Piston squiter issue

[mcguiver7]

Does anyone know the proper way to clean these? Two of them spring back when i push them in. I have one that stuck down when i pressed in on it. It does not seem to spring back even if I try using compressed air from the bearing side of the case.

Matt

[Flat6pac]

The squirters require about 60# oil pressure to open. You probably cant apply that type pressure to an open case.
Bruce

[Emery G.]

Stomski Racing check this site out they have a tool for blowing out the squirters.

[mcguiver7]

Thanks for the replies. I think i'll pick up that tool. If the squiters require less or more pressure to activate then do they need replaced?

Matt

[billjam]

Try this, it's free ...

[mcguiver7]

That's a good idea. Is there any trick for the other case half? The passage way comes from the throughbolt versus the bearing race.

[billjam]

Originally Posted by mcguiver7

That's a good idea. Is there any trick for the other case half? The passage way comes from the throughbolt versus the bearing race.

I can vaguely recall making up a tool for that now that I think about it.
I think it was a long (3 or 4") 10mm bolt and nut sealed with rubber washers at each end of the through-bolt hole. I drilled a hole at a slight angle through the top of the bolt head so that it came out the side of the shank just below the head. I then blew air into the hole in the bolt head to pressurise the through-bolt hole cavity and the squirter passage.
It's a bit hard to explain, but I hope you can follow it. It probably did the same job as the Stomski tool.

[lindy 911]

Matt,

I too had issues with the squirters not wanting to open with air pressure. Mine were frozen. I put three drops of "Seafoam" in each from the back side, waited about ten minutes and then blew them out with air. It works great. See my thread "High performance SC rebuild" for details and pictures of the block off tool I made.

Lindy

[mcguiver7]

Bill,

That makes great sense. I'll give it a shot. My collection of custom tools increments day by day. Soon i'll need a seperate drawer stack just for custom tools.

[mcguiver7]

Lowes parts list:

1 - 3/8" x 5" bolt
2 - 3/8" flat washers
2 - 3/8" rubber washers

Procedure:
Drill 1/2" to 3/4" through the top (hex end) of the bolt. Measure the depth and drill through the side of the bolt. I widened the top of the bolt to accept the tip of the air nozzle. Clean out the bolt and you're good to go.


I was unable to get the stuck piston squirter to spring back with compressed air. I was able to use a small pin and inserted it through the piston squirter orifice and moved the pin gently in circles then the squirter sprung back to the normal position. My guess is that the squirter spring was bound up. Now all my squirter's are spraying nicely.

[RichHawk]

what's the function of the spring in the Piston Squirter?

My Pea brain sees oil pressure on the inside and a small orifice on the face of the squirter, and thinks that whenever there is Oil pressure, there is a stream of oil coming out of the squirter at the piston.

So Why does it move? and what kind of condition exists where it would ever move down while the engine is running?

I've never had one out, so I'm obviously missing something. But I was able to get brake cleaner to squirt through mine while cleaning the already cleaned oil galleys.

Richard

[lindy 911]

The second photo shows my "special" tool. It's a piece of .375 fuel line with a used 8mm stud crammed into one end. After you insert the stud walk over to your bench grinder and bevel the end of the fuel line as shown. Clean it well then lightly oil it.

First photo shows putting the tool to use. Insert into through bolt hole until it won't go any further. Apply air pressure to the main bearing oiler and "poof". You will see the squirter open up and spray. I used Sea Foam to loosen up the gunk in the squirters for about five minutes before I put the air hose to it. Works wonders.

Lindy

[lindy 911]

Richard,

The spring is to make sure that the oil pressure at idle is not compromised by an open circuit created by the open squirters. At idle, there is not enough oil volume to created enough pressure to properly oil all of the system parts if the squirters are also open. Also at idle, there is no reason to cool the bottom of the piston with oil. The cam spray bars are open all the time and the addition of six more "holes" in the system would drop the idle pressure to nothing.

Lindy

[RichHawk]

Thanks Lindy, good explanation.
So I assume a piston squirter is really three pieces:
an inside check ball that acts as a valve that gets pushed upward with a little bit of oil pressure. (The part I was missing in my head)
the spring, calibrated to squirt at xx PSI of pressure
and then the top plate with orifice, held down into the case.

The fact that the orifice disk can be pushed down is just coincidental to the design in operation it's never going down. the "push it down " test is really just to see if it might be gunked up. If it sticks, it needs cleaned. Is that the general opinion?

Richard

[lindy 911]

I have found that the only real test is to apply compressed air and make it work the direction it was intended to. Pushing on the spring from the front of the squirter lets you know there is a spring in there and not much more. The trick is to make sure the check ball is moving freely as that is the part that gets stuck. Think of a tube with one end capped with a small hole. That's what you see, the small hole end of the tube. The same tube has a spring inside that pushes a check ball against the other end of the tube closing the hole in that end. When oil (or air) pressure is applied, the ball is forced out of the way against the tension of the spring and opens the check valve and you squirt oil all over the bottom of the piston crown. Pretty cool stuff.

Lindy