360 Oil pump replacement

[PhattyX]

(Try 2) 360 Oil pump replacement

Alright, let's try this question sans the couple of Saranacs...

I have an AMC 360 with some seriously degrading oil pressure (~10 at idle... 0 on real warm days). 4 Wheel Drive hardware sent me part numbers for gears and an oil pump cover (which is different than the timing cover). Thanks to RedRooster and me eye-humping the motor, I know the oil pump cover is part of the timing cover / water pump mount. So, is there another peice that is just an "oil pump cover", possibly internal, that I should get as well as the gears and timing cover?

On a side note, what do you guys think of dumping almost $500 into this motor vs replacing it? I still have heat issues which are pointing to a radiator... and it'd be costly to make it FI. Between the oil pump and the radiator, it's about $500. FI would tack another grand (?) on. Otherwise, I'm debating the 5.3 swap. At ~$2,000, I can't see that being any time soon. If I did the swap, is there any market for a 360 w/ the new pump?

Thanks!

-X

 

[PhattyX]

Bump...

'Cause I re-asked the question to make sense... and I've been on Jeepz too long to beleive you guys don't have opinions.

-X

 

[LBR]

double check and verify that the oil pressure is indeed that low....I've been driving a 79 CJ-5 w/ the AMC 360 and it has had 10 PSI when cold to 0 PSI when hot on the factory pressure gauge for over 2 years......LBR

 

[redrooster]

There are two things to look at when you re-assemble the oil pump. One is that the aluminum timing cover houses the gears. To build pressure the gears spin and swirl oil around the outsides and compress (pressurize) the oil when it passes between the meshing teeth. If you have deep scars in the aluminum housing around the outside circumference of the gears then it impedes the ability to build pressure.
The second area of pressure loss will be in the cover you mentioned. If I recall correctly, it is a thin aluminum cover with two bolt holes. The cover sits over the butt end of the gears. The pressure loss in that area occurs after the gears wear two donut swirls in the cover. THe cover must be smooth.

 

[LVRockCrawler]

dont forget to check your main bearing clearances also... it can really affect oil pressure - my old mustang (68 w/390) would be around 40 psi cold/5-7 psi warm - mains were the problem - just another thing to check if your gonna dump $$$ into the motor you got...