My lunati lifters allow way too much oil to flow up to the rockers, and I don't like this for many reasons. However, I think this is causing excess oil consumption and smoke because there is just too much oil around the valves and all that. I mean even at idle there's an insane amount of oil flowing up there. Is there way to restrict the oiling holes in TA Chrome-Moly pushrods so there will be only a reasonable amount of oil going to the rockers?
Do you have good valve stem seals installed on all 16? You do NOT want to restrict the oil flow IMHP. Also, do you have the metal pan gasket under the intake, because it is still needed if you used composite intake gaskets?
John Zerucha found the same problem between differing solid lifter designs. Too much oil going to the heads, not enough to the block. The details of what he found are interesting. http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.php?t=129367 Check out the youtube link to see the difference in flow real-time due to the different orifice sizes. Devon
A friend of mine and I have been throwing two thoughts around to solder up the oil holes and drill them to 40 or 50 thou or buy new custom push rods with the 40 to 50 thou holes. I've talked with a Ford guy who has some high hp motors and the size of oil restricters he runs for the one whole side rocker assembly is small but that's a Ford with a dry-sump,not a stock Buick front cover.I just have no idea how long/well the solder would stand up.I'm still thinking on this one, what size of oil hole to run? Jamie
I rebuilt couple engines with sets of Pro Magnum lifters. There is no retaining ring, just a weird retainer not able to remove. When trying to push the plunger down, not gonna happen. Like a solid. Best lifters I've used. I don't know about any check valve. Ray
Jamie, soldering pushrods probably isn't a good idea as the bond between the steel & solder would be weak unless you really got the temps up. At that point braze would be in order, but then either way you've destroyed the heat treatment. Devon
The heads are only a year old, rebuilt and ported by a board member here, so that's why I didn't immediately suspect valve seals.
Some guys either out of ignorance, don't care, or just being cheap overlook exhaust stem seals. Personally I would remove the heads, have all the guides cut down to accept the great modern stem seals available. In fact, this same lack of sealing was the root cause that cost Smartin his engine rebuild...:3gears:
Don't remind me! Thanks to Dan, my engine no longer drinks oil like a sailor. In fact, I haven't had to top it off at all, not even on a long trip to Ohio! I used to have to put a quart in every thousand miles. When Dan pulled my heads apart, the valves were caked with burned oil. He installed teflon valve seals in ALL valve stems. Thanks Dan!:TU: Cason, if you don't see excessive smoking when the engine is running, then I would also think that you're losing oil through your valve stems. It may not appear that oil is burning, but I found out the hard way on mine.
I am using a quart of oil about every 400 miles, and the engine does smoke at idle and startup. However, I don't think it smokes at speed. The more I think about this the more I get pissed off.:af:
Yikes, sorry to hear that. This will be a big hinderance for making power, as oil contaminating the air/fuel mixture is a big cause of detonation when you start raising cylinder pressure. Devon
I am using an untrimmed valley pan with .030 composite gaskets. It really sucks that that could be leaking, but I guess it's possible. Maybe I should try a trimmed pan with new composite gaskets. The startup smoke doesn't occur when cold, but when hot and only been off for a few minutes to a few hours.
Take your heads off and teflon seals go!I had my stems cut down .50 to have my teflon seals put on.Heres the ones i have http://www.compperformancegroupstor...e=CC&Product_Code=505-16&Category_Code=92-CAM
Cason; do your Lunati lifters have a snap ring or U-shaped wire to hold the plunger body in? Lunati sent me a replacement cam today and the lifters are completely different than the ones they sent to me originally.(same part # with added prefix numbers). The new ones have the snap ring.o No:
if you have the individual intake gaskets along with the steel pan-intake gasket you would most defineatly end up with a leak....and thats a prime location for an oil influx to the cylinder. You would be best to take the valley pan out or trim of the intake gasket part of it. not to mention the potential for out of aligned ports.....with the added thickness.
