560 valve oiling

I got my 560 running again tonight after being apart for 3 months. I took it apart to clean the valve train from condensation and corrosion. I assumed that things were plugged up and the valves to not get proper oil flow therefore causing them to stick and creating the running problems I had (backfire up the intake).

The real question here is how much oil flow on the upper end is enough? I had it running about 10 minutes with the valve cover off and had very little (10 drops) oil splash out. I would expect to have oil flowing down the rocker arms readily and had very little. Engine oil pressure is good at about 45lbs at high idle and 25 at low idle. At the number 6 cylinder I had a steady stream of oil leaking out of the rocker arm shaft till the engine warmed up. I know from working on small block chevy motors they make a mess when you have the valve cover off at idle. I was expecting something similar with the tractor.

Chevies have hydraulic lifters with a proportion of the oil going through the pushrod and doing the messy oiling. There is an expansion plug in both ends of the shaft that should force the shaft to fill to allow proper oiling. ---3/4 " dia. expansion Product No: 109544R1---
From on line parts diagram. Jim

Can't say for sure there was an expansion plug in there but I think there was. I will have to think on that one tonight. I was wondering if excessive wear in the rocker arm bushings could be causing me problems.

Should oil squirt or flow out of the weep hole on the rocker arms? Mine were barely seeping.

The good thing is the tractor starts better.

Weeping is good Your pouring out statement has me concerned as it for sure needs to "bleed" from the rockers. Jim

The fact that it got better (the stream changes to a steady drip) as the engine warmed has me thinking its worn rocker arm bushings. I will give it a try in the morning on a clod engine and see what it does.

Be sure to check that stream of oil out of end of rocker arm shaft. There is not that much supply coming up there anyway so it would certainly short change the other rockers. One other thing you have to watch on those engines. Number three pedestal is where the oil comes up from below. Some times the oil hole in rocker arm shaft gets partially covered by the pedestal. I saw one, later model engine in a 666 that covered that hole completely and no oil to rockers at all. Just a slight shift in the pedestal when assembled covered hole as engine ran for many years previously with no problem. I lengthened the hole so it could not happen again. The wear on rocker arm bushings and shafts are often over looked also and this causes all kind of problem, but usually excess oil to valve area.

I checked things over quickly this morning. Yes there are expansion plugs in the end of the tube. I forgot that the last rocker arm support at number 6 cylinder is fixed to the tube and yes it is plugged. I can see it on the parts breakdown now too. The oil is leaking from between the rocker arm and the support shaft (bushings) on the side between the intake and exhaust rocker for number 6 cylinder. It was running from the other rockers too number 6 just had the most.

In other words it seems to support my theory that the bushings are wore and may need some attention. I remember while cleaning them they did show wear enough that the base metal of the bushing was showing through.

Can these rockers be rebuilt with new bushings? How else can this be repaired? They are listed at IH for $113 each times 12 so thats not an option. Going to do some checking for used ones.

Also while starting it this morning it started good but still got one puff back up the intake. That's going to be another problem that still needs attention. I have set the timing by the book with it at 2 deg BTDC till I had spark at the points. What else could be causing this? I don't think its sticking valves anymore cause I was oiling them with and oil can last night to supplement what was not coming from the rockers.

Oil to the cylinder head flows through a hole drilled in a camshaft journal. The hole is offset in the journal so that it lines up with the holes in the bearing only once a revolution. The crankshaft has to make two turns to get one spurt of oil to the rockers.

Oil oozing out of the rockers and flowing down to the valve ends is about as good as you are going to get. With all the problems caused to too much oil to the valve stems I wouldn't be looking to get any more to oil them.