priming the oil pump

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I doubt you have the head gaskets on wrong. If you can find a drawing of the oiling system you’d see that the drivers side head gets its oil when the two holes in the cam line up with the hole on the bulkhead and the hole coming down from the deck on the number 2 cam bearing. When those holes are lined up you get oil.

Same with the passenger side except the oil comes up thought the number 4 cam bearing.

You just have to get the holes lined up to get oil going to the head.
 
I’m currently in the same boat. I’ve got the rockers installed correctly with notches facing inside, the front of the block on left side and back on the block on right side. Only getting oil on passenger side rockers. I took the drivers side rockers off with no oil coming up at all through the head. I ran a drill while slowly turning over engine and still nothing. I was trying to avoid taking the intake off but I guess I’ll have to.

Someone was mentioning it could be an oil galley plug near the distributor. Anyone know if that’s a punch style plug or if it’s threaded?
 
Moparmase said:
I’m currently in the same boat. I’ve got the rockers installed correctly with notches facing inside, the front of the block on left side and back on the block on right side. Only getting oil on passenger side rockers. I took the drivers side rockers off with no oil coming up at all through the head. I ran a drill while slowly turning over engine and still nothing. I was trying to avoid taking the intake off but I guess I’ll have to.

Someone was mentioning it could be an oil galley plug near the distributor. Anyone know if that’s a punch style plug or if it’s threaded?
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Two threaded plugs on the drivers side. One is external in the bellhousing and the other one is accessed through that first plug. Both screw in.
 
Welcome to my boat!! I'm still looking for a solution too ...
 
I have seen where the cam bearing/bushing isn’t pushed in far enough or too far. On 1 I couldn’t get oil to the drivers side u till I pushed the cam ahead. Now I check for that every single time. Kim
 
oldkimmer said:
I have seen where the cam bearing/bushing isn’t pushed in far enough or too far. On 1 I couldn’t get oil to the drivers side u till I pushed the cam ahead. Now I check for that every single time
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Can this bearing be accessed by taking the intake off? My engine is fully assembled... Thanks!!
 
No, the cam would have to come out. Another way to check is with the suggested wire pushed all the way down. Probably need about a foot. Then turn the motor and see if u can feel the cam turning. Kim
 
oldkimmer said:
No, the cam would have to come out. Another way to check is with the suggested wire pushed all the way down. Probably need about a foot. Then turn the motor and see if u can feel the cam turning. Kim
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I can only get the wire down about 5 or 6 inches...
 
Not sure if you can see down through the head see if the tappets are bleeding oil. This possibly of the bearing being installed improperly, should have been visually confirmed when they were installed. You are going to have to start digging to find out, no free lunch here. Yes, you probably will have to pull the intake, and more. I forgot the rear inner screw in plug on the driver's side of my 318, and yes, I had to pull the engine to install it. So get ready to do what you have to do.
Sorry.
 
Ok, I have posted this many times now and it almost always gets run over and ignored, but here it is again. This is the camshaft oil timing for each bank of the engine. Get it in one of these positions and prime hell out of the oil pump. sometimes it takes several minutes to get all the air out. Line it up on one of these positions and prime away. If it gets oil, line the other side up and do the same. When I say several minutes, I mean it. I've had one side take almost 15 solid minutes of priming before I got oil. I figure it had a PILE of air in the system, because after that, it was fine.

Per 70aarcuda Tony Santos (RIP).

“On a small block:
Turn the motor to 90* before top dead center coming up on #1 compression. The pass. side rockers should get oil.
Turn the motor to 20* after top dead center just past #6 compression. The drivers side rockers should get oil.”
 
Keep in mind too, you must find true TDC in order to follow the instructions in post #39 correctly. If the balancer and or timing tab is off, you may not properly be lining the oil holes up. A degree wheel would even help.
 
I was able to find 90* before top dead center coming up on #1 compression and was able to prim and get lots of oil like Old Faithful..., so the pass side rockers have oil.

The driver side is another story, since i don't have a degree wheel or know how far 20 degrees is, it's a matter of guessing how far to go to find the sweet stop.
When I put the wire down, it goes to a dead stop and won't go any further...
Now I'm thinking this is an assembly issue and not an issue with the pump priming.

Thanks everyone for you input.
 
DaveW said:
I was able to find 90* before top dead center coming up on #1 compression and was able to prim and get lots of oil like Old Faithful..., so the pass side rockers have oil.

The driver side is another story, since i don't have a degree wheel or know how far 20 degrees is, it's a matter of guessing how far to go to find the sweet stop.
When I put the wire down, it goes to a dead stop and won't go any further...
Now I'm thinking this is an assembly issue and not an issue with the pump priming.

Thanks everyone for you input.
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I've done it for years just turning the engine "a little bit" at the time until I got the right spot. I feel pretty sure that's probably what it is. 20 degrees is real simple to figure from the timing tab itself. Just remember, you're talking about #6 compression, not #1, so that may be throwing you off.
 
RustyRatRod said:
I've done it for years just turning the engine "a little bit" at the time until I got the right spot. I feel pretty sure that's probably what it is. 20 degrees is real simple to figure from the timing tab itself. Just remember, you're talking about #6 compression, not #1, so that may be throwing you off.
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That’s another whole turn and then a little bit past top dead center. I think someone figured it out to be .4 of an inch. Kim
 
I verified the oil plug by the distributor is installed. Also, I tried what rusty said about running the drill for 10-15 min. Still nothing. Any other suggestions why the drivers side didn’t getting oil?
 
Less than a minute or 2 should get oil if crank(and cam) are in correct position. Have a helper SLOWLY turn crank while you run the drill. My oiling timing was different than what I've read.
For my drivers side to get oil it was approx 8* BTDC, cyl #1 exhaust.
Pass side was 118* BTDC #1 compression.
Moparmase said:
I verified the oil plug by the distributor is installed. Also, I tried what rusty said about running the drill for 10-15 min. Still nothing. Any other suggestions why the drivers side didn’t getting oil?
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I pulled my engine and removed the intake and driver side head. Then I removed the cam and all of the holes are visible and the cam bearings are only a tiny bit off, very little from the oil holes. I was expecting to see one blocked. Any thoughts will be appreciated!

Thanks, Dave W.
 
DaveW said:
I pulled my engine and removed the intake and driver side head. Then I removed the cam and all of the holes are visible and the cam bearings are only a tiny bit off, very little from the oil holes. I was expecting to see one blocked. Any thoughts will be appreciated!

Thanks, Dave W.
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Can you verify that the oil passage between the cam bearing and the oil hole at the top of the deck between cylinders #1 and #3 is open? Hold a light in the cam bearing that feeds drivers side head and then look down thru the oil hole on the deck maybe? Run a stiff wire like a coat hanger down thru the oil hole from the deck and see if it protrudes into the cam bearing? Also, since you have the drivers side head off, verify that the oil passage in the head isn't blocked between the 2nd rocker stand from the left and the head surface. If that checks out ok, look at your cam you pulled out and see if the round that spins in the 2nd bearing has a groove or holes in it to transfer the oil up thru the passage to the head, and on to the rockers. If all that checks out, the only thing left is the shaft the rockers ride on, or the head bolt you're using in the hole where the oil passage is might be too big or does not have a taper on it to allow oil to get by the head bolt and up into the rockers on that side. If you're running head studs, that may very well be the problem. To check the rocker shafts to see if they're stopped up, knock the plugs out of each end and run a brush thru them end to end and wash them out with solvent. You'll have to buy new plugs for the ends afterwards. That's all I can think of in this long winded AJ type reply!
 
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