I'm hoping it was a fluke. Just sorting out the car, so haven't even done a burn out yet, so it wasn't a 'stress' failure. I'm going with the plug method. I'll post up if it fails...
Well….success. At least short term. Freeze plug on the end of the rocker shaft and tap the cap back on with permanent loctite. Oil pressure up the wazzo steady as a rock. 80ish on start up. 40-50 hot run and climbs with acceleration. Thanks all who posted suggestions and info. Now, onto getting some of those “took me 15 years to get this pig done” gremlins slayed.
A follow up: As I’m driving the 67 again (430) after blowing off the cap I’ve got two things niggling: - Oil pressure has pegged hard at least twice. Hard enough to wreck two cheap oil gages. Pulled the relief valve and didn’t see anything hinky. Perhaps a flaw in the chamber I can’t see? Just replace the pump and move on? (The pressure spikes would explain the blown off cap) -#1 exhaust lifter is noisy as hell when warm. Will go away if I put pressure on the valve side. Any magic juju to get it to shut up, or new lifter (assuming the lifter just isn’t fully pumping up…thoughts?)?
What is pegged hard mean? Ruined two oil gauges? If you use the wrong springs for the oil pump cover you have, it can lock the relief valve closed. See Mike T's comments at the end of my Oil Pump thread. https://www.v8buick.com/index.php?threads/oil-pump-clearances-and-oil-pressure.326597/ The noisy lifter may have an excessive leak down rate. You could try taking it apart and cleaning it, or just replace it.
If you do end up replacing the noisy lifter at Larry's suggestion, make sure you break it in like you would if you replaced the cam and lifters. No need to do that if you take it apart and clean it.
By “pegged” I mean my 100lb gages hit the peg past 100 and it actually bent the internal gage coil to the point where it wouldn’t return. At all. Either gage. I’ll check the thread and see if there’s a clue. Oil pump and relief spring are stock (to the best of my knowledge). yes, pulling the lifter is next on the list (along with oil pump??). Hopefully a good scrubbin will help.
You either have the wrong spring in there, or the relief valve is jammed shut. Either way, you better fix that or you'll have bigger problems than a noisy lifter.. You don't want to see 100 psi. I sure hope you aren't revving this motor when it is cold.
Ya I had a filter puff up on my run stand at 90psi. I would also suspect the relief valve. Did the oil weight change from the pre to post fix?
I’ve been known to do a dumb thing every now and then, but impressing my friends with a 5K run up on coldstart ain’t one of them . 10w30 break in till now Could be a spring thing I guess. Looked like “metal” to me (not white, not orange, etc) and the piston/valve seemed to move freely in the bore without slop, but then again, I’m not sure what’s “spec”. last start up had 60ish+ on cold start (1100ish rpm on the choke step) and 35ish warm (180ish) idle (600ish rpm). Stayed in the 30-60 range on the road and tracked well with changing rpm (no matting it….just driving). #1 exhaust lifter was quiet on start up and at the start of an at temp spin around the block (6 miles), but noisy as hell by the time I got back to the barn. No filter/dist blowing pressure excursions, so perhaps just pulling the spring to check “fixed” it (yeah, right). so when time allows rebuild/replace the lifter and new oil pump. I’ll sure be glad when I can just drive it and start on the punch list….
It's all part of the "fun"! Haha. Shouldn't need to replace pump if it is putting good pressure out. Are you running the stock relief valve or the adjustable?
Stock non adjustable. I get plenty of “fun” with the track car. But, I guess this is a more relaxed “smaller hammer” kind of fun
Yeah, gonna pull the intake to take a look at Mr lifter next week. Will check what I can then. This has just been a 'rond the block and driveway thing, so hopefully nothing is toasted. Ordered an oil pump rebuild kit to soften the spring and replace the piston. Moving the car around the shop yesterday I noticed on start up the pressure goes off the chart (yup, toasted cheap pressure gage #3) then settles back down to 60-70ish, so I'm thinking relief valve failure (see, eventually I catch up with you guys). Tried ordering an adjustable do-dahd, but TA is closed this week. Will put that on the list for next week. I just spent a month messing with an LS 5.3 with oil pressure troubles (it's now a 6.0 if that gives you an idea of how bad the 'troubles' got), which really makes me appreciate the Buick external pump.
Got an oil pump rebuild kit to play with springs so I don’t need the multi-thousand pound pressure gage shown above (now that thar was funny!). The piston that came out of the pump is on the left….no slot. The one from the kit is slotted two sides. What’s the story here and could that be a/the issue?
That slot is the bleed hole that is "opened" or "uncovered" when the (exceeding spring) oil pressure pushes the relief open. I am not 100% certain, but I think you need the hole "installed" on the valve or it won't relieve pressure. Someone confirm or slap me.
