless of engine speed. I guess that may depend on oil pressure.

But I haven't really studied the 216's much.

i live in northeast pa which is mountainous. i haul three tons of coal up them with my 235 with no lack of oiling. from the time i leave the bottom until i get to the top its an extended period of time with high rpms in lower gears. if there was an issue i would have found out long ago. just make sure the oil is at the full mark on the stick.

Back in their day, people bought these things to work with. They hauled loads up and down hills and just didn't worry about them. However, like Ashton says, make sure you keep them full of oil.

I can't say about the 216, but this was a problem in some even older engines that had no oil pump whatsoever. The 4 cylinder in the Model T (this is my second post today talking about Model Ts on the Stovebolt site. Somebody is going to shoot me yet LOL!!!) used a total splash oiling system, and if the hill was too steep the oil would all run to the back of the pan and not lubricate the front bearing, which would dry out and burn up.

To help prevent this from happening, the gravity flow fuel system was set up so that once the vehicle was at a steep enough incline, the fuel would quit running to the carb and the engine would die, preventing engine failure. It was a pretty common thing to drive the Model T up steep hills in reverse, as this allowed the fuel to flow to the carb and kept some oil in the shallower front part of the pan to lubricate the front bearing.

This could have been a problem in other makes and models with the same type of system, but the Model T is the only one I have any specific knowledge about.

Bobby