HELP engine gurus - no oil passenger side lifters brand new engine

[89GMCJOHN]

My last problem now with this new engine is I still do not have oil pressure getting to the passenger side rockers . But I have a Melling M55A oil pump that is registering 60 psi at the back of the block behind the intake . Drivers side is really quiet - passenger side making noise and not oiling. The most I have let it run is 1 min straight until I figure out what is going on . I am going to pull of the drivers side rocker cover and verify its oiling but I am pretty sure it is because its quiet as a mouse on that side of the engine . A buddy told me he has seen a roller block do that before and they sat there and drizzled oil on the passenger side rockers until the engine heated and it apparently started finally pumping up through the passenger pushrods -rockers after awhile on its own .

Question has anyone else seen this here on a brand new 350 roller motor ? No oil on passenger side rockers for awhile during initial commisioning - engine firing - startup ?

 

[90halfton]

Warranty? If so I'd go that route. Making noise with no oil, I wouldn't trust it. Oil might take a little bit to get up there, but never?

 

[evilunclegrimace]

Pull the distributor and install a oil pump priming tool and spin up oil pressure with a electric drill. This should be standard procedure for ALL new/rebuilt engines. The 20-30 minutes that it takes is cheap insurance against bearing damage.

 

[big_mike]

Did you do lifters? And if so did you presoak them prior to install? Or was this a complete purchased long block? Also as stated, was oil system primed manually prior to initial startup?

 

[Knuckle Dragger]

Missing oil galley plug is my guess. I spent almost a week as a young man chasing this problem once.

If you didn't build it I would talk with whoever you bought it from. It's their issue not yours at this point.

 

[89GMCJOHN]

Engine was spun up with a purchased pre oiler on the stand but with passenger rocker cover on ...for about 15 minutes...I watched it flow really well on the drivers side with that rocker cover off ...I had 65 psi so I wasnt worried ...My buddy who has done probably 50 motors in his life told me hes seen it before , to let it idle , keep pouring oil over the rockers on that side , get up to temp and the oil will eventually start flowing...he was right after about 5-8 minutes it began flowing to all rockers on the passenger side ...I still have one rocker that isnt really flowing "well" though in the middle of the engine around number 6 BUT the most disturbing thing is I still have a light tap - knock on the passenger side it seems like ...I cant pin down exactly where its coming from ...I did notice my power steering pump became contaminated with water BAD while it was all torn down down and I detailed the pump ...so my power steering fluid changed to a super watery pink slurry ...I emptied it and replaced all the fluid - will probably have to do that 3-4 more times to get it all out but it doesnt really sound like that pump is the source though .... tonight will be the first start after purging that power steering pump and I am pulling the serpentine belt to see if its coming from one of the accessories possibly ...who knows maybe its the 80 gph mechanical fuel pump thats possibly noisy .... while its running I guess i could put my hand on it and see if the knock can be felt through the fuel pump while idling .... note I always heavily moly lube the cam and put a "little" on the lifter bore and lifters and then douse everything in the lifter valley with oil before putting on the intake ....

 

[skylark]

I have seen where too much moly Lube can plug up oil filters almost immediately. With a roller cam there is no real reason to go heavy on the moly. You just needed a dab on each rocker tip and you would have been good to go. The face of the cam would have just been oil. The bearing surfaces would have got the moly lube though.

 

[90halfton]

I have seen where too much moly Lube can plug up oil filters almost immediately. With a roller cam there is no real reason to go heavy on the moly. You just needed a dab on each rocker tip and you would have been good to go. The face of the cam would have just been oil. The bearing surfaces would have got the moly lube though.

Knew a guy that put so much of that **** in the motor it clogged up.the screen on the oil pump. The second time he built the motor he was far more conservative with it.

 

[89GMCJOHN]

Gotcha ....I wasnt THAT crazy with the moly lube ......but I understand what you guys are saying ....its not any of the accessories or the fuel pump and I swear it seems to be QUIETING down as I get more time on it ?????? I also noticed that the fluid I replaced in the power steering pump is ruined again but its not coming from the pump ,,,so I had to empty it again I guess its going to take awhile to get all of the water out of the steering box / system... may take it for a spin around the neighborhood and see just what happens .........

 

[glen r]

Just a thought - If you have a high volume oil pump on your engine do you also have a larger oil pan? I know of a friend who put a high volume oil pump on and then had issues similar to what you describe only to find that the oil pump was running out of oil and cavitating. He solved the problem by installing a bigger oil pan.