You can crank the engine over with the starter. Remove the spark plugs and it will decrease the load for doing this.


Lawrenceville, GA

hi all
MY MECHANIC HAS NOT WORKED ON Y BLOCKS BEFORE AND CANT UNDERSTAND THAT I HAVE 50PSI OIL PRESSURE BUT NO OIL TO THE ROCKERS.

WHY CANT THE OIL PRESSURE, PUMP THE OIL THROUGH THE OIL PASSAGE WAYS???????? IF THESE ARE NO BLOCKED.

                            STEVE.

hi all

MY MECHANIC HAS NOT WORKED ON Y BLOCKS BEFORE AND CANT UNDERSTAND THAT I HAVE 50PSI OIL PRESSURE BUT NO OIL TO THE ROCKERS.



WHY CANT THE OIL PRESSURE, PUMP THE OIL THROUGH THE OIL PASSAGE WAYS???????? IF THESE ARE NO BLOCKED.



                            STEVE.

On These engines the route the oil takes from the gallery to the rockers takes a dogleg across the head surface where it mates with the block. If the engine has never been pulled down before this passage can become blocked or at the least slugged up and will at the least restrict but almost certainly completely block supply.

Withe rockers off the head it is possible to run a pipe cleaner down to the head surface, but the only way to clear the dogleg is to pull the heads.

This dogleg was probably engineered into the engine to restrict oil supply to the rockers!!!

Little did the engineers know how effective it would be later on.

A 1/4" socket on a long 1/4" extension held in a cordless drill turning counterclockwise on the oil pump drive with the distributor removed will assess whether the heads need to come off.

One of the fun jobs associated with these engines.

One you get adequate oil to the rockers make sure you regularly change the oil to stop it slugging up again.

Regards

Rick - West Australia
Do Y Blocks Downunder run upside down? Gravity Sucks!!

charliemccraney

i have pulled to rockers but cant take the distributor out with engine in car not enough room.

can you run the engine on just 1 side , so you can see if the otherside has oil comming out the hole in the head.

              steve.

10psi will get it to the rockers if it's not blocked and bearing clearances are good. If you're still not getting oil with an honest 50psi, it's blocked or the rocker shafts are assembled incorrectly. Have you pulled the rocker shafts to see if oil comes out of the head while turning the oil pump?


Lawrenceville, GA

Here is a pic of a 239 yblock which has same oil flow direction as a 292. I will try to send you a pm with a picture with more definiton so it is more clear.

hi all

MY MECHANIC HAS NOT WORKED ON Y BLOCKS BEFORE AND CANT UNDERSTAND THAT I HAVE 50PSI OIL PRESSURE BUT NO OIL TO THE ROCKERS.

WHY CANT THE OIL PRESSURE, PUMP THE OIL THROUGH THE OIL PASSAGE WAYS???????? IF THESE ARE NO BLOCKED.

                            STEVE.

Steve,

Last year I bought a non-running 1958 F600 with a 292. When I got it home I pulled the rocker covers and found that 5 of the 8 pushrods on the passenger side had fallen out of place and were laying in the lifter valley, bent and broken. I pulled the rocker shaft off and found it to be severely galled due to a lack of oil. I got some good used rockers and pushrods and reassembled them. I removed the distributor and turned the oil pump drive shaft with an electric drill. I was getting oil to the drivers side rockers but none to the passenger side. I cleaned the oil passageway through the head and there was still no oil. I found a NOS external oiler kit and put it on. Now I had oil to all of the rockers.

But I still had another problem- when warm and idling the oil pressure dropped to 0 psi. I pulled the pan and plastigaged the main bearings. There was about .007" clearance- about twice as much as it should be. Nobody makes undersized main bearings except .010, .020, etc for reground cranks. They used to be available in .002, .003, etc. I got online and found a NOS set of .002 undersize at a parts store in Puerto Rico. I installed them and now with 20w-50 oil I have 50 psi cold and 25 psi hot at idle. I have oil to the rocker arms. I have a running engine. Yes, it has been fixed with band-aids but it runs.

hi all

went out today and put another new oil pressure gauge in and guess what , when i started up it went straight to 50lbs when cold,  and dropped to about 35lbs when warm.

this is when warm

      STEVE.

Steve.  A tear down of the engine will give a better idea of what’s going to need replacement.  If the crankshaft does not show excessive or abnormal wear, then the best case scenario is a set of rod and main bearings that are appropriate for whatever sizing the crankshaft is currently at along with another oil pan gasket.  Worst case scenario is worn crankshaft which requires a complete teardown where the crankshaft must be removed so it can be ground undersize.  This will require bearings that are a fit for the remachined crankshaft.  At this point you may also find that there is sufficient wear in the cylinder bores to mandate reboring the cylinders oversize thus requiring new pistons and rings and a full set of gaskets.  New cam bearings are going to be a prerequisite once the block is removed from the chassis.  And one thing leads to another once the engine is torn down.  Timing chain, camshaft, lifters, and other miscellaneous parts become subject to replacement.  Can end up being on the expensive side depending upon just how far you want to go.

 

Because of all the unknowns right now, pricing varies considerably depending upon what’s required and where the parts are purchased.  Although Y rebuild parts can be bought at most machine shops or major parts distributors here in the U.S., a couple of Y-Block specific suppliers to start with would include Schumanns Sales and Service and John Mummert.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)