Olds 455 oil problems.....

[Ronbo]

I have a 455 in my 84 cutlass, I took the timing cover off and it appears that I am not getting any oil on it. I have done some research and it appears that there is a plug behind the cam gear that has a small hole in it. I am guessing that this may be plugged. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I could do to clear out any debris and clear up the oil system? I have heard of flushing the engine but not sure as to what to use to do this. I did have one person tell me to fill the oil pan with transmission fluid and use a drill to turn the oil pump drive shaft and circulate it that way to clean the system.

Any suggestions would be great. I am not wanting to remove the engine, so please don't even suggest that. If it comes out I am putting a 350 olds in for about 500 bucks.

 

[78 salon]

Since it sounds like you have the timing cover off already, just unscrew the plug. It's the one on the pass side of block. Now you can take a small piece of wire to clean the hole. It's something like .040 diameter. Look real close after cleaning it well, you should be able to see it.

 

[dan2286]

Since it sounds like you have the timing cover off already, just unscrew the plug. It's the one on the pass side of block. Now you can take a small piece of wire to clean the hole. It's something like .040 diameter. Look real close after cleaning it well, you should be able to see it.

I think the plug he is talking about is in the back of the block hidden behind another plug. I didn't think there was one in the front of the block, but maybe I am wrong. For the one in the back, I believe you can see if it is doing it's job by seeing if the distributor gear has oil on it. For the no oil on the timing cover issue, is the oil singer installed on the crank?

 

[FE3X CLONE]

I think the plug he is talking about is in the back of the block hidden behind another plug. I didn't think there was one in the front of the block, but maybe I am wrong. For the one in the back, I believe you can see if it is doing it's job by seeing if the distributor gear has oil on it. For the no oil on the timing cover issue, is the oil singer installed on the crank?

If he's talking about not having any oil on the timing gear then it would be at the front of the block. 😉 And yes, there are two plugs on the front of the block, one is solid and the other has a .040" hole in it that helps oil the chain.

Something else to look for is whether or not your plug even has a hole in it. Sometimes they get replaced buy people that just didn't know they needed it.

 

[dan2286]

I think the plug he is talking about is in the back of the block hidden behind another plug. I didn't think there was one in the front of the block, but maybe I am wrong. For the one in the back, I believe you can see if it is doing it's job by seeing if the distributor gear has oil on it. For the no oil on the timing cover issue, is the oil singer installed on the crank?

If he's talking about not having any oil on the timing gear then it would be at the front of the block. 😉 And yes, there are two plugs on the front of the block, one is solid and the other has a .040" hole in it that helps oil the chain.

Something else to look for is whether or not your plug even has a hole in it. Sometimes they get replaced buy people that just didn't know they needed it.

Thanks for the info, I wasn't sure about that.

 

[78 salon]

Since it sounds like you have the timing cover off already, just unscrew the plug. It's the one on the pass side of block. Now you can take a small piece of wire to clean the hole. It's something like .040 diameter. Look real close after cleaning it well, you should be able to see it.

I think the plug he is talking about is in the back of the block hidden behind another plug. I didn't think there was one in the front of the block, but maybe I am wrong. For the one in the back, I believe you can see if it is doing it's job by seeing if the distributor gear has oil on it. For the no oil on the timing cover issue, is the oil singer installed on the crank?

Dan, you are correct on that point. There are 2 plugs in the back also, 1 is an oiler for the dist. gear and the other is a plug, but they are different threads, so they can't be reversed. I'm not sure on the orifice size. The slinger does flip the oil around also after it squirts through the hole in the front plug.