Question Posted to MLU

Looking for input on 216 oil pressure and oil flow.
Hi All

Well, I’m looking for comment from some of you who have restored 216 cu.in. Chevy engines. As you will know from previous posts I make it a practice of running engines on a test stand before putting them into the truck. I thought I was already to put the rebuilt original engine back in my HUP and was doing a long run (50 hour plus) on the engine to really get the temperatures fully equalized so I could do a finial adjustment of the valves. While I was doing this I noticed that at a low idle of 450-400 rpm the engine is only producing 5-6 PSI of oil pressure not unusual for 216s but, when I removed the valve cover I discovered that the oil flow out of by pass for the rocker arms was a lot less that what I every remember seeing. Flow from the individual rockers was OK but the total oil flow running out of the upper gallery is less than I remember from previous engine rebuilds.

Here is the list of what was done on the engine that would effect oil pressure and flow:

Crank ground and all new fitted main bearings.
New cam and cam bearings
New rocker arm shafts
New oil pump
New block to pan oil fitting.

What have I already checked:

Put a valve in the oil line to the oil filter to see if too much oil was passing to the oil filter- no affect on oil pressure or on flow in the valve gallery.
Checked the oil bypass control valve to be sure I had assembled the gaskets in the correct order and that the poppet valve didn’t have something under it. Everything looked OK.
Took sample of oil doesn’t smell of gas and seems to flow like new oil, color light caramel.

If you wonder about the long test run on the test stand being a lot of fuel, it is but I manage to time my engine running to winter. With the engine exhaust hard piped out of the shop, running the engines is doing double duty, running in the engine but also heating the shop at the same time so I’m not burning any propane to heat the shop.

Wanted to ask for comments before I start tearing the engine down.

In particular how much oil have other people noticed running out of the rocker arm bypass tube in well run in engines? My memory is telling me it should be a good steady stream just under ¼ “ diameter.

Cheers Phil
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1st Response

First things I would look at....
The oil pump for possible air leaks on the sucking system......or attachment of pump to block....

Possible too much clearance on bearings....... the hard bearing to check for clearance will be the camshaft.

You should be able to check oil pressure and all possible leaks by running the oil pump with a hi torque 3/8 or 1/2 inch drill with out running the engine..... that way you can check for large leak on crank. cam. valve train..... you may need to set up a larger oil container with a rubber tube from the pump to a 5 gallon can..... it will be messy....... cranking the engine by hand will also be feasible....... using the starter may prove to be dangerous as it will spin fast if the plugs are removed....... you engine stand will earn it money....

I got 42 pounds of oil pressure on my 261 using a hi torque screw gun......

Good luck....... keep us posted..... and wash you hands when you are finished.

Bob
__________________
Bob Carriere....B.T.B
C15a Cab 11
Hammond, Ontario
Canada

Dizzy is driven by the camshaft gear and should run twice as fast as the engine crankshaft...... so a 3000 rpm drill is equivalent to 1500 RPM..... which is about mid range for the 216...more or less......

When I was priming my 261 with the drill and did not think that the pressure could get that high and did not bother installing hose clamps on the oil line to the external spin on oil filter..... big mistake,,,, the line came off....1/2 inch line .... and dumped half the crankcase oil on the floor before I could turn it off.

Yeah I wish you were closer and we could both get down and oily together.

One more reason for using a discarded CMP frame...... with the engine higher off the ground I could install a 5 gallon can below the engine with a light sheet metal trough wide nough to catch all the dripping oil and flow it into the 5 gal. can...... I would fit an extension rubber hose on the pick up from the pump where the screen fits....and clamp it so no air enters......

I would use the cheapest 10w30 bulk oil I could find.... and only use it for the test...... then I would recycle the oil in my wood furnace next Winter...!!!

...or you could just dump the oil you now have with possibly some dilution and fill it with fresh 20-50 racing oil...... and see how it behaves..... certainly worth the oil cost and effort at this stage......

You better get yourself the arm long rubber gloves used by vets... the short blue Nitryle ones will never suffice.... you will be going deep with this one.

If you are going to test out the C60 try using the same oil pressure gauge to eliminate any gauge error.

You are not about to get dry skin !!!!

Bob
__________________
Bob Carriere....B.T.B
C15a Cab 11
Hammond, Ontario
Canada

Next Step

Was to document the oil flow and check for indications of air being sucked into the pick up. To do this I took several videos of the oil flow in the valve gallery. All of the video is shot of the engine at full operating temperature of just over 170F and the oil up to 130-160 range. Checking at 1500-1750 RPM and at idle of 400-500 RPM also at the lowest possible idle speed 300 RPM

Looking at the flow out of the rocker arm by pass that is at the end of the pressure system you can see in this picture taken before the oil was changed at very low RPM almost no oil.

.

While in picture below after changing the oil and the engine at higher RPM a more normal flow

But these 2 photos from the video probably show what the real problem is excessive oil flow fro the individual rocker arms particularly in the rear section of the rocker arm assembly that is slightly lower than the front because of the 3 degree tilt of the engine.

Video of engine test

Video is 5:30 long and hi-resolution so it is a large file intended for DSL or better connections.

Next stem was to block off the oil feed to the rocker assembly to see if this had any impact.

First brought the engine up to operation system with rocker assembly connected collect the below information about time and temperature.

All this to discover that the oil flow or leakage around the individual rocker arms WAS NOT THE CAUSE with oil completely blocked off there was no difference.

Now for a really, really dull Video

On to Plan B get out another engine.

Having decided after yesterday morning test that the problem was not going to have an easy fix, something that didn't require dropping the oil pan and removing the pump to even begin to find the problem decided to go to Plan B bring out another 216 engine that is known to be running good. This is the engine that I removed from Beauty the Pattern 13 C60S when I up engined that truck to a 261 cubic inch engine. (See video of the engine pull and new engine instal ) When I pulled this engine I wanted to keep it as complete as possible so it got put away on an engine test stand complete, minus only the fan, pulley and generator which were transferred to the other engine.

Picture at right shows it coming down on the lift from the loft.

Below left getting cleaned for coat of paint

Below right first round of testing - yes this one seem to have more pressure and flow when tested cold with drill down the distributor drive.

This engine is a 1942 was rebuilt in 1980s for the Patter 13 C60S so it has some miles on it. Only real difference is the Junior or smaller oil filter.