Intake Rocker end plugs problem

[MitchaPaLoOza88]

I was getting low oil pressure and when I took off my valve cover I see that on my intake rocker shaft the plug popped and was riding on the timing gear. Thankfully it didn't fall down. That would explain lower pressure because oil is just flowing through the intake rocker (not good).
 
I have a few questions around the subject.
 
First is the intent of these plugs to hold pressure but still let oil seep through or are they hard stops?
 
Second what is a good course of action to take next? Dimensionally check rockers to see if damage occurred? Just replace with new plug? Or can I only replace rockers at this point?
 
My last question is tied to the first. On the distributor side. There is plug on the exhaust end but not on the intake end. Is that correct? Makes me wonder how the exhaust side is fed oil, or if the plugs seep oil it would make sense that they are a filter of sorts.
 

 

Edited October 14, 2017 by MitchaPaLoOza88

[Son of Marty]

First the plugs should seal. 

Second how low was the o/p and for how long if you were getting the light only on idle for a short while I wouldn't be overly concerned, how long has it been since the head has been rebuilt?

Last yes the plug is not used on the intake side to let the o/p sender get pressure to read. I can't remember right off the top of my head if the oil is feed to the shafts at the front of the head or at the middle but for sure not through the ends.

[MitchaPaLoOza88]

6 minutes ago, Son of Marty said:

First the plugs should seal. 

Second how low was the o/p and for how long if you were getting the light only on idle for a short while I wouldn't be overly concerned, how long has it been since the head has been rebuilt?

Last yes the plug is not used on the intake side to let the o/p sender get pressure to read. I can't remember right off the top of my head if the oil is feed to the shafts at the front of the head or at the middle but for sure not through the ends.

 

The previous owner said the head was rebuilt not very long ago. When the oil pressure dropped it was just in the garage. It happened when the engine was warming up and I pressed the wrong pedal. There was still 2-3 psi at idle but I shut it down

[Son of Marty]

Yeah I wouldn't be worried about the valve train at that point.

[Mike Self]

If you're having trouble with the rocker shaft plugs falling out, an old Roundel Tech Tips article suggested that after replacing the plug, slightly deform the end of the rocker shaft with a hammer and punch to keep it from falling out again.  This is an old problem with both M10 and M30 engines.

 

mike

[TobyB]

Mike, I strongly disagree with that tip. If the end of the rocker shaft's exterior is

deformed in any way, you may never be able to get it out of the head again.

The shafts aren't all that hard, and the fit of the shaft into the head's pretty tight.

 

There are half a dozen ways to retain the plugs, from tapping the ends

(the latest shafts come that way) to loctite to simply using new plugs (the new ones seem

to stay in better).

 

t

who's had to cut rocker shafts out of heads before.