Distributor gear oiling

[IronDog]

In my '91 GW 360, there is a hole, about 1/8" diameter, in the end of the front cam journal, behind the cam timing gear. Is that an oil passage that provides oiling to the timing gear/fuel pump eccentric/distributor gear? It doesn't line up with the oil passage slot beside the shaft in the cam gear/fuel pump eccentric/distributor gear, which are all 180 degrees from the keyway. It seems to be a blind hole but mayby it's connected to something I can't see. The hole I'm talking about is maybe 30 degrees from the keyway and maybe 1/2 inch out from the cam shaft. Someone else has told me that there is a "notch" in the end cam bearing that allows oiling of the gears. I don't see anything that looks like a notch in the end of the bearing.

[Don S]

..
IronDog...

I know nothing on this topic but will send this INFO to you...

DISTRIBUTOR GEAR - TIMING CHAIN GEAR from RCW IFSJA #2009

http://www.ifsja.org/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=014752

You're right on track. In preparing to do my 401 (at the machine shop right now), I've gathered a fair amount of info on AMC oiling and performance stuff. You do NOT need the external oil line; most importantly, make sure you don't mix and match your distributor/cam gears. There's a racer who said he added the external line, and then broke three distributor gears. All broken gears came out dripping with oil… Here's the specific post I picked up awhile ago:
… posted by billyrb #1581
I am in the process or rebuilding my 360, and I bought a new double-roller timing chain (among a bunch of
other parts, some OEM, some high performance). Took it to the machine shop with other parts to have them
prepare a shortblock for me. While it was there, gentleman named George Duggan (builds and races AMC's)
who is well known in the AMC world, takes a look at my motor. He starts talking to the machine shop guys, and
notices my timing chain. He explains a problem that90% of people don't know about......
… Almost all of the lower end, and middle end, and some of the higher end timing chain gears have a
non-operational part. You see, our timing gears are pre-drilled at the factory to have a hole in the
center that, under pressure, forces oil to the fuel pump lobe, and the distributor gear to keep them
lubricated. Well, a majority of those timing gears were made at the factory as follows:
… A hole is drilled partially from one side of the gear, then another hole is drilled partially from the other
side of the gear. In theory, these two holes meet, creating one long hole. But, alas, the holes don't meet.
… You need to inspect your new gears, and make sure that the hole goes all the way through. The shop had to
take mine and 'tap' a hole, and file the surrounding areas. Had George not noticed this, I would have had
premature failure on my distributor & distributor gear, fuel pump, and other parts within a few thousand miles.

HTH, Good luck ;) and http://www.michiganjeepers.com/forums/images/graemlins/wave.gif and … CUL.. ds..

[RWC]

Right. Like Don said. smile.gif Al Johnson will likely way in on this too; he has recently been spreading the gospel.

RWC

[Al Johnson]

Thanks for that nice introduction, RWC!

Yes, I've been spreading the gospel, trying to repay some of the fine folks I've gotten so much information from on this and other AMC forums.

Check Froadin.com tech forum, sticky first post, has a picture of the oil passage in question, but briefly, the story is:

There should be a continuous oil passage from the front of the camshaft through the cam sprocket, the fuel pump eccentric, and into the distributor drive gear. The path it takes is not always real obvious, there's one point where it is just a chamfer around the diameter of a shaft hole in a hub that carries the oil. But anyway, the cam sprocket has a square keyway slot in the hub, and opposite the keyway slot should be a half-round oil passage slot. There is a casting defect that blocks this hole in the middle, as previously mentioned in a post above. This will prevent oil from getting to anything past the cam sprocket, like for example the distributor drive gears.

I discovered this independently when looking at my new parts to make sure everything was good. (Hard to break the "inspector" habit when you do it for a living.) After I started posting about it, I found out that some other people have known about it for a long time, but since it did not seem to be common knowledge, I'm doing what I can to spread the word.

The timing set manufacturer (Dynagear) has been informed of this problem, but it doesn't seem they are going to do anything about it. So it's up to us to look at our timing sets, and file out the oil passages when necessary.

I'm personally convinced that this factory setup will provide plenty of oil to the stuff that needs it in this area, including the distributor gears, with no external lines run. After all, they worked until they got rebuilt, right?

Okay, sorry about the long post, I get carried away, but I hope it helps.

Al

[Josh D]

Al,

I've caught your posts on this subject on here and other AMC boards as well and just wanted to say thanks! I bought the double roller from Summit, and low and behold, the passage was not complete. Had you not been so dilegent on this subject, I might not have ever known, and likewise suffered a failure. Again, thanks!

[Al Johnson]

Josh, you just made me feel good. Thanks! Now I know it has been worth it. I've been hoping to save somebody a big headache, looks like it happened like I hoped, and I'm happy. Hope it can work for more.

:D :D :D :D

[Bridge]

Irondog,

This is Bridge, also from Greenville NC. Are you the "other dark blue" GW running around town
? I have been meaning to pull over when passing...see the stuff you have done to yours.

Sure could use your help.

Bridge

[Rogue]

one problem I've found with dizzy to cam gear problems is rebuilt timing covers - the covers are sometimes "resurfaced" on the block mating surface thereby changing the relationship between the dizzy and cam gears

[Josh D]

Originally posted by RogueStar:
one problem I've found with dizzy to cam gear problems is rebuilt timing covers - the covers are sometimes "resurfaced" on the block mating surface thereby changing the relationship between the dizzy and cam gearsHave you heard any issues with the new timing covers from Crown? I would imagine the dimensions would be the same as stock.

[IronDog]

Thanks guys. I have found out that the hole I asked about is the oil passage that feeds the oiling of the timing gear and chain, as well as the fuel pump eccentric and the distributor drive gear; it connects to the oil passage going to the front cam bearing. I could see that the oil groove in the timing gear was there, but I still wasn't getting oil to the distributor gear. Found out that my rebuilt crate engine has the wrong cam staft in it! No oil hole in the cam journal! They're replacing the engine under warranty, but what a PITA!

[Panther]

Yeah Al, I too want to thank you about that oil passage thing (previous post) (http://www.ifsja.org/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=014660) .
I have been running mine now for a few months after the cam swap and had the same "die" with the PAW double chain. For a novice like myself, you guys really helped me do stuff I would have never imaged just a few months ago.....
Thx Lee