Hi! I recently bought a 292 with a 312 intake and a 4 barrel carb to replace my 223 six...the guy I bought it from told me it was rebuilt and I believe him cause it had a warranty tag on the block...anyways..yesterday I took it out for a test drive, and It runs perfect! But I later took the valve covers off and saw that the heads were covered in dirt...I read before that the oil passages in these engines can be clogged..do you think that is the problem here? Tried turning the engine with the starter to check if the oil reached the heads, but it didnt, but I think I will try that again when I get a new oil filter, since the one I got probably is filled with dirt too...any advice on an easy fix?
No oil to the top end on a Y block could be a cam bearing put in or spun with the oil hole NOT lined up with the hole in the block. Or just plugged oil passages.
You could remove the rocker assembly on both heads and check to see if the oil feed hole in each head is clear. Pull the distributor and spin the oil pump and see if any oil comes out the oil feed holes. Also flush out the rocker shafts to make sure all the oil holes are clear.
If memory serves me correct didn't the old Y block engines typically suffer from oil starvation to the rockers? Buddy had a 56 and he ended up running auxiliary oil lines to the rockers. But obviously this shouldn't be a problem on a rebuilt engine. Just saying!
^^^^^Yes, we used to run drippers to the rockers on them. When I was a kid the local autoparts actually had a kit with everything already made up for the task. rebuilt can mean a myriad of different things to a myriad of different people. Everything from new gaskets and a serious rattle canning to a complete blueprint can be a rebuilt engine to someone. I would pull the rocker covers and fire the bitch up, if it didn't go all fire boat on me then I would begin to consider my options.
Ok, thanks everyone! About the rebuild, I dont know how much was done, cause it was done in the USA, and I bought it from a guy here in Norway, and he never even started the engine..just pulled it out of his 54 f100...so its impossible to tell how long its been sitting..but it looks pretty good...is the oil in the heads suppose to have high pressure? Or just flow out of the holes? Thankful for all the help...
The oil to the heads should have the same pressure as your oil pressure. If that helps. I have in the past used engine flush in those old engines, you can buy it here or you can just ad kerosene to your oil and run it for half and hour at idle. One quart kerosene then top it off with oil. Dump the oil change the filter and the oil and drive it. A lot of rebuilders used to use lithium assembly lube or white grease when they put one back together. Sometimes that stuff dries out and gets crusty. If you can go by the tag it was a proper overhaul.
The most comon prob with "Y"s as far as rocker oiling goes,is slug build up in head/ gastket cross between block an head{it a slot with two 90* turns an EZ to get blocked if oil is not kepted clean.] Too fix with out removing heads,pull rocker shafts off,an blow some BP Blaster or other like WD40 ect.=something to help desolve slug, down head rocker oiling hole,let set for a few hr. then do it again,after take a good air blower gun with a ponited tip{with 100psi or so an blow down the head hole tell you see oil psi show on oil gage=the passage is now open,,next ether turn motor over with sparkplugs out tell ya see oil come up out off those head holes,or pull dizzy out and run oil pump with a drill tell same//remember dizzy/oil pump truns counterclockwise. Replace rockers after cleaning them n adjust. Change oil an filter after run for a few min. to remove crap from fixing blockage clearing. Out side oilers are bull shit for those that just don't know better.
Ok, thank you..yeah, that makes sense..the oilpressure is good..I'll buy some engine flush tomorrow and try that..did you notice improvement right away?
Thank you! Thats a good idea, but there isnt an oil psi gauge in the f100, just a light..but I can buy an aftermarket and hook it up to see when I try to blow it out with the air gun
Dana had a good idea on cleaning out the oil passage if that could be the problem. Also the oil to the rockers does not come out fast, it kind of just flows up and eases out of the rocker shaft. at least on mine and I rebuilt my engine so I know all my passages are clear, and cam bearing is lined up. One thing that some Y block guys do is to close off the oil outlet tube that comes from the rocker shaft, this will pressurize the rockers. but the oil that was running out the overflows lubed the timming chain in front and dist drive gear in rear, and you won't have that lube now. Others just reduce the size hole in the oil outlet tubes, this will hold some pressure in the tubes and still give you some lube to the chain and drive gear. I ran into someone that will thread your tube ends and install a drilled plug to reduce the oil hole size but I just welded mine up and drilled a small hole.
you can still do the air pressure thing, just make sure the air pressure will turn the dash light off.
If just one side is not oiling you have a pluged passage. I have had luck pulling the rockers and tapping the passage in the head for a grease zerk. Fill the passage with PB blaster install the zerk and use a grease gun to open the passage. Then remove the zerk pull the sparkplugs and spin it with the starter to see if oil shows up.
'KenCash1987' That company is still in Business National Engines and Parts Co 4216 W.M. Luther King Blvd Saint Louis MO, 63178 USA
Tim McMaster is the Y-block guru. He will know just about anything regarding those Y's. Try the search to find him. I forgot his hamb-handle.
