Just got my new motor in and the lifters wont fill with oil and get hard???

we have tired almost everything, the car has 60lbs or oil pressure. the lifters are only opening the valves a little bit because they are bottoming out and making the car backfire form the detination.

my question is will the car have oil pressure if one of the freeze plugs were to pop out would i still have 60lbs of pressure. is the sensor reading pressure before the oil makes it to the area of the timing chain or does it take the pressure reading somewhere else?????

there is a small amount of oil coming out of the rockers, very very small amount, not the small amount everyone is talking about and the lifters just are not getting hard.

i did not prime the car, and it has ran for 5 min, shouldnt the lifters get hard by then? also the lifters came out of my other motor and worked fine 1 day before and i did not soak them first, just transfored them.

 

The oil pressure is taken back by the oil pump just above the last cam bearing.Sounds like a plunged oil passage or cam bearings installed wrong...

 

What oil plug could be plugged?

 

I ran an engine for 20 minutes before they pumped up and stopped clacking. But here's the question. If they were flat, how did you set the lash? I have a feeling you got them way too tight and they aren't capable of pumping up.

You should have soaked them in oil for a few days before putting them in.

 

I set them to zero lash by spinning the rod. I'm sure it was maybe a hair tight but it's at a shop now and the said that they re adjusted them. 20 min though? I'm geting the car back from the shop tomorrow to see if I can find the prob myself, they want to charge $1500 to pull and install the motor so the can dig around, I'll do ut myself. Anymore thoughts.

 

I am thinking that the rockers are too tight,I would back them all off and start over..

 

I'm gonna try that. Any others

 

I've thought about this some more and it could be the plugs at the front of the oil galleys with the small holes in them, they could be missing or have fallen out and the pump would still be able to pump up 60 psi's but not have enough flow or back pressure to pump up the lifters.

 

look at this pic. It's the 2 small frost plug like thing on either side of the cam at the top:

https://www.camaroz28.com/forums/alb...pictureid=3668

 

That was one of my questions. They were there but if they popped out would I still have 60lbs of pressure? If so that would be my prob but ive heard that if they fell out I would have low pressure

 

I'm not sure but I think it would still have pressure at the back of the block where your sending unit is just above the oil pump, but not be able to fill up the galleys enough to get oil in the lifters and out the push rods.

 

Who installed the frost plug things? I dont know what to call them...LOL. I drilled and taped them in my regular SBC in the past, but i had the machine shop install new ones I got from GM.

 

I had a machinist do it. I can't remember but in the pics I have of it they are chiseled into the block, not just placed in there. There is still a chancy it could of fallen out. The big question is??? Like you said the sensor is just above the pump but will it give a good reading if one of the freeze plugs behind the timing cover cam out.

 

I don't know for sure???? Maybe someone else has had a similar experience.

 

Yep it sucks. I've never pulled a motor before so I decided to pull my motor and trans out the top on my ss and now this???? The shop does not think it would take more than 5 min to get oil to fill the lifters but that would be my best luck to have it run longer and work fine lol.