Oil galley plugs

[brotherGood]

Looking for oil galley plug information, and this is the best I've found so far. For reference this is for an LA 318 with Magnum heads. Rebuilt approximately 6 years ago, maybe has 2500 miles on it.

Issue 1. Under heavy acceleration, I notice smoke coming from the passenger side. I cannot accurately tell of its coming from the exhaust or externally somewhere on the engine. When I turn the car off however, I typically can see oil on the backside of the passenger head near the bellhousing.

Issue 2. Under same conditions as above (only heavy acceleration) the passenger head makes a bunch of clattering, as if it's just simply not getting enough oil.

I do not remember seeing any drops in oil pressure, I hope to get out there this weekend and hook the gauge back up and get a solid read once more. I will notice an oil spot under the car, both while under normal conditions, and once the car is shut off. It does not leak once things have settled though, and the leak is making it's way out through a gap between the inspection cover and the bellhousing.

When the engine was first installed, dad noticed an oil leak and realized it was a galley plug and got it tight. He was only aware of the 1 leak however at the time.

Sorry for the long winded post, just wanted to give the full scoop for those with suggestions .

Thanks

 

[brotherGood]

With this being such a hot topic, I figured I'd shoot over an update....

Found the answer to problem 2. This is the same valve that had the issue upon initial assembly using the wrong gaskets causing the bolt to break. I don't remember if the pushrod or lifter were replaced then, but im guessing they will now.

 

[Duke5A]

Too hard to see, what am I looking at?

 

[brotherGood]

No oil to one of the rockers on cylinder 6.

 

[Duke5A]

Pull the rocker out and look for galling and bluing. Have you had lifter noise with it running? If the lifter is failing to pump up and in turn supply oil to the rocker it should be making a hell of a lot of noise.

 

[brotherGood]

Pull the rocker out and look for galling and bluing. Have you had lifter noise with it running? If the lifter is failing to pump up and in turn supply oil to the rocker it should be making a hell of a lot of noise.

Yes, that's what drove the decision to pull the valve cover. I thought it was solely connected to the oil leak (leaking galley plug not getting enough oil to the passenger head) but after talking to a few people, they said the two issues sounded unrelated.

The rocker showing the issue, is the same one that had the bolt broken off into the stud upon initial build due to all sorts of geometry issues. I'm thinking we either missed a bent pushrod, or failed to check the lifter and it has collapsed

 

[Duke5A]

Is it a flat tappet cam? You might have wiped a lobe out on the lifter then.

That is really odd though. Those bolts are 5/16" and even then you shouldn't have any geometry issues utilizing all factory parts.

I remember you saying those springs are factory pieces. What are the specs of the cam?

 

[brotherGood]

Summit Racing® Classic Cam and Lifter Kits SUM-K6900

That's the cam. I've got shim head gaskets, the pushrods are (I believe) 7.625"..per a buddy of mine who had the same setup and was racing (and knows a heck of a lot more about it than I did)

Upon initial install, the original bolts were reused, and one broke. The second time, I installed replacements..broke another. The third time, and then when we accidentally found this one broken was when we realized the shim gaskets weren't put on..it was running gasket kit felpros that were twice as thick.

When the shim gaskets were put on, that's when the grade 8 bolts entered the picture and (aside from the present issue) I've not had a problem since.

 

[volare 77]

IMO, those bolts shouldn`t have been breaking like that. Grade 8 may be just hiding a issue.

 

[brotherGood]

Grade 8 weren't breaking. OEM were..and at that time the geometry was all screwed up (not to mention I'm not sure how good of shape the originals were in)

 

[Duke5A]

Those should never have broke, let alone two of them. What did you torque them down to? The factory bolts are at least grade 5 and the other hardware in the valve train should give before those do. If you plan on using those heads on the 360 then they really need to be gone over by a shop.

 

[brotherGood]

They were gone over. One of them looked like it was cracked before. My fear is, when dad was putting everything together he was told (by the mechanics "walking him through how to build it") that he could run them down with an impact. When we finally switched over to the grade 8 bolts, I went by hand to torque spec.

 

[Duke5A]

They were gone over. One of them looked like it was cracked before. My fear is, when dad was putting everything together he was told (by the mechanics "walking him through how to build it") that he could run them down with an impact. When we finally switched over to the grade 8 bolts, I went by hand to torque spec.

Yeah, that would do it. Bolts were over torqued and sheered. Was it ran like that?

It's amazing the shit advice so-called mechanics can give. I feel for you!

Pull the intake off next and look at the cam lobe. Don't reuse the push rods on the new motor either.

 

[brotherGood]

View attachment 37837

Yeah, that would do it. Bolts were over torqued and sheered. Was it ran like that?

It's amazing the shit advice so-called mechanics can give. I feel for you!

Pull the intake off next and look at the cam lobe. Don't reuse the push rods on the new motor either.

New engine will have new pushrods, for sure. The only things being reused will be the heads and intake, then little things like starter, ps pump, etc. I'm not going to try and "make it work" with the 360.. I've spent too much time and energy doing that with the 318.

 

[Aspen500]

As an auto tech, when I hear "run them in with an impact", I shudder. Nothing wrong with carefully running them down with an air ratchet, to save time (and arms), stopping before the bolt tightens up and then, torque wrench. Too tight is as bad, or even worse, than not tight enough. I know, preaching to the choir right?

 

[brotherGood]

Gonna finish buttoning this up hopefully tomorrow, but I pulled the lifter and it wouldnt budge for nothing.

Hopefully this also inadvertently fixes the top end leaks I've had, as I noticed the oil pressure sender was ridiculously loose.

Ive gotta get the hustle on, because the Hot Rod Power Tour will new coming around next summer and that's been a bucket list thing of mine.. and I don't plan on missing it

 

[Duke5A]

Gonna finish buttoning this up hopefully tomorrow, but I pulled the lifter and it wouldnt budge for nothing

Wait, the lifter was stuck?? Is this a flat tappet cam? Those lifters need to not only move freely up and down in the bore, but also spin easily. If they don't spin the cam lobe will be wiped in no time. If the lifter was stuck in the bore it's beginning to make sense now that there was no oil going to that rocker.

Did you get it out? What does the bottom side look like?

 

[brotherGood]

I didnt see any abnormal wear on the cam versus the other lobes. The bottom looked clean (not beat up) and I can tell it was freely spinning. I think it just wasnt operating as it should-meaning I couldnt compress the inner part of the lifter no matter how hard I tried.

 

[Duke5A]

I didnt see any abnormal wear on the cam versus the other lobes. The bottom looked clean (not beat up) and I can tell it was freely spinning. I think it just wasnt operating as it should-meaning I couldnt compress the inner part of the lifter no matter how hard I tried.

The lifter won't pump up then. Explains the lack of oil to the rocker still seeing as how they are fed oil through the push rod. Were you eventually able to get it free before starting to put the motor back together? If you have to replace the lifter then you'll need to follow the cam break-in procedure again.

 

[brotherGood]

I replaced the lifter.