Mart, my main reason for the Johnsons is the inconsistent operation of the Morels(noise) I’ll find out we’re my oil pressure ends up, can’t be any worse.
This is encouraging, just installed the johnsons, ran the oil pump, oil is oozing out the pushrod cup, something the Morels DID NOT DO That explains the noise and lack of enough oil to the top with the Morels, so we’ll see what happens.
Check the roller rocker bearings. Make sure that they are still good. Maybe the pushrods were the wrong length? If those are like the big block rockers, there is only a small window for adjustment before the oil supply hole is blocked. Or possibly another fatality from malfunctioning Morel lifters.
I eye balled the roller bearings, they look/feel ok. The shaft wear reminds me of an axle where the bearing rides on the axle (Chevy) The shafts are over 20 years old, so Im not too surprised, just glad I caught it. I had removed a rocker to check how much a quarter turn on the adjuster was (.015 + or -) since I had forgotten
Hmmnnn, it might be. When I switched to the Johnson lifters, I noticed a slight reduction in my hot idle pressure. Maybe 2 psi. These lifters have a faster refresh rate Jim said. They might present a bit less restriction to the oil flow. I asked JW about that, he said it is possible. Not that I mind, the noise reduction was well worth it.
Mark, With that kind of wear there has to be something about the needles in those rockers that are not good. Problem is the only way to check them is NOT by feel. They have to be taken apart & actually look at the needles piece by piece. I take it the rocker shafts have oiling holes in them. IF they do the oiling holes need to be pointing down on the bottom. The MOST wear you will get is on the bottom because of the constant pressure from the valve springs. They weren't upside down were they???
Tom is right if oiling through the shaft. If pushrod oiling I would blame the Morel's. If pushrod oiling and the other side looks good you can turn them over. As far as needle bearings I would prefer bronze oilite bushings. Isky and Crower both have gone to bronze bushing in their heavy duty lifters too.
Yeah, but by the picture it appears the wear is on the top, not the bottom as would be accustomed to seeing. So IF so that's definitely an oddity.
Yes the wear IS on the bottom, the shaft had spun out of position when taking the end rocker off. These rocker assemblies are over 20 years old, so this wear Im not blaming on the Morels. The wear reminds me of a worn axle in a Chevy rear from the wheel bearings riding directly on the axle.
Yes, but most times IF you took the actual wheel bearing apart there would be a few rollers that were bad causing the wear.
If I were you, I would replace the rockers also. It would only take one nick in one needle to destroy the new shafts. Unlike an axle bearing, those needles are very small and would be very difficult to inspect every needle. Also, the roller tip gets its oil from the bearing. If there was lack of oil, the bearing or bushing in the roller could be damaged. I would hate to see you ruin a valve. Maybe you could totally disassemble the rockers to inspect them. If it's a bushing in the roller tip, it would be fairly easy to inspect. If it checks out ok, maybe just replace all of the needle bearings.
Im trying to pretend their not Drawing on previous experience from replacing worn axles and wheel bearings on Chevy type axles I know Im just fooling myself, along with the axle being worn, the bearings always had pits in 'em This brought up a question in my mind, zinc in the oil, its suppose to provide a "cushion" in flat tappet engines as the lifter scrapes across the cam lobe, roller valve trains "roll" over the lobe, but theres still tremendous pressure on the roller and lobe. Which metal is the sacrificial metal, the cam lobes, or the roller? Engine bearings are the sacrificial metal for the crank, rods, and cam, but everything else is hard metal to hard metal? Rear axles, we use 80/90 weight or heavier, it has EP additives since the ring and pinion rub against each other. I've replaced pinion bearings, and axle and axle bearings because of wear/noise, is it the metallurgy or the oil causing the wear? Just random thoughts I get from overthinking, but curious none the less
