I really would like to keep the 239. It runs good. And at 239 inches, it should get real good gas mileage. This is important these days! of course one website I was on a week ago listed the weight of the Y block to almost that of an FE block! The T5 kit that is on the Ford-Y-Block.com is going to cost something over $300. I still think I will change the rear end over to a 9" with a better highway gear.

 

I get better mileage with a C...y 396 in a full size Impala than with the 239 in my 54 F350.

The 5.14 gears dont help but the littlest Y is not known for mileage either.
About 11-13 depending on the wind.
Im hoping the 292 replacement and 4.10 gears will be a little better.

 

I did get to a website a few weeks ago that gave the weights of all the Ford engines. The Y block was just a few pounds shy of the FE blocks. The later Fairlane engines were much lighter!

Another problem I have heard about the Ys are the oiling. Seems there is a very small oil passage into the top of the heads that stop up. Has anybody had this happen? Are there any fixes?

 

I did have the oiling problem with mine before I rebult it. And had to get a external oiling kit. And with the kit I had no problems. The problem I think was not small oil passages. It is a problem with the cam and the bearing. Your engine may never have this problem. The weight of the engine will make your truck ride better and help your front end tract straiter. I am getting around 15mpg with a light foot not much worse than my wifes 98 chevy truck. I have a 302 in my 77 truck and the Y block walks all over it. I getting more power is what you are looking for try duel exhaust. I would keep the Y.

 

Besides the cam oiling which Ford changed in later years the old non detergent oil was a major cause of problems.

I pulled my rocker assy apart and cleaned up everything when I first got the 54. With nothing but Castrol GTX 10W30 or 20W50 depending on the season I had no oiling problems.

Oiling kits show on EBay for $15-20 NIB.

 

286Merc

How much pressure should a 292 have ???...at startup I have about 30 and as I run it longer about 20 or less at 50 mph. When I adjusted the valves I did not have very much oil to clean up afterwards.....It's a 59 block

Thanks

Steve

 

Speaking of valves, I understand these Y Blocks have solid lifters. What is the interval that they need to be checked? How should they be set? Is it more than loosing till a knocking noise is heard then snugging down until knock goes away? I used to do my hyd. lifter engines this way and I'm not sure if that was even the best way.

 

Not even, If you can't hear them, they need adjusting...

The easy way was discribed in a previous post, or you could
try googling Walt Nuckels, who wrote the article I posted...

Found it, here goes...

Y-Block enthusiast, let’s talk valve lash. As y-blocks have no hydraulic lifters, it is necessary to adjust the tappets quit often. Unfortunately, the use of a feeler gauge is satisfactory only if the rocker faces are in good condition. If the rocker faces have wear pockets, from contacting the valve stem, the use of a feeler gauge will provide results which are little better than calculated guessing, as the gap will always be greater than the thickness of the feeler gauge due to said condition.


About fifty years ago when solid lifters were most common, a tool was developed for adjusting valve lash, utilizing a dial indicator, called a P&G Valve Gapper. These tools were supplied with specific adapters for different makes of engines, including y-block Fords, by P&G manufacturing co. of Portland, Or., but to the best of my knowledge they no longer exist. Can anyone expand on the existence of this company or a source of this tool, or parts thereof? I have found a few at swap meets but not in the last decade. This is the finest tool ever developed for adjusting solid lifter equipped overhead tappets as anyone who owns one would testify.


For those of you without the luxury of such a precision tool, may I suggest a very satisfactory method alternative to feeler gauges anyone can perform without special tools.


The tappet adjust screw is 20 threads per inch thus 1 full turn represents .050” of linear travel. It works just like a micrometer. Multiply 1 turn of travel times existing rocker ratio. Example, .050” X 1.54 = .077”. As you can deduct, one full turn of the adjust screw used in a 1.54 ratio rocker will represent .077” of tappet clearance. Now divide one turn of tappet clearance i.e, .077” by 60 as in the 60 minuets of a clock face. This number is .001283” = 1 minute of clock face rotation. Thus 15 minuets of rotation will =.0192” Very close to .019” which is the specification for valve tappet clearance on 292 and 312 engines. 15 minutes clock rotation = 90 degrees rotation, an increment most auto enthusiast can easily estimate quit closely.


Get into the engine, with the lifter all the down obtain some tappet clearance then carefully rotate the adjust screw clockwise to obtain .000’ valve lash. Just touching but not depressing the valve. Now rotate the adjust screw counterclockwise 90 degrees. The resulting clearance should be very, very close to .019” regardless of rocker arm face wear.


If adjusting 1.43 ratio rockers rotate the adjust screw 16 min. of rotation ccw. To obtain .01906” clearance. Very, very ,very close.


In order to determine the ratio of said rocker, observe the # on the side. 1.54 rockers are marked ECG 6564-B2 or –B1. I am led to believe any rocker with a B1 or B2 suffix will be a 1.54 ratio rocker and all those without suffixes will be 1.43 ratio.


There you have it, Hope it helps...

 

Good info on the valve lash. I understand that Walt Nuckles site is going away.

My 239 ran 40-50 at startup and 30+ at 50 mph even after a few hours. When stopping it would drop to about 15 and then slowly build up again to 20-25 during the time for a long light to change.
Im using the screw on filter adaptor and a Y is VERY fussy about filters. Fram are garbage and reduced my pressure 10-15 lbs right out of the box. This same problem has been mentioned by several others. I use only Hastings or Motorcraft; there are some other good ones also.

Oil isnt very much out of the rocker shafts, just enouh to do the job. You can also plug the ends and make it all flow thru the rockers, thats a common mod and one I did to the 292.

OTOH, my Chebby 396 squirts right over the fenders!

 

AHHHHHHHH the 396

Let's see...that comes from a car whose name means

Cheap
Heap
Every
Valve
Rattles
Oil
Leak
Every
Time


Still All Ford

Hands

 

Yeah but the 396 is in a low mileage numbers matching 68 Impala SS396 ragtop.
I can swing to several beats; working on Fords keeps me humble.

 

WEll now, you didn't say it was a pedigreed chebby...that's ok...I can imagine myself tooling down the boulevard wind blowing in my hair, ray bans on, deep rumble of the big block and flowmasters ,classic rock blasting, bodacious babe in the front, looking as cool as I can be.....and then the wife wakes me up and makes me go outside and look at the 55 f100......oh well dreams and wishes........

Time for a nap

Hands

 

Let's get back on topic!

What kind of oiling problems do the <a href="http://motorhaven.autoanything.com/">y block</a>s have? What is this "exterior" oiling system I've heard about?

 

<a href="http://motorhaven.autoanything.com/">y block</a>s were typically known for poor oiling in the rocker arm area and for not carrying a tremendous amount of oil pressure. An external oiling system is available occassionally from NOS vendors or occassionallly on the auction site.

Also as 28merc said clean the rocker assy and use good oil.

Good luck

Big Hands

 

Uh Oh, the Topic Police have landed.

The oiler kit is/was an aftermarket attempt that really is only a temporary fix while the real source of the problem gets worse.
They show up NIB on EBay fairly often in the $15-25 range.

Worn cam bearings plus gunk restricted passages in the block and rocker shafts limit the oil flow. I used Castrol GTX 20W50 and changed oil and filter every 500 miles about 7-8 times when I first got the 54. It only had 53K when I got it so it was pretty well gunked up with old non detergent single weight sludge. Also cleaned the pan and screen.

I put a fairly hard 8K on that 239 and it never once complained; except the time I used a Fram filter.