Quote:
Originally Posted by Ken Thomas
Hi Phil, ......
I hope you saw my posting mentioning your advice re the oil alignment etc. Using your system & the addition of the grease checking, I feel I have got a good outcome.
Ken Thomas
C60Long.
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Hi Ken
I've seen something similar on a 216 but it was one that had been sitting for a very long time. It had been cranked through one revolution before the pan was dropped and there were similar groves cut through the sludge in the troughs. Guy I got the engine from warned me not to try and start the engine because he had destroyed another engine by not cleaning the troughs out first, the sludge plugged the scoops no oil got to the bearings when the engine started and it quickly seized the rod bearings.
As anybody who has put one of these engines on a test stand and turned the engine up side down before dropping the pan those little troughs hold a lot of oil, about a quart, which then drains out on the floor. This is also a reason that it is hard to get an accurate oil level reading the first time you fill up an engine that had the pan removed because the engine needs to run and then come to a stop with the oil pump turning to fill the troughs for the next engine start. Priming the oil system with a drill will take care of this when reassembling the engine.
Your method of checking for clearance and alignment looks good. When the engine is running the troughs do not hold much in the way of oil it is the spray nozzle hitting the scoops through as much of the swing as possible that is important.
I've done test looking through the fuel pump hole covered with a clear plate and you can just see one of the troughs, if you use a timing light clipped to the coil lead instead of the plug lead you actually can see (stop motion) the end of the rod and the scoop in the trough with the engine running.
At full song the combination of the scoops in the troughs and the spray nozzles the inside of a "splash lubrication" Chevy could more accurately be said to have "oil fog lubrication".
Cheers Phil