OK, I've got BIG problems!! First, yes the timing is set perfect. With that out of the way, here's what's happening. When I first started cranking the motor over, it sounded like and felt like it had NO compression (sounded like the starter wasn't hitting the flywheel, even though it was spinning the motor/accessories) and it was pouring gas out of the driver side header! So, me and a buddy of mine figured that the brand new speed-pro hyd. roller lifters were not pumped up and the valves (that were set exactly like comp recommeded), were too tight. So, we lighty loosened the rockers on the driver side and then we now had compression! When the starter cranked the motor over, it now sounded like it was supposed to. Also, we checked all the spark plugs (out of head but still attached to the wire) and we had plenty of spark. Then, we checked fuel pressure with a fuel pressure tester attached to the schrader valve located on the fuel rail. I turned the key on the ON position to engage the fuel pump and adjusted the regulator up until the gauge would spike to 40lbs and then start to bleed off (I did this with the vaccum line off of the regulator). Then I tried to crank it up. It sounded like it was going to start, then it backfired causing a fire inside of the driver side header collector. (I quickly put it out with a fire extinguisher). Still pissing gas out of the driver side header, while the passenger header is bone dry. I soaked up all the gas in the header collector and adjusted the regulator WAY down (it now read 15lbs.) I cranked it again and it fired up! Loud as hell, it ran for 5 seconds then I shut it down. There is gas in the oil, you can smell it bad, but the dipstick only showed it to be a little over full. I then pulled the coil wire off and cranked on the motor for 10 seconds or so. More gas now dripping out of the driver side header, just not as bad. Passenger side, still bone dry. I didn't crank on it anymore after that. I drained the oil, flushed the motor with a couple of quarts, and gave it a new oil filter and 5 fresh quarts of oil. So, now I'm going to re-prime the oil pump and hopefully get the lifters to pump up/prime but before I crank it up, why is the driver side pouring so much gas out of the header when the passenger side is dry? Is it the Holley adjustable fuel regulator? Is it the valves just not set right and maybe the lifters are bottoming out causing the valves to not fully close? I do have a brand new stock fuel pressure regulator, but if it is not a regulator problem, I'd rather keep the Holley on there. I'm not sure if it is an injector problem, because they worked fine on the stock motor (that was with the stock regulator though) and they didn't get damaged at all, they just sat attached to the fuel rails until I installed them with the fuel rails onto the new intake (I was very carefull and I gave them new O-rings). Am I going to have to take the thermostat out and put water in the block (or can I get away with out doing that?) cause I forgot to do that when I intalled the thermostat and water neck. I just don't understand why the driver side is getting SO flooded when the passenger is not????? ANY help would be GREATLY appreciated for I am stumped!!

Thank you guys in advance for reading this long post and hopefully offering me some advice, the advice is MUCH needed!

Thanks again,
Mike (1bad91Z)

 

That's a huge paragraph and I didn't read all of it, but I got this much out of it: 40psi is too low. 15 psi is WAY too low. You should have around 45 psi, and I think with the line off it will read 50ish?

Anyway, the only way gas could pour out of the header is that you've got an injector leaking really badly or stuck open. Maybe that side got cut and all the injectors are grounded or something. I'd stick the stock fpr back on just to make sure it's okay and you're getting proper pressure, it will make things easier. If the valves were too loose you'd hear them, and if they were too tight you wouldn't get compression. Either way, you've got a major fuel problem with the injectors. I'd suggest pulling the fuel rail off and priming the pump and watching what happens. Change your oil before you go running the motor more, and make sure you're not leaking a ton of gas into it before you run it.

 

To answer and ask a couple of couple questions, I got the car running. All valves are now set to zero lash (they were zero lash + half turn. The car fires right up, sounds great, idles nice at 800 rpms, but still have some problems. While the car is running, it's still leaking a little gas out of the driver side header. I think it's the stock 140,000 mile injectors that have been sitting for a few months, so they were dry for awhile! I think the injectors are pulsing, then getting stuck open for a bit randomly. So, I'm going to get new 24lb SVO injectors. Next question is, after draining 15 quarts of gas/oil out of the oil pan, I changed the oil/filter, and started to prime the oil again. I primed it for 10 minutes, the oil press guage showed 45 lbs. and still, I couldn't get oil to come out of the rockers on either side!! Another question....are the SVO 24 lb injectors taller than the stock 22lb chevy injectors? And, finally, I installed a new rear main seal along with the whole rear main seal adapter onto the new motor before I dropped it in and now after the motor running, I have a rear main seal leak!! Could the gas/oil mix have ate away at the new seal and now it's bad? And again, any advice is greatly appreciated!