If both sides are not oiling it brings up the cam bearing issue but they could both just be pluged. The Y block rockers oil from the center cam bearing to a rocker shaft support that is not in the center there is a slot in the head surface that connects the two passages that's where they usually plug up. The oil to the cam comes from a main bearing passage to a grove in the cam journal and out to the rockers.
As long as your engine has oil pressure then you can always add the external lube kit. I had one of my dad's friends come over with a 62 Ford with 352, and was wondering why the engine was so noisy. So I took the valve covers off and even with the external oilers, the rockers were dry. So I checked to see if oil came out of the filter block (that fed the external oilers) and it just oozed out. No oil pressure at all. I told him this thing is going to seize in a day or so, and he laughed. 3 days later it seized. Never did find out what happened, even after dropping the pan. And to think, this engine had paperwork saying it was rebuilt. Go figure. Oh, BTW, I asked if his oil light came on. He said no, so I pulled the bulb socket out, and NO BULB. Whoever owned this thing must have burned it up and took the bulb out to sell it to this fool.
slugde can build up really fast if the engine was run for a extended amount of time with out a thermostat or has had a life of short trips never reaching operating temps, my dads 60 bird was a sludge bucket at 40K due to only running around in town, plus the old oils where no where as good as todays witch do need a zinc additive, for the oldies
Modifying Y Block rocker arm assemblies for full pressure oiling. Dana was right, any other external oiling lines or any other "fixes" are mickey mouse BS. Tim McMaster knows his stuff. He did this when he built my Y block along with other good stuff The engine running.
First check that the rocker shaft is indexed so the oil passage is in line with the rocker shaft holes. If it is not, no oil will get to the rockers. You could just look at rockers first before pulling the heads. Personally, I'd pull the heads. The oil passage to the rockers come up through the block then make a 2" 90degree bend along the head then another 90 up through the head. Not the perfect design... clean the heads well and put them back on. Is it necessary... maybe not, but it does seem for a "rebuilt engine", there shouldn't be a bunch of dirt/sludge in the heads. I don't think it was too uncommon to pinch the exit oil tubes just a smig.
Ford FE had a better design the grove was behind the bearing not in the cam so the holes didn't have to line up. I have seen this mod done to Y Blocks.
Plenty of good ideas here. The grease fitting suggestion is the best one, that's how they cleaned them out 50yrs ago. One thing that hasn't been mention is it might have a cross drilled camshaft in it. They came in yblocks in the first years and again near the end of its production life. With all the years that have passed since your motor was new there no telling what's in it without tearing it down. IF it has a cross drilled camshaft the suggestion of removing the dist. and spinning the oil pump shaft won't do any good unless the camshaft happened to stop where cross drilled holes would line up with the holes in the cam bearings. You have to turn the engine over some to line the holes up to get oil to the top. Again that's IF you have a cross drilled camshaft. I would try the grease fitting suggestion 1st. If that doesn't work, I'd pull the heads, inspect the 90* passage in the head, then try spinning the oil pump shaft with the heads off.
Thank you all so much! I didnt find pb blaster here in Norway, but something similar..ran it, changed the oil and filter..and now the oil is getting thru! But not much, think I will try the grease fitting thing..maybe that will clear the passages even more..how much oil is suppose to get to the heads? Sorry for the newbie questions, but im totally new to the Y block..but when some oil is getting to the heads, its a good sign that its not a main bearing problem? Right?
Y blocks rocker oiling is an intersting topic. Because the oil goes to main bearing and the cam bearing before it gets to the rockerarms it has two sources of bleed. My experience is that the rockerarm oil pressure is quite a bit lower than the running oil pressure. When we prime new motors before start up it takes some time before oil comes rolling out of the rockershafts. Dont be suprised if you don't get oil after cranking it for a small amount of time. The center cam bearing on these engines is prone to wearing. This is the main reason they stop oiling the topend. Passenger side first. The common cure is to increase the depth of the groove on the cam. Pressurizing the rockers is the way we do it. If your getting oil to the top on both sides its working. The oil will stop flowing to the passenger side first when things are starting to go wrong
I always heard of the cam bearing turning. Ive tore down dozens and never found a spun cam bearing. Mostly its sludge. Those Y blocks make sludge. They commonly have excessive blow by and that makes sludge. Ive seen Y blocks that had the oil & filter changed regularly and they where sludged excessively. The two 90 degree turns in the head can easily be radiused and the passage enlarged with a dremel tool. The trouble with overhead oilers or simply fixing the problem with stopped up oil galleys. Is that the rockers have been run dry for a time before the problem was corrected. Now you have worn rockers & shafts. and they leak excessively and bleed off oil pressure. That's the reason to restrict oil flow in some manner. Install a PCV and that will help with the sludge formation. The 1962 & 1964 ford trucks the 292 had a factory PCV. the later cams had a grove turned around the cam bearing to help the oiling problems. I never much cared for the Y blocks. In my 55 & 56 fords I always pulled the Y block boat anchor and installed the FE engines.
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