502 Oiling issue
 

I just recently pulled the 502 Mag out of my boat. We rebuilt the engine, and sent it off to be assembled in the boat. I have been helping the whole way with the install, the only part I wasn't around for was putting all the accessories back on the block. I got the engine fired up yesterday and could hear a slight tick in the valve train. I let it warm up thinking maybe the oil was too thick and needed to warm up or it would just lube up and go away.
Well it didn't. the noise didn't get any louder, just consistent. So I revved the engine to about 2k RPM and the sound I think went away, but at idle I could still here it. So I pulled the filler caps of the valve covers and there was no oil in the heads. For some reason I'm not getting any oil on the valve train. I'm not sure what has happened. Maybe a hose is backwards, or something just isn't right. Boat makes 40psi at idle and runs like a champ. I'm going to pull the valve covers off this weekend but wanted to get the advice of some pros before going any further, or at least have some direction.
Rebuilt 502, just honed, re-ringed, re-bearinged, new pump and gaskets, the heads were slightly ported, and up graded to a 2.25 valve and better springs. stock cam, and accessories. the only things different are the CMI headers, and Valves/ Valve Springs. I put 20w50 in it, but my buddy argues it was straight 40w. I put inexpensive oil in it for run time and to flush after a few hours. Either way any ideas is appreciated. Ill be monitoring this thread so if there is any questions or info I might have forgot to mention Ill be here to update. Thank you

What did the oil pressure read after it was run for a bit?

40psi

There should not be a lot of oil on top of the heads. It flows up the pushrods and then drains back down.
You might just have a rocker arm that needs another 1/4 turn.

I'd look at the filter head,make sure oil comes out on the outside of the pad and goes back in the center.what lifters did you use and where did they come from.

I'm thinking a lifter isn't staying up

I didnt see any oil in the head. Im going to pull covers off this weekend. and see whats going on

how would I go about doing this with out running the engine? prime it and pull the hoses?

Im going to buy a set of lifters and pushrods I think. I was hoping to run this engine with out buying a **** ton of parts and I was going to source the parts to build a better engine in the winter.

Shouldn't need push rods, but if you get a good set of lifters now, you can use them in the rebuild next year or so

I wouldnt start it again until you get oil up on top of the heads, is this an MPI motor ?.....pull the the dist. get a priming shaft tool and a 1/2 drill and see if you can get the oil to move, there may be an air pocket in the pickup oil pump causing it to cavitate. pickup to close to the pan ?

Right on, I'll get a set, what do you think about the lunati 72920-16? I live literally 1.5 miles from summit racing in Arlington tx.

they are the stock lifters with about 400 hours on them

I'm gonna bump it over and re tighten them all down make sure I didn't have a loose one.

yes its a MPI, and the pick up and pan are stock set up. only thing different is the pump. 2000 502 out of a 38 scarab

you reused the old pickup ? typically those are braised or tig welded in place

I'm not the guy to ask about best lifters, that would be some others like Eddie

yes I was unaware that I would need to change it

Normally the new oil pump comes with the pickup attached, your old one should have been the same way.
Here is the one that should have been in the motor

Genuine Mercury & Mercruiser parts. 827643 PUMP ASSY-OIL Genuine OEM Mercury Marine-Mercruiser part

Others do make a good point that maybe a rocker nut is coming loose or a stud is starting to extract.

It is just a light ticking correct?

if he spun this thing to 2 grand there should be oil in the up top.......even @ idle, the engine was never primed prior to starting ? are the oil lines all stock Merc, if so with the inverted flair ends I dont think you can reverse them........you need to trace out all the lines and make sure.

yeah a slight tick, but loud enough I can hear it from drivers seat without engine cover

engine was primed with valve covers on, all lines are stock mercury lines and oil set up. I don't believe it ticks at a higher RPM..

did you prime the engine prior to lashing the valves to get the lifters full of oil

bolt down rocker arms.

ya, I know how they work......good luck

I wasn't being a smart ass lol, I just assumed you thought I had adjustable rockers. How do you set the last on a bolt down factory rocker? Or do I just loosen all of them and prime engine? If that would be the process no I didn't. I installed engine and then primed engine.

Seeing we're on the topic can I ask for clarification on a similar observation ?
Stock 502MPI about 265hours Merc 25/40 oil since new. 40psi oil pressure max .
When running if you peep into the fill tube the rocker that is visible is always dry . I've never removed the rocker covers when running though.
Is this really normal ?
On an old Ford 351 that I used to have within seconds of startup you could see oil pissing everywhere all over the push rods and rockers.

LoL its funny you reference a Ford. I'm a Ford guy and can say that any SBF I have ever had if you looked in the valve covers there was always puddles of oil. From what I am gathering from the BBC stuff is that, it just oils enough and rolls back down into the head. not a 100% sure though.

Yep , that's what I'd like to have cleared up , once and for all. If I had a problem I'm sure that something serious would have gone wrong by now as it's been like this since new. But to be honest it always sounds like it has excessive valve train noise , like it's lacking oil.
By comparison that old 351 even when it was near 20 years old was so quiet the suck of the carb was the loudest thing coming from the engine. I'll always miss that little motor .