2F oil to head

[ccasteel]

Let me start with "Yes I searched." And I learned. I see why there may have been no oil to the head after a rebuild. However...

I have a machine shop rebuilding the motor and I want to know if their solution will cause more problems. After not getting oil to the head and not being able to figure out why, they machined a groove into the camshaft to get oil to the head. Wave the magic wand, and now there is oil to the head. I wish I knew more details, but I don't. If you understand this better than I do, please educate me. And also, please tell me I'm not screwed.

 

[John Smith]

Let me start with "Yes I searched." And I learned. I see why there may have been no oil to the head after a rebuild. However...

I have a machine shop rebuilding the motor and I want to know if their solution will cause more problems. After not getting oil to the head and not being able to figure out why, they machined a groove into the camshaft to get oil to the head. Wave the magic wand, and now there is oil to the head. I wish I knew more details, but I don't. If you understand this better than I do, please educate me. And also, please tell me I'm not screwed.

Sounds like someone did not seat the distributor or hook up the early oil tube to that goes to the head depending on engine vintage. Does this shop have any experience with the F series engines?

 

[Splangy]

2F's don't have the oil tube that F engine's do. Did they install the cam bearings correctly? Also, keep in mind that you're not supposed to see oil shooting out of the rockers on these engines. It should just dribble out at idle.

 

[Mark W]

You may have had an F engine cam in your 2F. The F oiled from the second cam journal. The 2F oils from the 3rd.


Mark...

 

[ColonelMustardFJ40]

If you have a 2F engine and the correct camshaft, you can put the engine at TDC (compression stroke) for cylinder #4 to align the oil passage in the cam with the oil holes in the #3 cam journal. In this state, if you run the oil pump (dist removed) with an appropriate drive, oil flow should be visible at the rocker arms. If not something is likely wrong with the cam or bearings.

 

[ccasteel]

Thanks for all the responses. What I'm hearing are all the reasons why it wasn't working in the first place. I don't believe the shop is familiar with the 2F. My question revolves around his solution and if it will cause a different kind of problem down the road.

I believe he has machined a groove in either the cam or the bearing to allow the oil to flow more freely. Will this continue to function, or will I have premature failure?

 

[65swb45]

This is kind of a novel question....for everyone but the owner of the truck! I am of the same inclination as Mark W. on the accidental use of the F cam in the 2F block.

The thing of it is, when this has happened in other cases I have heard of, the machine shop either exchanged the cam, or simply drilled and chamfered a hole in the third position on the cam.

Cutting a groove around the diameter of the cam is novel in that at face value, it would have the advantage of delivering oil to the galley 100% of the time, whereas the stock formation delivers oil only when the holes in the cam bearing align with the hole in the camshaft.

IMO the first unknown variable in the concept of a grooved cam is how deep and wide of a groove they cut, as that will have some bearing [pardon the pun] on the potential oil delivery over time.

The second unknown variable is what will happen over time. While I doubt that the increasing clearance/tolerance between the cam journal and the bearing over time will make much difference in oil delivery between the two systems, I think that the contamination factor would.

The thought here would be that if a contaminant came up thru the galley to the journal and got between the cam and the bearing in the stock setup, there is a good chance that it would be forcefully embedded into the bearing babbit, while oil would continue to travel thru the oil hole in the journal to the head.

In your scenario, it would be a lot more possible for the contaminant to embed itself PARTIALLY in the bearing babbit, while still protruding into the space directly above it where the groove is cut in the camshaft, thereby obstructing the ONLY source of oil to the head.

So while I think the groove is an interesting idea, I would just ask them to drill and chamfer a hole in the cam.

Best

Mark A.

 

[Mark W]

I have seen a couple of cams over the years that had grooves. I never spent much time wondering what lead to that being done on those two cams. The groves in the cams I had in hand were much too large for anything to get caught and form an obstruction. I do expect that the grooves I looked at would allow an increased flow of oil to the head... which does not need all that much... and that oil would be escaping from duty in the bottom end... which DOES need it.


Mark...