Vavle train oiling

Valve Train Oiling OK I've about had it with this Pontiac 400, it is beginning to be more trouble than it's worth. After a complete rebuild this thing barely oils the top end. I installed all new Comp Cams stuff. Cam XE262H-10 the kit lifters, push rods and roller tip rockers. ARP rocker studs for the full adjustable set up. After a fresh tear down due to rings not setting I replaced 2 of the lifters cause I didn't like the minor wear pattern on them. Got 2 new Comp lifters from Butler. Now back in the car and the only ones that oil enough to keep the roller tip oiled are those two. The new ones are in the 2 & 4 intake holes. Now should I just order and new set and tear into this thing again??? This thing got hot on the intial break in run and never did oil the top worth a crap. I've got 65 lbs at idle cold and 45 lbs at 190 degrees??
Here on the west coast it is hard to get to the tech folks in the east. Maybe I'll get up early and call before I go to work. If you call at 4 PST they are so busy you cann't get through...HELP. And Summit hasn't answered my E-mail that I sent 2 days ago. It's like we got your money now go away. In my option anyway.  

You should never put new lifters on a used cam or used lifters on a new cam it is a good way to wipe out a lobe.
How did you adjust the lifters.  
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This cam has less than 8 hours run time it and has just started to polish up. The intial lifter setting was as per Comp's instructions. TDC each cylinder, take the slack out of each valve and 1/2 more turn. That was OK for most but little oil up the push rods. Then set them running same way, back off til they rattle turn down slowly til it's quite and one more 1/2 turn down. Still little oil action. Ordered a new set and gaskets this morning?????????
Hey Summit it's been 3 days now and still no reply to my e-mail from your tech line. What the heck, WJ has always been my favorite Pro Stock Pontiac guy anyway.  

You can always put new lifters on a cam shaft as long as you do a 20 min break in at 2500rpm right after start up. What you cannot do is move used lifters to another camshaft or switch the lifters to different locations on the existing cam.

You could have one of 2 different problems.

Federal Mogal used to be the original supplier of all Pontiac lifters. Comp, Crane, etc all bought from Fedral Mogal and repackaged as their own. When they went under and became Speed Pro, they stopped dealing with the plant oversee and started subbing Pontiac lifters with small Chevy. They are very alike but the oil grove is in the wrong place. Now years latter, all solid and hydraulic Pontiac lifters are wrong, because again everyone gets their supply from Speed Pro. This oil grove is lower so oil only flows when the lifter is up. Also the grove can get caught on the edge of the lifter bore and tear the block apart. For a long time engine shops had no idea why Pontiac blocks were blowing out lifter bores. You may have a set of the incorrect lifters, and then when you changed them, you got some old stock that are correct. Compare the lifters to each other and any old ones you can find. Butler buys directly from the plant overseas. He orders hundreds of thousands of lifters at a time to make the order. Call him, he has container loads of the correct lifters.

The other problem may be that you did not soak the lifters in oil first. Or did you do a proper priming of the engine rotating it by hand without rockers while priming the pump with oil to pressure up the lifters? You should do this to ensure the lifters have pressure before installing the rockers and setting valve lash. Otherwise, you may have pushed the plunger down setting lash and they never had a change to pressure up. This will prevent oil from flowing. Once break in is done in this situation the heat can cause the plunger to stick forever.  

Thanks for your reply. I have done all that you mentioned prior to full assembly on any GM motor I have ever put together. I have replaced the orginal replacements that came with the kit. The new set looks like the 2 that Butler supplied. The external finish is quit different  from those that were in the kit. Much nicer swirl finish on the face. The oil groove is in the same place with a small groove just below the major one. I suppose it helps retain some oil for the lifter bores. Now everyting oils to my satisfaction and Pontiac life is now back on the right track. Or should I say the wide track. Comp tech was no help.  

Have you checked the oil galley plugs located on the rear of the block next to the camplug. The passenger side especially. It is right there at the disributor gear. Machine shops generally remove this plug when hot tanking a block, but some how it doesn't find its way back in. You will also notice no change in oil pressure as you r' gauge will show normal oil pump output pressure, not the actual line pressure drop. This leads to eventual cam lobe failure and other assorted valve train issues. Take a look and see if that is your' problem. Good luck with it. Dave  

I am having the same problem.  I just had my heads rebuilt to stock condition and I reinstalled them.  I didn't touch anything else.  I adjusted the rockers to 20 ft lbs.  After installing the heads I switched to Rotella T 15W 40.  It's all stock internally.  I have excellent oil pressure.  40 psi at cold start up, and over 10 psi per 1,000 rpms.  It has good compression, and runs pretty well.  But, I have very little oil coming through the push rods!  
1969 GTO, YS code 400, 350hp/445 ft lbs of torque (stock specs), LT headers, H-pipe, 750 Holley 4160, Ignitor II ignition.  Complete Painless wiring.

I would not consider 40psi cold oil pressure excellent it is actually on the low side.  
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***  How far on the low side?  
1969 GTO, YS code 400, 350hp/445 ft lbs of torque (stock specs), LT headers, H-pipe, 750 Holley 4160, Ignitor II ignition.  Complete Painless wiring.

This is POSTRACTION,my '78 T/A 400 has on the gage(electric)60 at start (cold),then around 40-45 at 2000 rpm up.at idle it will sit around 20lbs.Now i'm not to sure how accurate the factory gage is but with around 200,kms does this sound normal?I run 10/40 wieght for oil.  

Those numbers sound very good!

I actually was mistaken.  My car has 50psi at cold start up, not 40psi.  And it has 15 at idle in drive, 20 at idle in park, and about 40 while cruising at 2,000 rpm.

Those numbers sound pretty good right?  Still little oil to the valve-train!  
1969 GTO, YS code 400, 350hp/445 ft lbs of torque (stock specs), LT headers, H-pipe, 750 Holley 4160, Ignitor II ignition.  Complete Painless wiring.

My Pontiac 350 in my purple regal has 68PSI at cold idle and 50Psi at hot idle.
My green regal with a 301 that has 135,000 miles on it but it does have a new oil pump in it and it has 60PSI at cold idle and 30-40PSI at hot idle.  
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69gtoby what oil pump is in the engine?
What weight oil are you using?
What is the engine idling at in park and in drive?  
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50 psi cold start
40 psi cruising @ around 2,000 rpm
20 psi idle in park @ about 800 rpm
15 psi idle in drive @ about 720 rpm

I have no idea what oil pump is in it.  I'm running 15W-40 Rotella T oil.

It's my understanding that engines require at least 10 psi per 1,000 rpm.  My engine exceeds that general rule.  
1969 GTO, YS code 400, 350hp/445 ft lbs of torque (stock specs), LT headers, H-pipe, 750 Holley 4160, Ignitor II ignition.  Complete Painless wiring.

15 psi of oil pressure is not good at all.
The 10psi per 1000RPM's is somthing I never go by it just is a old general rule that someone came up with and I never go by that it is not a good general rule to go by.  
professional hi-performance engine builder

Horsepower sells engines and torque wins races