Rod Bearing Disaster

[coffeyd]

Some of you may have experienced this problem or possibly heard rumors. This is first hand experience. I had my 401 rebuilt by a reputable shop. 2500 miles later the engine was trashed. It appears, engine is not completely torn down, that the pistons have "black death", cylinders are scored, cam shot, and what elese I do not know at this time. It APPEARS that the culprit is Federal Mogul rod bearings. They do not have the half moon oil hole in them opposite of the centering tab. Second hand info from a shop in Texas indicates that the hole was eliminated about 2 1/2 years ago. Federal Mogul indicated to the builder that the hole is no longer needed in MODERN engines. The hole is necessary to lube the pistons, cylinders, and cam. The gentelman in Texas said he called Clevite and asked about the oil hole, as Federal Mogul indicated that everyone was eliminating the hole, and they indicated that their bearings still had the hole and it was absolutely necessary. He recommended the Clevite 77 or the Michigan 77 bearing and never use Federal Mogul in the AMC 360/401. If you are aware of the problem and/or have info on it please email me.
Thaks

[Crazy_Jeepman]

I highly doubt its bad bearings. Federal Mogul is a good brand. Holes in the rod bearings are not necessary as the crank is where the oil is supplied to the rod bearings, and does not go any further from there. I think you will find Clevite 77 and the Michigan 77 will be the same as the Federal Mogul. Also if it were the bearings then the damage would have been isolated to the Crank and Rods, and it would not have taken 2500 miles. I think something was overlooked oil pump may have not been rebuilt to spec, or some other issues are to blame. Federal Mogul Has been around forever and make a good product. Sorry about the blown up 401 but I again highly doubt it's the brand name that did it. :rolleyes:

[mechanic58]

Sorry to hear about your 401, but I have to agree with Pete, something else was a miss there. These engines aren't very forgiving to a worn timing cover/oil pump combination. All the components in the AMC V-8's are WAY heavy and need GOOD oil pressure to survive. Mediocre won't cut it. My 360's timing cover had a substantial amount of wear on it when I overhauled it, so I sprung for the oil pump rebuild/upgrade kit. It's got many thousand miles on it now and holds 40 psi at idle and around 80 at speed.