Hi this is my first attempt at a post so bear with me. I am building a stock spec 2001 4.0 engine with a 7120 head and might have an oiling problem.
All new quality parts, block and head vatted and crack checked. New stock cam and new stock lifters. I am almost through with it. I am priming the engine on motor stand. I have a mechanical pressure gauge installed and it reads 70 PSI. The rocker arms on #2 and #4 do not oil or do not oil as much as the others. I used the torque procedure to tighten the rocker arm assemblies when I installed them. I have switched push rods around for ones that oil and there is no change. I can look down at the lifters with the pushrod out and oil oozes out of them. What else should I look for or is that just the nature of the beast? I would sure hate to pull the head to check the lifters but now is the time.

 

spray some carb cleaner in the pushrod centers and make sure they are fully cleaned. A little carb cleaner on the lifters will also help

 

Engine has to be running for lifters to pump oil correctly....don't worry about it. Also it can take a minute or two (literally) for oil to get to rockers when engine has sat overnight and is first started. I have timed mine at a full 3 minutes on a cold day! Sounds strange but there is always enough residual oil on rockers to adequately lube them.

 

Thanks to both of you for the input. I soaked the pushrods in carb cleaner and used pipe cleaner to rod them out. Then blew with air. I also switched them around from cylinder to cylinder with no change. Pretty sure the pushrods are not the problem.
I was hoping someone would suggest that it was not unusual for them to take a while to get oil to the rocker arms.
I am going to install it.
I

 

Ok, you say you are building the engine from scratch so my question is did you soak the lifters in oil before installing them? Hydraulic lifters actually compress and are pumped up by the oil that is inside them. It then squirts the oil flow through the pushrods which then oil the rockers and valvesprings. If you switched around the pushrods (which by the way, after you run the motor you can not do this anymore) and the issue still exists, then it is not a pushrod problem. It is most likely the lifters not pumping up, or the piston inside them sticking if they are dry. Since you already put the cylinder head on, and primed the motor, you might as well fire it. If there is at lease a little oil coming out, then you may be in the clear, and just have stuck pistons in the lifters. The force of the engine rotating and the pressure placed on the lifters should solve this problem.

If you are still weary of this, just fire the motor with the valve cover off. It wont make a mess with any rpm under 1k. if you rev it, you are just asking for it. This is only to check rocker function, and oiling properties. Once you verify that the oiling system is working correctly, re-install the valve cover, and break in your engine properly.

 

I did not soak the lifters. I will go ahead and fire it.
Thanks

 

When I pre-oiled my motor I didn't get much out of a few rockers but when I started the engine I got good flow.


Built a cardboard dam around the rockers (pic) but still got a little messy.

 

Thanks for the idea. I wish I had an old valve cover to cut up. Nice clean valve train by the way.

 

I always use oil deflectors when adjusting rockers most auto parts stores will have them cheep
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rocker-Arm-O...179872&vxp=mtr

 

How do those work?