pre-oiling and the pushrods

[rrubel]

I'm slowly closing in on the end of assembly; over the weekend I started pre-oiling the engine. However, things weren't working quite as I expected (have they ever??).

Out of the 16 pushrods, 12 flow oil with no problems at all, though it took probably 5-6 mins of turning the pump with a drill. Of the remaining four, two drain a lot of oil when I pull them out so I figure with a bit more priming they'll work. The other two, though, don't seem to want to flow. I did use a lot of moly lube and there's blobs of it on the lifters. Is it possible that the flow's just being blocked by the lube and I have to just persevere until the lube dissolves?

The ones that aren't flowing are not in any particular order, though they are all on the passenger side. And the #2 cylinder rods flow just fine, so it's not like a lifter passage is blocked and isn't letting anything by - unless I'm mistaken and oil flows from both ends of the engine instead of just from the end with the pump. Even then, though, the ones that aren't flowing are randomly interspersed with ones that are.

The oil pump normally rotates at engine speed, right? My drill is only 1200 RPM, so that's not much above a fast idle. Should I dig up a faster drill?

Also, I haven't yet pre-loaded the pushrods and rocker arms. Should I have done that first?

Any suggestions?

Thanks.
[RICHR]

 

[jdm86]

I have found that soaking the lifters for a few hours in engine oil helps. I use a half inch drive drill that i am pretty sure doesn't turn 1200 rpm, but it seems to the the trick, perhaps you the moly has plugged a pushrod like you said. I think i would spin the pump some more- Good luck.

 

[drags1998]

rrubel, ajust the valves, and try it again!!!! I would also prime it for 5min. rotate the engine crankshaft 360 degrees prime for 5 min again. this should take care of that!!!!! Also MAKE SURE to change the oil filter after the FIRST shut-down!!! the filter will plug-up with Moly during the first run!!!!!

 

[rrubel]

Thanks for the suggestions, guys. The lifters were definitely oil-soaked - for about 6 months! The guy I bought them from had them stored in a can of fresh 10w30... I'll do the lifters this weekend or early next week and give it another try. And yep, I have another 5q jug of cheap oil sitting here for an immediate change. Was told to let it run for ~20 minutes to get all the moly into the pan and filter.

[RICHR]