Oil pressure = 0

dan58

The old girl ran fine all day. It never overheated, etc. One the last hillclimb of the day, she started to tap something fierce, the oil pressure dropped to zero. I had no choice to run it for about 4 mintues. Had I not, I'd have rolled down a hill on my lid. Guess i'll cross my fingers that it's only the oil pump that went out. I'm none to pleased about it. FWIW, '73 360 on propane.

Goose

4 minutes.. Wow... ouch.. well rebuilding a motor beats rebuilding the Jeep cause it rolled.. Good luck in any case!

dan58

I was guide, so I didn't have anyone in front of me to winch me to the top, and the rock in front of me was bigger than a VW bug. No mans land....

tufcj

If you were extreme nose-up, you probably just uncovered the pickup. You may be able to re-prime the pump and get it going again. If it just idled, you probably wore off some miles, but didn't do major damage. I once ran a 304 for 20 miles on the highway at 55-60 MPH with 0 oil pressure before it started to seize and finally put a rod out the pan. Bob tufcj

dan58

tufcj wrote
If you were extreme nose-up, you probably just uncovered the pickup. You may be able to re-prime the pump and get it going again.

If it just idled, you probably wore off some miles, but didn't do major damage. I once ran a 304 for 20 miles on the highway at 55-60 MPH with 0 oil pressure before it started to seize and finally put a rod out the pan.

Bob
tufcj

Nose up, yep. Quite a bit, but I've been MUCH worse than that before. She's a 1973 with many miles aready logged.

jeepsr4ever

You really should run a extra quart if your running a stock oil pan and crawling on the rocks. Dry spots are common when your off kilter :wink:

dan58

jeepsr4ever wrote
You really should run a extra quart if your running a stock oil pan and crawling on the rocks. Dry spots are common when your off kilter :wink:

I do run a bit extra, but not toooo much.

I talked to my master yoda wrench man, and he's not too hopeful for her. Based on the lack of power (it didn't wan to turn my power steering pump too well), he thinks it was well on the way out.

I can get the dime-a-dozen 360 to replace it, or maybe find a 401.

jeepsr4ever

Or you may get lucky :idea:

dan58

I may have found a 401..... That said, what sort of hp should I expect out of one? And if I add my Edelbrock Performer intake? Anything else I should do to it before I'd drop it in? Cam?

jeepsr4ever

Dan a nice little camshaft like a Summit K8600 (Cam and lifter kit) will make you VERY PROUD of the power you will get out of it and the performer intake and carb will work excellent.

dan58

jeepsr4ever wrote
Dan a nice little camshaft like a Summit K8600 (Cam and lifter kit) will make you VERY PROUD of the power you will get out of it and the performer intake and carb will work excellent.

What kind of ballpark hp/tq are we talking? I'll be keeping my propane setup, btw.

How much fun would it be to build a 401 with about 10:1? :lo1l: Completely possible with propane.

jeepsr4ever

Up near 400ftlbs of torque and about 350hp

dan58

Hmmm. That's darn near drool-orific. I'm running a TF999 now. Would I need anything else to complete the swap?

dan58

Update: I talked to the local car wizard this morning, and I'm quite happy (and disturbed) at the same time.... It was 3 quarts low. The PO yanked the dipstick, so I had no way to tell if it had sufficient oil. I do have an oil pressure gauge, but that's not exactly a fool proof method (obviously). What troubles me is that it doesn't leak more than a few drips in the course of two weeks or more. It does have some white smoke on startup and when climbing the steep stuff. BUT, this thing sure shouldn't be burning 3 quarts. It's only had 7 days of trail riding since we pulled the pan and replaced the rear main. The PO did say that he thought it needed valve seals. How miserable of a job is this?

tufcj

With an air chuck to pressurize the cylinder, and the proper tool to remove the valve spring, seals can be changed with the head on the vehicle. The factory "umbrella" seals generally harden and crack at 70-80K miles. If it's got than many miles, and unknown care, you might be just as well off to pull the heads off and have them completely redone, including some positive valve seals. If it's a 360, the same heads can be swapped onto a 401 in the future. Bob tufcj

dan58

What kind of $ are you talking about to have the heads thoroughly checked and to have the valves redone?

tufcj

Probably $200-300 a pair to start for a OE valve job and surfacing. Add some if valves, guides, or springs need replacement. Add more if you want 3 angle cuts, hardened seats, and any port or gasket matching. My 291s on my AMX ran a little over $600 with hardened seats, 3 angle cuts, polishing/unshrouding and some pocket porting. I supplied them with stainless valves, new springs, retainers, and valve locks (which cost about another $300). You can go as mild or wild as you want, you just need to shake the money tree a bit. :t: :mrgreen: Bob tufcj

dan58

I'd be happy with just a resurfacing and hardened seats (running propane). The plan would be to pull them when I finally find a 401.

wdwrlw

you sure didn't have to search reall hard for that 401. Guess its where you live. I am still looking for one. Hey just wondering how much is it going to run you?

dan58

wdwrlw wrote
you sure didn't have to search reall hard for that 401. Guess its where you live. I am still looking for one. Hey just wondering how much is it going to run you?

Never did find a 401. A friend of mine has a good running 360 for $150. Hard to argue with that. I'll just stick with a 360, just for economics.