Found these interesting..
 

Can`t decide if its a gimmick or has some merit in the marine world.. how hot do springs get?



http://www.keitheickert.com/p-12519-...ng-system.aspx

all our race engines had spring oilers in the valve covers. the springs get alot hotter than you think on a high rpm engine (ours ran 7800 all day). the new nascar engines actually fill the entire valve cover with oil to help pull heat away from the springs. you have to open a valve on the back to drain the oil to the pan before you pull the covers off.

I run spring oilers, but the oil comes from a small hole drilled in my T&D shaft rockers. In my case, the oil for the springs runs up the pushrods. Where does this spacer get the oil from?

The ones I have used had a -3 an line to an external oil pressure port in the block.

Defiantly not a gimmick. Spring oilers are a must for cam profiles with high lift and fast ramp speeds at high RPM.

Interesting...I can easily plum this to my oil adapter, might be something to consider then

heat is the #1 killer of valve springs....

Thats where I figured the oil would come from. Personally, I dont like that idea. Although I understand that oil pumps pump a whole lot of oil, I am not to happy with taking oil from a port that may be sending oil to a vital part, like the bearings. In this case, all of the springs would be getting their oil from 1 port, well, maybe 2 if you were to split the 2 sides of the engine. Sounds to me like it may be a substantial amount of oil be taken. In the case of having your rockers drilled, the only part that looses a small amount of oil is roller tip of the rocker.

I think these are more practical than people think. A spring is made of spring steel the only way it holds it's shape a spring tension is thru a tempering process. Changing the temperature of the spring could result in a loss of spring pressure. In theory if u got the spring so hot, that is to it's temper temperature it would just be a soft piece of steel. Not that this could happen in a head application but that's the science behind it.

This is very common technology in today's engines. Your standard Toyota 4 cylinder has had this for years.

IMO, I'd rather have valve spring oilers than that silly pre-luber you got .

IMO... I would rather have both.

IDK. guess I never bought into them. Theoretically I like the idea, but

I have a semi tractor with 900,000 miles on the engine, never been apart. Its been started THOUSANDS of times in cold Chicago winters, has something like 35,000 hours on the meter. Oil pressure is still in spec. No preoiler.

I just sold a Crown Victoria, that had 240k miles on the original engine. Also, started every morning in freezing temps. Engine still ran fantastic and no issues. No preoiler.

My buddys 454 Mags had 950 hours on them without a valve cover off. Oil pressure was still in spec. No pre oiler.

Spring oilers are nothing new. Sterling has used the ones that are integral to the valve cover, oil line fitted internally. A high volume pump will supply sufficient oil even with these in use. Pumps have relief blow offs, thus less blow off and more to critical areas of the engine. In dry sump apps. even better to dist. with multi stage pumps. Sterling uses piston oilers too, neat set ups.

IC,

The valve spring is potentially one of the most significant contributors of thermal transfer into engine oil, in some cases more so than even the combustion process. Valve springs generate heat as a byproduct of both internal and external friction. As the spring cycles through extension and compression, internal friction of the wire becomes the primary source of heat. As the cycle rate increases, the greater the heat generated per unit of time. The second is external and is developed as the spring moves against another surface. Inner and outer springs, dampers, retainers, and spring seats are the primary sources. Friction heat is the primary source of wire fatigue and resulting spring sag.

This is compounded by the fact that as the spring fatigues, the ability of the spring to maintain dynamic stability of the valve train diminishes, generating more heat. As this downward spiral progresses the spring will become increasingly unstable resulting in failure. This can manifest itself in collateral component failure within in the system such as pushrods, rocker arms, and very likely, the lifter.

On examination, a typical valve spring for a BBC marine application (Isky 9905 Tool Room) is surprisingly long. The unwound wire length of the outer, .207” dia. wire is ~ 24.5”. The inner .148” dia. wire length is ~17.5”. That totals 42” of wire per spring x 16 equals ~ 56 feet of spring wire per engine. The springs operate at temperatures varying from 200º F to 400º F under high stress conditions. Above 400º the wire color begins alter color. At 475º chrome silicon will lose temper. 56 feet of wire @ 350º F generates a massive amount of heat to dissipate with oil being the primary method of transfer.

There are numerous methods available to assist the thermal transfer from the spring with oil. Bottom line, anything you can do too promote the reduction of spring temps will benefit long term durability and valve train stability.

Bob

Some motors have to have preoilers or be pre oiled. Big chief headed stuff with lots of spring pressure will burn the pushrods if not primed preoiled lubed or whatever you want to call it. As far as a conventional headed boat motor or anything normal I'm with you not needed. But there is a place for preoilers.

X2

I run T&D shaft rockers. They have on optional spring oiler hole drilled into each rocker. The hole is very small. I can't see any reason to worry about stealing oil from the bottom half of the engine because of them. I keep a few spares in my toolbox. I'll try to get a few pictures posted.

Well I`m glad I put the post up this has been very informative! Thanx Bob for explaining it so well, I`m going to pick up a couple sets.

As far as my "preoilers" going to have to check the plumbing , it picks up from the pan and moves the oil before the stat in my oil adaptor. Not really sure what that acccomplishes.

T&D integrated spring oiling rocker arm.

Cool, I learned something today!

I was really just bustin your balls about the preoiler. You have it so might as well reuse it. I'd like to have it mainly for oil changes! Rig it up so you can disconnect the pressure side easily and evacuate your oil pan by flipping the switch on. Prelubing is a bonus too.

I`m really excited about going down the lake and my springs getting all oiled and stuff!!! :D


http://33outlaw.zenfolio.com/img/s5/...12680931-4.jpg

GREAT post. This is what the tech section is all about. :drink:

[QUOTE=ICDEDPPL;4089972]I`m really excited about going down the lake and my springs getting all oiled and stuff!!! :
Off topic but I love your sig!!

I use a 632 lift hydraulic roller....is there still a benefit or are these more designed for solid cams. I have some Sterling supercat valve covers that I bought a few yrs ago with the internal rail....should I be using these?

any spring can benifit from the cooling effect from the oiler.if you have it why not use it?

I have a 2001 Merc 500 efi. It has about 240 hours on it. I'm planning on replacing the valve springs this Spring. Would you suggest replacing my rocker arms with these TD oiler types. Thanks for any advice.

i dont know if you were asking bob or anyones but il give you my opinion,the500 merc engine does not need that elaborate rocker system unless you have an unlimited budget but some under the valve cover oilers might extend the life of your new springs.

Thanks for the reply. Not an unlimited budget but while I'm in there I don't mind spending some extra if it would extend the life of the springs. They seem to be to me a pretty low hour replacement item.

I'm also putting a whipple kit on so probably going to be generating some extra heat.

Looks like the valve cover oilers are 200 bucks pair. Looked around a little for the oiling TD rockers, Can't seem to find them right away. If the price is similar I would probably like the rocker oilers better than the valve cover oilers.

Wow! Just found them 1400.00 a set. Think I will just replace the springs more often.