206-L4 Rocker Arm Oil Supply ???

[John from NH]

Hi All,
How much oil should be dripping from the rocker arms while the engine is running? I started up the engine after adjusting the valves and saw hardly any oil dripping from the rocker arms or anywhere on the shaft. After I shut the engine off there were a few drips here and there. This isn't anything like I've seen on automobile engines. I thought I would have seen steady dripping from the length of the rocker arm shaft.

If there should be more oil flow, is checking the oil feed tube for a clog as simple as loosening the nut at the base of the tube and removing it and then cleaning the tube and flushing out the supply pipe in between the cylinder heads? And does the oil supply for the rocker arms come up fom the center cam shaft bearing?

Because this tractor was not well maintained I've pulled the oil pump and cleaned it out. It was full of sludge and gunk. I also checked the oil strainer and it looked pretty clean. Is there anything else I should check or clean while I have the side cover off.

I appreciate any suggestions or advice you might offer. Thanks!

John

 

[Anonymous-0]

It could be stopped up anywhere. I have seen the rocker shafts completely full of sludge.

You are probably on the right track. If you have good flow at the oil tube up to the head you can probably get by cleaning from there on. One thing: some of the later engines had a 1/4" dia rod about 3" long in the tube to limit the flow of oil. You may have to remove that tube and clean it out too.

If I recall correctly, the rocker shaft has plugs in each end held by cotter keys. I am thinking that I took a long rod and drove one plug completely through the shaft. After I had removed all the stands and rockers.
If you try this be careful: the other plug will come out like a bullet (one of mine got lost once and I had to make another.) and oil and goop wants to squirt out all the oil holes.

 

[fredmich]

I had the same problem on my 62 Jetstar. The previous owners were not big on oil changes! I also noticed that not all the rocker arnms were dripping oil when I adjusted the valves. My problem was in the rocker arms themselves and I had to drive out the bushings in the rocker arms that were not doing their job to remove the crud that had set up in the groove, therefor blocking the oil from getting from the hole to the push rod. Now she is oiling the push rods just fine. Hope this helps....Fred

 

[John from NH]

Thanks for the reply! It was a combination of sludge in the rocker shaft and supply tube and low oil pressure. The previous owners of my tractor weren't big on any kind of upkeep either. The oil pressure gauge had a water line ON THE INSIDE OF THE GLASS. Once I cleaned up the rocker shaft, supply tube, and the rest of the oil system and put in an oil pressure gage things improved. The oil pressure was 30PSI cold and dropped to 20psi warm. Now that the system is clean and the oil pressure is correct I have a slow steady drip from the rocker shaft.

John

 

[John from NH]

Thanks for the reply! It was sludge in the rocker shaft and low oil pressure. She's dripping fine now.