Anyone ever see rocker arms seizing from loss of oil on just one cyl?

REDDEVL · 03-13-2011, 12:48 AM

Well my number 5 cyl rocker assemble lost most oiling yesterday and ate itself. at first i didnt think it was an oiling issue as the exhaust rocker still had oil on it but the intake was toast, so i replaced it with another good assembly I had and it didnt even make it 80 miles before thrashing both rockers on the other set. it is however getting a little bit of oil but not near enough.

I'm kinda at a loss here as all the other rockers have an ample oil supply and all the rockers share the same oil passage in the block so my guess is it has to be between the passage through the head gasket but i dont see how anything could have blocked the passage as its pretty good sized, and if it is blocked how did something large enough to block it get past the filter.

I have never ran across anything like this before, I have seen them wear out but never just one losing oil all of a sudden. any info or ideas is welcomed. kinda just wanting to see what to expect once i pull the head off, and where to go if i do not find anything.

***madmikeismad*** · 03-13-2011, 01:12 AM

I don't know how much it will "spray" but maybe leave the valve cover off and see how much oil flows?

REDDEVL · 03-13-2011, 01:18 AM

checked that already cyl 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 all have good flow the rockers have a nice steady flow running across the tops to the valves and push rods. (at Idle so as to not make a mess) #5 has a drip maybe every 10 seconds you can hardly see coming from bellow the exhaust rocker where it rides on the pedestal.

Deereman76 · 03-13-2011, 07:44 AM

Oil Flows from the main rifle, up through a passage in the block, to the headgasket. There is a notch, if you will, were the oil runs through the gasket, over to the Headbolt hole. Oil Flows up and around the headbolt into the rocker assembly.

Some basic thoughts:

It seems the most likely place to have a restriction is at the actual rocker lever pedestal. since you replaced that, the next most likely place is at the head gasket.

If you get the head gasket off, the oil passage down to the main oil rifle is straight, you can look down it, or push a Coathanger wire or similar all the way down to the Main oil rifle. The Bottom of the Oil Rifle is roughly 6 1/4 inches from the top deck, so if your wire goes in that far, the passage is open.

That is really all there is to it, if that passage is open, and the gasket looks good, and the bolt hole through the head is clean, then I am stumped........

REDDEVL · 03-13-2011, 12:42 PM

Thanks Deereman, im just going to pull it down next week and see what the story is, the head gasket only has around 10K miles on it, so its hard for me to see it failing, but i got to thinking more about it last night and i guess over the 230K miles the engine has on it, its possible some casting scale or something could have broke lose and plugged up the passage.

moser11 · 03-13-2011, 11:37 PM

subscribed...

Deereman76 · 03-14-2011, 08:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by REDDEVL

Thanks Deereman, im just going to pull it down next week and see what the story is, the head gasket only has around 10K miles on it, so its hard for me to see it failing, but i got to thinking more about it last night and i guess over the 230K miles the engine has on it, its possible some casting scale or something could have broke lose and plugged up the passage.

I doubt it is the gasket itself. My greatest concern, is what is it? and how did it get there? We cannot answer either until we figure out what "it" actually is. Good luck!

articfarmram · 03-14-2011, 10:05 AM

subscribed!

illflem · 03-14-2011, 01:05 PM

Quote:

I doubt it is the gasket itself. My greatest concern, is what is it?

Foil seal from an oil container or part of a failed oil filter?

Deereman76 · 03-14-2011, 01:54 PM

Both of those items require a Failure to filter the oil...... But possible none the less.

REDDEVL · 03-14-2011, 02:53 PM

I gave the oil filter a thought, and a doub it anything from a container as i only use mobile and the gallon jugs do not have a foil seal, also run wix filters and have nver had an issue with one but that doesnt mean anything, but at the same time as far as the oil filter coming appart goes, if it was that i figure it would plug a main bearing passage first and not affect the rocker passages. but im not for sure.

The head will be coming off this week and ill hopefully have an answer.

**AH64ID** · 03-14-2011, 02:58 PM

Hopefully its something simple!