Left rocker arm oiling problem

streetdreams said:
Ted, these cam bearings aren't Dura-Bond, are they ?
Click to expand...
While the Durabond bearings are softer than the original Ford pieces, the bearings giving the most trouble are the Sealed Power bearings. It would be nice if Durabond would offer a high performance bearing for the Y’s as they do for some of the other engine families. I would be more than happy to pay the price difference.
 
TedEaton said:
I would say it’s a very noticeable difference.I have a collection of center cam bearings here that show much more wear than the remaining bearings.The problem with the center cam bearing loading starts with the groove in the center cam journal.That groove relieves the oil pressure that would normally make the ‘oil wave’ that the journal would ride upon.Because there is no wave and the oil free flows around the journal within the groove, the center cam bearing simply wears faster and especially with modern valve spring pressures being applied.
Click to expand...

So, what would be a good fix for this issue? Based on the above, grooving the center journal or deepening it seems counterproductive. Seems to me a non-grooved journal and a Schumann bearing with a groove on the OD would be the way to go. Am I missing something?
 
on old y blocks i took apart some had severe wear on the centre bearing but in many cases the rest looked good with the naked eye.i never tried to do any measuring but i used to wonder about it.i couldnt see how it could wear faster so just let it go.
 
Dobie Gillis said:
So, what would be a good fix for this issue? Based on the above, grooving the center journal or deepening it seems counterproductive. Seems to me a non-grooved journal and a Schumann bearing with a groove on the OD would be the way to go. Am I missing something?
Click to expand...
While the groove is detrimental in regards to bearing wear, it is necessary for the top end oiling as originally designed. Deepening the cam journal groove is the quick fix for top end oiling issues related to either soft cam bearings and/or inadequate groove depth in the new camshafts. For shops that have the equipment, then machining a groove in the center cam hole would allow the oil to have a better path to the top end rather than diverting the oil so it goes around the cam journal and back into the block. Using the Schumann cam bearing set that has the center bearing grooved on its outer O.D. is also another option.

To actually fix the center cam bearing so it wears at the same rate as the other bearings is going to take a camshaft that does not have that center groove on it. To that end, there’s activity towards getting a number of cam blanks made that do not have that center groove.

To take this to another level, all the oil holes feeding the cam journals ideally need to be at the four o’clock position when observed from the front of the block. This is reasonably easy to do once the appropriate block modifications are performed. By having the oil enter at the point that is just starting the loading process, a proper oil wave can be formed that will allow the journal to float in a bed of oil. As per the original design, the oil enters at the point of maximum loading (six o’clock) and simply misses the opportunity to make that oil wave.

For those 312 engines that require oversize O.D. cam bearings in which to correct cam tunnel alignment issues, then the cam bearing oil holes are repositioned so that the oil holes feeding the journals are at the aforementioned 4 o’clock position. Because these new bearings end up being marginally thicker than the originals (result of boring the cam tunnels to a 2.183” dimension), there is adequate material in which to groove the back side of the bearing so that the oil hole can essentially be installed in any position without the block modifications.
 
its not as bad as it sounds if you run a stock engine and cut the groove deeper you wouldnt have a problem.its the high spring pressure they run with some cams.ford called for 75 on stock engines.
 
darrell said:
its not as bad as it sounds if you run a stock engine and cut the groove deeper you wouldnt have a problem.its the high spring pressure they run with some cams.ford called for 75 on stock engines.
Click to expand...

Now that makes me wonder how much higher you can go before you start having problems. And if there are any mild grinds out there that use stock spring pressure, or not much higher than stock.
 
Its been 8 years since this post. Any update on your oiling issues? Has anyone else tried this? What kind of issues did you have since then regarding the rocker arm oiling problem.
 
Ted, What are your thoughts toward running a 1/4 " drill down the oil holes in the block to open the cam bearing slots up? I'm installing the Engine Tech CC-508 cam bearings now and planning on getting them line bored once installed. Also, I want to locate someone to grind the slot on the cam bearing journal to be the same size as the stock cam we replaced.
Thanks for any suggestions.
 
jamit793 said:
Ted, What are your thoughts toward running a 1/4 " drill down the oil holes in the block to open the cam bearing slots up? I'm installing the Engine Tech CC-508 cam bearings now and planning on getting them line bored once installed. Also, I want to locate someone to grind the slot on the cam bearing journal to be the same size as the stock cam we replaced.

Thanks for any suggestions.
Click to expand...

It seems TED only comes through here while drinking his Sunday morning coffee.

You can find him @ http://forums.y-blocksforever.com/Default.aspx

Include this thread URL in the post for a reference. They have all kinds of info on lube mods and several TECH ARTICLES.

Maybe show a referring URL here from there when he answers?
 
chain drive said:
make sure the head bolts are put in the right holes
Click to expand...
http://ford-y-block.com/assemblyerrors.htm

"There appear to be 2 different length head bolts in a Y-Block engine, 5 short bolts near the spark plugs and 5 longer bolts under the rocker arms.
It’s true that the 5 short bolts near the spark plugs are identical but the 5 under the rockers are not the same! 2 of these bolts are slightly longer and are installed at the outer ends of the head where the alignment dowels are located."



 
I've been trying to login to Y-blocks forever for the last week however password doesn't work. So I wait until administrator approves a reset. Or Sunday morning coffee break.
 
Re: right rocker arm oiling problem

OK, on a 1957 312 y-block fresh rebuild. I lost oil pressure to the right head valve adjusters after a complete rebuild and about 500 miles of run in. Resulting in a complete teardown to find the issue. The recommendations are that the cam bearing was too soft due to the manufactures recent material changes resulting on the bearing closing (mushrooming) in on the small slot in the bearing that allowed the oil to flow. The exerts recommend that I use the cam bearings from SCHUMANNS SALES AND SERVICE with an external groove around the exterior of the cam bearing. This will eliminate the need for the oil to penetrate the small slot in the bearing travel around the smaller slot in the cam and exit to the again small slot in the cam earing to either the right or left head passages which allow the oil to lubricate the valve adjuster assemblies. Solving my issue.

My first question is what will happen if I simply replace the existing cam bearings with cam bearings from Schumann's sales and service and their external groove around the exterior of the cam bearing, or run a drill down the 1/4 " hole in the block to the cam bearings and opening up that small slot in the cam bearings? Or take the cam groove on the existing cam journal and open it up with (forgive me) a chain saw file to 0.60 deep? Yes it fits. Or what if I do all three. purchase the SCHMANNS Sales and Service cam bearings with the external groove, drill the 1/4 " opening in the cam bearings existing small slot and file the existing small groove on the current cams? Am I playing with fire? I simply don't want to rip the engine out after another 500 miles and rebuild it for the 3rd time????????
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top