Distributor drive gear oil line

[dwg86]

I have some pictures of a distributor drive gear oil line that I'm putting on my engine. You have to drill 1/8 hole all the way through the fitting so the line will pass through. I have yet to determine what size hole I will use in the end of the line. I will experiment with different diameter wires. For example, I will install a .040 wire in the end of the tube, crush the tube around the wire and then pull the wire out. Then I'll spin the oil pump to see what kind of flow I have. The other end of the tube gets connected to the oil pressure port with an adapter.

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[jsawduste]

Keep us in the loop on this one. Have already eaten one bronze gear and not convinced the factory system works that well.

[John]

Try .026 for that nozzle. viewtopic.php?f=5&t=161
John

[SilverXJ]

I may give this try myself. What about using something like a nozzle for a propane stove.. don't they come in different diameters?

[SilverXJ]

I've been looking at an old cam sensor/pump drive off my 2000 XJ, which replaced the distributor. I have never looked closely at a distributor from a 4.0L, and I don't have one on hand. However, the drive for my 2000 has a flat spot on it cut from the block's oil passage to the top of the gear, similar to the cam saver lifters.. do the distributors not have this?

[dwg86]

The engine I made the line for has a cam position sensor(that's what's in the picture. I didn't see any oil passage going into the distributor(or cam position sensor) hole in the block. Just a small hole right above the cam gear that drives the distributor. It looks like the only way oil gets to the dist drive gear is drain oil from the top end.

I have heard a couple of people that have had problems with the drive gear, that's why I made the line(I did the same thing on my amc 401).

[John]

That really was a issue on the 401's, but a easy fix, and yes most of the oiling on our blocks comes from above for the cam gear, clean the casting at the oil passage and coat it with glyptol improves oil flow too.
John

[jsawduste]

I have some pictures of a distributor drive gear oil line that I'm putting on my engine. You have to drill 1/8 hole all the way through the fitting so the line will pass through. I have yet to determine what size hole I will use in the end of the line. I will experiment with different diameter wires. For example, I will install a .040 wire in the end of the tube, crush the tube around the wire and then pull the wire out. Then I'll spin the oil pump to see what kind of flow I have. The other end of the tube gets connected to the oil pressure port with an adapter.

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Are you feeding the line from the oil filter adapter ? Any chance of a picture ?

I am thinking seriously of doing this.

[dwg86]

I am going to feed it from the oil sending unit port with a "T" adapter. I used a 1/8 NPT tap for the hole. Drill with a "R" bit, and don't tap too deep. The NPT tap gets bigger as it goes deeper.(I was affraid to type that ). Just go deep enough to get threads all the way through the hole.

When I did the line on my 401, the line is above the gear. The oil didn't "spray" like one might think, but it drips down on the gear. I think oil is too thick to spray. But I was only running the pump with a drill . So you want to get the line as close to the gear as possible without touching the gear.

What I want to do, when I get time, is hook the line up to my 4.0 and try different hole sizes in the line to see what the oil does when the engine is warm and running. Who knows the oil may spray out with enough pressure and volume behind it.

[dwg86]

Also, don't drill to high or close the the distributor. The engine casting is pretty thick and the "bump" on the outside is lower on the inside if that makes sense. I'll take some measurements when I get the block back from the machine shop.

The engine is upside down in the pictures.

[jsawduste]

Also, don't drill to high or close the the distributor. The engine casting is pretty thick and the "bump" on the outside is lower on the inside if that makes sense. I'll take some measurements when I get the block back from the machine shop.

The engine is upside down in the pictures.

Understood and read with great interest. Indeed if you get a chance, a couple of measurements would be great.

[TurboTom]

Sometimes I believe you guy's try to fix stuff that ain't broke.
Gear squirters, Cam squirters, I just don't get it.
How can you ignore the fact that 99% of these engines last well over 100,000 miles with none of this stuff??
And no one has had any proof that these mods have helped.
Unless you are just bored, I just dont understand.
Some one give me some real facts.
I am all ears

[SilverXJ]

Maybe you are blind to recent cam failure issues? I haven't heard of many people losing the distributor gear, but I have personally seen failed cams and heard of many more. Even stock cams. So, every little it helps.

[jsawduste]

Sometimes I believe you guy's try to fix stuff that ain't broke.
Gear squirters, Cam squirters, I just don't get it.
How can you ignore the fact that 99% of these engines last well over 100,000 miles with none of this stuff??
And no one has had any proof that these mods have helped.
Unless you are just bored, I just dont understand.
Some one give me some real facts.
I am all ears

Well when you use an aftermarket cam to drive a valve train that likely has more spring pressure and lift. Combine that with a high volume oil pump. The OEM design appears to be compromised. Folks have been wearing gears out at an alarming rate. Perhaps a bit of additional oil might help ?

[dwg86]

Sometimes I believe you guy's try to fix stuff that ain't broke.
Gear squirters, Cam squirters, I just don't get it.
How can you ignore the fact that 99% of these engines last well over 100,000 miles with none of this stuff??
And no one has had any proof that these mods have helped.
Unless you are just bored, I just dont understand.
Some one give me some real facts.
I am all ears

Well I have heard of several distributor gears failing in the 4.0, so I thought it wouldn't hurt. The aluminum engine that HESCO designed says that it has a pressure fed distributor drive made in the block design. Lee from Hesco has mentioned running an oil line in some of his post. He has more experience at building 4.0's than I do.

Running a high volume oil pump can put added stress on the gear. The donor engine that I bought showed some pretty good wear on the cam sensor and cam. I don't know how many miles are on the engine. Could have been caused by the lack of zinc in the also. I don't know

I am just sharing some of the things I am doing to my build. If you don't like them, don't use them. I am always up for a good discussion about engines and different ideas or engine builds. The one thing I have always liked about this board and the people on it is sharing ideas and each individual build.