Mike (1bad91Z)

 

I wouldn't run the engine with those injectors. You know that gas isn't good in your oil. Also, 24# svo injectors are larger than you think. They're rated at a higher pressure, so you'll be getting more than 2 extra pounds of fuel. You're going to need to account for them in the prom. They should fit fine.

I'm not sure about the rear main, but I wouldn't expect gas to be able to eat through it. It's normal to not get oil up there without a distributor in, don't worry about it.

 

I assume that by priming the oil pump, you're talking about removing the distributor and using a drill motor to rotate the pump shaft. Next time you rebuild an engine this is the FIRST thing to do. If you installed the old lifters, they should have still been pumped up. As to no oil to the rockers. This only occurs when the engine is rotating. The lifters pump the oil through those little holes in the push rods up to the rockers and it runs down on the swivel bearings. The movement of the rockers creates a slinging action to oil everything under the valve cover. If I were you, I would re-adjust the rockers by the book( put white chalk marks at 90 degree intervals around the balancer from TDC). If all the plugs are firing and the valves are adjusted properly you should not have raw gas in the headers. You may want to pull and clean the plugs, some may have fouled earlier. If the exhaust valves were not sealing, the gas was going straight through. This is a long reply, maybe worth it. The SVO injectors have a longer dwell time (open longer). You can compensate for now by lowering fuel pressure to around 35 PSI to reduce fuel flow.

 

When priming the motor with an electric drill, oil WILL start coming up the pushrods to the rockers. The engine does not have to be rotating. It may take a couple of minutes, but it will get there.

 

I'm aware that SVO injectors run a little fat in chevy motors, cause SVO injectors flow what they are rated at by only using 36lbs from the regulator. I will end up sending the chip back for recalibration of the injector constant value in the prom. Also, I have an AFPR. I'll just adjust on it until the plugs look golden brown.

Yes, I'm using and oil primer shaft attached to a drill to prime the oil pump. I always thought that by doing this, oil will reach the rockers and that is how you know the engine in primed. And that was the first thing I did before I even tried to start it. I've also done it each time I've changed the oil, each for 3 - 5 minutes! That's why I still cant figure out why oil hasn't reached the topside of the motor even though when I'm priming, the oil press gauge shows 45 lbs. ..........I think maybe oil hasn't reached the top due to the lifters not being pumped/primed first when I installed them. Is this possible?

Mike (1bad91Z)

 

Unless you have a special tool to prime the engine, something similar to the distributor(not just something that spins the pump), it won't get oil coming through the pushrods much because it's not getting to the lifters. Soaking the lifters and filling them with oil will help to get the oil up quicker. The reason it's not getting to the lifters is because a normal primer has no way to divert the oil to the lifters, like the distributor does.

 

The reason nothing oils like the distributor is because the engine has to turn to rotate the distributor thus rotating the pump. There is no need to prime after an oil change. Everything has enough lube to run a few seconds idleing to fill the new filter. The oil pressure sending unit is after the filter. The pressure is basically dead heading against the crank and cam shaft through the oiling journals until the engine rotates.

 

I have another question:

There are two sets of ground wires from the wiring harness attached to the back of each head. Do these grounds have anything to do with the injectors? My heads have a fresh coat of paint on them, would this dramatically affect a ground?


Mike (1bad91Z)

 

Potentially. The neg (ground) post of the battery connects to the chassis and then a cable (usually braided) attaches from the chassis to the engine block usually with a star washer that cuts through the paint to complete the ground to the engine. I scrape away the paint under the lug to make sure of the continuity of the connection. If the paint is a good thick coating, I reccomend the ssame for you.

 

I have my negative battery cable grounded to the front of my passenger side head and the AC bracket holds it in place. Is it supposed to be grounded to the chassis? Is where I have it a bad place?

And how many grounds from the wiring harness exaclty are supposed to be ground in the back of the heads? Right now, I have two on the back of the driver side head and two on the passenger. Did I miss one? The reason I'm asking is that a buddy of mine told me he though there were 3 on the driver side and 2 on the passenger side.

Please HELP! Anyone?

Mike (1bad91Z)

 

Yes, it should be tied to the chassis, usually to a bolt on the main frame near the outlet of the exhaust manifold. From there to the engine. As to how many grounding wires. I have no idea. All mine are tied together in the harness, then to ground. You can check the TECH boards here for schematics.