I noticed on my hydraulic roller cam (core from TA) that there is an oil hole that runs horizontally from the front bearing journal to where the roller button sits. And then there are 2 holes that exit radially from that button cavity to just behind the gear. So it appears that oil makes its way from the front bearing journal, to the button cavity and the outward to sometimes splash on the distributor gear. And, with a tiny hole in the passenger galley plug, it looks like oil will just hit the backside of the upper timing sprocket, and not make it to the distributor gear. So in this case is any additional distributor gear oiling necessary?
Everything up front beyond the front cam bearing is technically splash lubricated.. and the cam button fits to0 tightly into the gear to provide any meaningful oil flow. Adding that extra hole in the passenger galley plug dramatically increases the oil in the cover area for splash lubrication. That said, a direct oiler is always the best for cam/cam gear lubrication. But usually not required, unless you have some type of high load/misalignment situation. Distributor gear oilers became popular back in the long gear pump days, which put higher loads on the pump/cam gears.. JW
Jim, just for clarity, on a flat tappet cam, specifically my 290-08 HL made by Crower (came in a Crower box) if the cam has the factory style oiling hole for front gear, do I need a 0.032 hole in the front passenger gallery oil plug as well? Thanks
Ya, they never had enough oil up front.. for any kind of performance use. Besides cam/distributor gear wear, another way we know that is that even the double roller chains stretch out quickly... seen it on a motor that only had dyno time on it... I came to accept that as "normal"... then, in 2010 I put together that first production Tomahawk.. unsure of what it was going to need for oil volume, we put a TA scavenger pump setup on it... and I welded a fitting onto the fuel pump blockoff plate, and returned the oil right there from the bypass in that setup. When that high valve spring pressure solid roller cam motor came back 500 passes later for freshening, I had a new chain ready to go on it.. Imagine my surprise when I took the timing cover off, and found the chain as tight as the say I put it on... JW
