No Oil to head (tube)

[zesinlijn]

Hello!

i recently bought a m20b27 super eta motor. the head has been rebuilt and fitted with a catcams camshaft and double valvesprings from a 325i. The engine runs great but yesterday we noticed that there is no oil coming out of the oil tube that runs across the head.
took the tube off and blew it through with compressed air (tube is clear) also blew into the 2 feeding holes.
started the engine without the tube and there is also no oil coming out of the 2 feeding holes. reved it a little, but still no oil..

we can see that the cambearings are getting oil so thats good.

checked: return holes in the head are clear (means headgasket is on correctly?), 2 tubes of rockershaft are positioned correctly.

what could this be guys?

sorry for mistakes but i'm from belgium and speak dutch. hope its good enough to understand :)

tnx

[whodwho]

Did the old cam only have 4 of the 7 bearing journals? If so you would need to drill additional oil passages to use a 7 journal that I assume the CatCam one does.

[zesinlijn]

Nope it has 7 journals stock. Super eta head is same head as 325i only with slow cam and single valvesprings.
But i didnt build the motor so was wondering what possibly could have gone wrong with the build.

[zesinlijn]

Just found out that a pump who has been sitting
Dry for a while doesnt always suck up the oil. Gonna take off the oil pan tomorow en dump the pump in some oil and turn it manualy. Hope this is the solution

[whodwho]

It is the same casting but some have 4 journal and some had 7 journal cams, I have a 4 journal one. You can see the drill holes by the head bolts holes on intake side

SETA


B25i

[zesinlijn]

Hmmm i see. Tnx! Will check this tomorow. But say i have only 4 holes, how wil this prevent oil coming out of the 2 oilfeeds for the tube?

[whodwho]

Not saying that is the issue, I would have to trace the oil passages but just to check that it has the oil passages drilled or to fix that.

Tho the post I got that pic from he had no oil from the bar as well, he thought it was clogged but could of been corrected when he fixed the oil passage issue??

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=214866 - "Came to found out that the Spray Bar was Clogged and Lash was done incorrectly During that time. I found out that the 855 head I have is not an I head but a SETA as it had a 4 Cam Bearing Cam. Below you can see there is only 4 oil passage. "

[zesinlijn]

juuup you are right. I only have 4 oil passages. gonna take the head off, strip it and take it to someone who can drill the extra 3 holes for me.
are there any other differences with a 325i head regarding oil passages?

[zesinlijn]

Also noticed that seta head has 2 oil passages on exhaust side and 325i only has 1

[zesinlijn]

here are the 2 heads side by side. left 325i right S eta

[TobyB]

The 2 passages on one journal are how oil crosses the head to feed the other rocker shaft.

The 885 cam had a different- looking (not grooved?) center bearing, I seem to remember.
But it's been a while.

As to oil flow through the tube, if you can't find anything plugged, make sure the
rocker shaft is on there correctly. If oil's not flowing through the shaft,
the cam won't oil, and that sprayer bar won't work either.

That said, the 'sprayer' bar is more of a 'dripper' bar at idle with cold oil.
I suspect at full, hot pressure more moves around, but it's not a spectacular
amount of oil...

hth

t

[zesinlijn]

The 2 passages on one journal are how oil crosses the head to feed the other rocker shaft.

The 885 cam had a different- looking (not grooved?) center bearing, I seem to remember.
But it's been a while.

As to oil flow through the tube, if you can't find anything plugged, make sure the
rocker shaft is on there correctly. If oil's not flowing through the shaft,
the cam won't oil, and that sprayer bar won't work either.

That said, the 'sprayer' bar is more of a 'dripper' bar at idle with cold oil.
I suspect at full, hot pressure more moves around, but it's not a spectacular
amount of oil...

hth

t

Ok. so the fact that s eta head as 2 journals with 2 passages isnt a problem? means that oil now has 2 holes to go from one rockershaft to the other? 325i head only has one.. i want to keep the s eta head because it has been milled and is much cleaner.

i really hope that drilling those 3 extra holes solves my oil feeding problem to the tube..

[TobyB]

As long as the cam has a groove in the 2 bearing surfaces to let oil cross it, it should be fine.
If it only has the center bearing surface grooved, you should have the center one drilled to the
other side to let 'full' oil pressure get across.

All that really shouldn't affect the sprayer bar, though- it's fed from the front and rear
journals, and THAT should be getting pressure no matter what.

I wonder- take a look at all your cams and see what the differences in them are.
That might do it, too.

hth
t

[zesinlijn]

i'm starting to get it :) I need to drill 4 holes. 3 on the intakes side and 1 on the exhaust side the middle one.

The oil comes to the head at the exhaust side. since they put in a 325i camshaft which is only grooved in the center bearing and there is no oil passage in the center journal on my seta head. the oil has no way of flowing to the rockershaft on intake side and the oil passages for the cambearings and the sprayerbar are on the intake side..

tnx guys for your help

[TobyB]

Oh, right- oil galley and filter ARE under the exhaust.

Glad you got it sorted out.

t