How many of you use an external oil system on your yblock?

[WALFORD'S 56]

O.K.--I have had to add an external oiling system to my 272 in a 56 ford F600. I have 3 272s and a 292 and have been told that the way to keep the valve-train lubed is this quick fix. ANYONE ELSE HAVE ONE?
I have been told that this will cause the engine to smoke,and then possibly blow up. I was told by Ford--that this was a tried and tru method to fix this engine problem. I even installed a pitcock to adjust flow. Any help will be appreciated...Bill

[rustyrelic]

I have one on my 56 f600. I was'nt getting oil to my #1 cyl rockers but the left side flowed really well... I have no complaints, no smoke from engine

[THX1138-Z]

Only time I had a rocker oiling issue was on an engine that had set up for awhile and the oil galleries sludged up. I pulled the rockers and bolted a flat plate with a grease zert in it on the head over the rocker oiling hole and pumped white grease into the oil feed holes to break loose the sludge in both heads and block. Then turned over the engine with the sparkplugs out to insure that oil was being pumped topside and then reinstalled the rocker arm assemblies. Rockers oiled fine after doing this. I saw a good number of Y's with the overhead oilers but never had to use one myself. It's important that the oil be restricted to the topend with the overhead oilers as too much oil can flood the valve guides and bleed off too much oil pressure from the rest of the engine.

[46yblock]

There is a good discussion of oil system mods over on the other site if you want to take a look. I still think it is best to fix the underlying problem if a rocker assembly isnt getting oil. If the issue is worn cam bearings, or bearings in general, they only get worse.
On the engines where you installed the external oiler, how did the rocker shafts and rocker arm bores look?

[WALFORD'S 56]

I am not an engine guy--more of a paint guy. With that said--yblocks are new to me. I have built a few 440 6pac engines 25 yrs ago,and have forgotten alot about engines.
The 56 F600 with 21,000 original miles was rebuilt some time ago,as the original owner told me last yr. He owned truck 1956-2004. I had no instructions as to installing the oiler. So I plumbed the tubing from the sending unit to pass.side valve cover and took out the hold down and installed the stud with hole in it and soon as I started the 272 up--oil flowed to valve cover. ALOT OF OIL!!
I knew this was toooo much,and so stopped and bought new valve cover gaskets--as the old ones were leaking.
I know the E.O.K. is not on correctly. Another FTE member tells me so. I installed a pitcock to slow down the flow. I know this isn't correct!!
Can anyone walk me thru the install again! oh--my other truck has had a E.O.K. ON IT FOR MANY YRS AND IS JUST A PARTS TRUCK,so I looked at it,and this is how it was set up. Thanks and help!!! Bill

[tomw]

The ones that I have seen had a valve similar to the piercing type valves you use to connect an ice-cube maker to the water supply. Brass and copper, with a handle to adjust the flow. If you got a 'kit' from some source, it would have had instructions, I suppose... If you made up your own with copper tubing and fittings, then you'd have to figure it out.
I'd go to a plumbing supply store, or the 'help' rack at your local parts store and buy a valve with compression fittings, and use it, along with a 'Y' to regulate flow to the rocker arms. You want oil to drip off the rocker arm where it pivots on the shaft, and there should be a little drizzle coming out the upper side of the rocker arm through a drilled hole that would flow down to the valve stem tip. Not a lot, just enough to drip every 10-20 seconds.
tom

[kooper909]

A properly assembled and properly operating Y-block has no oiling issues to the rockers. Mine oils great. The problem is frequently a plugged oil supply hole, if the engine was run on older oils. You can usually clean up the supply hole with a drill bit.

[WALFORD'S 56]

I will look at it again this Friday,and hopefully be done with the problem. I never had this problem on any other engine and I have had alot of vehicles. Thanks--kooper wish I had your engine--haha!!! Bill

[HT32BSX115]

That of course is only if the plugged area is in the head. If it's below the head gasket, you have to pull the head and gasket in question to "ream" the passage out...

Originally Posted by kooper909

A properly assembled and properly operating Y-block has no oiling issues to the rockers. Mine oils great. The problem is frequently a plugged oil supply hole, if the engine was run on older oils. You can usually clean up the supply hole with a drill bit.

[46yblock]

You have gone to what seems to be a lot of trouble to add the external oil system. WhY? Going back to the original post it seems that someone told you that was what to do to keep the rocker system lubed. Is it or was it working properly? Was oil exiting the overflow tubes? What is the condition of the rockers and shafts?

If the external system truly is needed, installed, and nothing else done, I figure the motor is going to be short lived.

[WALFORD'S 56]

The engine is clean as a pin. There is no sludge and I have other yblocks and there is alot of sludge in them. I figure I will have a Ford mechanic take a turn and see if this ext.oil kit is even necessary.
The truck runs great. The tick stops if I spray a little on the rocker arms -with valve covers are off. Only asked questions to see if I had this on correctly. Apparently I don't. I do not think it was a big deal--but do not want to ruin a great engine......Bill

[56efffie]

I have the external oiling kit on my engine, was like that when I got it. I still do not think my rockers on the passenger side are getting enough oil either. does anyone have a pic of the hole in the head where the oil should be coming in from? The ticking on mine is coming from the #1 cylinder and on further inspection I noticed a bent pushrod on the same cylinder.

PS. 46Yblock, That carb works great, Thanks again!

[tomw]

The oil comes up through the heat at the second(?) rocker arm shaft support block. If you remove the rocker shaft, do each support block 1/2 turn at a time to keep the load 'even'. One has a reamed out hole and a longer bolt. IIRC. The oil comes up around one of the head bolts from a passage that is offset from the head bolt, through a passage machined into to the bottom of the cylinder head, that goes down to the #2 (? again) cam bearing. The cam bearing has a 'slot' that leads around to a hole in the bearing surface that leads to the oil passage. The slot can get sludged up (remember I'm talking 1965 version oils, when I last did this) and prevent oil flow. It would be #2 for the passenger side, and #3 for the drivers side. From memory, the cam bearings had to be indexed properly for the slot to align with the passage drilled into the block. If you do remove the rocker shaft, you can disassemble it, or at least slide the rockers over to inspect the under side where the scoring mostly takes place. Replacements are still available, and may even be a part # here on this site.
tom

[kooper909]

Originally Posted by WALFORD'S 56

The engine is clean as a pin. There is no sludge and I have other yblocks and there is alot of sludge in them. I figure I will have a Ford mechanic take a turn and see if this ext.oil kit is even necessary.
The truck runs great. The tick stops if I spray a little on the rocker arms -with valve covers are off. Only asked questions to see if I had this on correctly. Apparently I don't. I do not think it was a big deal--but do not want to ruin a great engine......Bill

If the engine is clean, there must be an assembly error. The oil supply hole in the rocker stand is not centered. If you have the rocker stands backward, the oil supply will be cut off. Check to see if it lines up with the hole in the head.

[WALFORD'S 56]

Thanks---I will see if it was assembled correctly. It ran great and no noise for quite a while. I hope this will be an easy correction. I would rather wet-sand than tear engines down!!