AMC 304 cam gear issues

Smurphy

Active Member
Joined
May 21, 2007
Location
Deep River
I have a AMC 304 in my Jeep Wrangler. Every since i've had this engine it has seemed to want to eat up the cam and dist, gears. I can go maybe 3k miles on a set of gears before it eat them up. Oil is found on the end of the dist. when pulled but I belive for some reason it is starving for oil in the front cover area. It had just been re-built when the engine was purchased. I have been battling this problem for about two years now and I'm just wondering if anyone out there has had this problem or known anyone who has? Also if you have is there a simple fix I'm over looking?
 
I have the same problem. Have you prurchased matching gears yet. I recently purchased matching gears but haven't ran them yet. Got the front end apart and decided to upgrade my steering and brakes.
 
Timing gear problem

Smurphy said:
I have a AMC 304 in my Jeep Wrangler. Every since i've had this engine it has seemed to want to eat up the cam and dist, gears. I can go maybe 3k miles on a set of gears before it eat them up. Oil is found on the end of the dist. when pulled but I belive for some reason it is starving for oil in the front cover area. It had just been re-built when the engine was purchased. I have been battling this problem for about two years now and I'm just wondering if anyone out there has had this problem or known anyone who has? Also if you have is there a simple fix I'm over looking?
Click to expand...
I have had much experiance with this problem. Some of it comes from aftermarket cams.One of the only ways to REALLY repair it is to replace the timing cover and distributor (or at least the dist gear) with a known good unit. I took a wagoneer to the crusher last year..but before,I took the timing cover, cam gear and distrubutor off the engine. I have had them for sale off and on since. Waiting for someone to really need them. I will take $150 for everything. I spent hundreds of dollars and many painfull hours trying to fix this very same problem on my wifes cj7. Finally I found a junkyard engine and removed the needed items...Inspected them ...And found no real wear on the gears..installed them..problem solved. So if your tired of screwing with it give me a call or PM me. Bob 828-231-0966
 
yea my jeep has Crane cam. i have been told that maybe in the installation process that they may have goten the cam bearing oil journals off a bit and it let some oil through but not enough to really coat. i have been told to run a thicker oil and run Lucas oil for coating and maybe it will stop this problem. if not then i'm tearing down the engine and while i'm in there she's getting a steroid shot to boost power. so either way i guess i'm winning
 
Smurphy said:
yea my jeep has Crane cam. i have been told that maybe in the installation process that they may have goten the cam bearing oil journals off a bit and it let some oil through but not enough to really coat. i have been told to run a thicker oil and run Lucas oil for coating and maybe it will stop this problem. if not then i'm tearing down the engine and while i'm in there she's getting a steroid shot to boost power. so either way i guess i'm winning
Click to expand...
Believe me it will not!! i tried everything! cam anti wal kit,special mached hardend gears,added a special oil line to drip oil directly on the gears. Etc etc etc! Nothing works! If you don't want to buy my parts thats fine..but find some somewhere!
 
cam gear issue

I remember an article in magizine years back with this issue, it an oil stavation problem. If recall someone made a kit to add an oil drip line to the top of the timing cover to fix this. You can make it real easy get everything from local autoparts store. get an oil pressure gauge kit and run it from oil jacket off block, then drill and tap a port in timing cover over the gear. install the line and that should help the problem. I had a 360 with large cam and it would burn them up in couple days. once did this it was cured
 
First time in 30 years, I've heard of this. My 79, original 304, had 95000, on it, when it was rebuilt,due to burnt valves. My mechanics main concern, was any wear in the front cover, were the oil pump rides. Installed a Wolverine RV cam, original cover, still going great, with another 50000! :confused:
 
I built my 360 with a mild after market cam and installed a 1 wire HEI distributor. Fired it up and had a hard time setting the timing during the break in. Found out why. The cam gear was eaten up by the dist. gear. Bought a matched set from crown and havent had a problem since.
 
Back
Top