willysmjeeps.com

To my surprise, when I removed the timing gear cover, there was no oil in it. It is bone dry. I know this engine was worked on within the last 5 years, and I can tell by the fresh gaskets. So I was surprised that oil was not getting to the timing gears.

What could be the potential reason for this? Do I need a new pump? Could the filter have caused it? Oil jet plugged? But even if it was plugged I would have gotten some oil but it is completely dry.
I hope the engine wasn't starving of oil and do to much damage.
Brad

How long since it's been run? I have seen gears and OH cams completely dry after sitting for long periods of time. If it had been run without any lubrication I expect that you'd see obvious wear on the gears.

Thanks Joe. It's beensitting for a year. Maybe 18 months. I heard the engine running previously before pulled from the jeep it originally was in and sounded fine. I'm finding no visual issues with engine after removing tappet cover and timing gears look good.

Oil is sprayed out of the nozzle to the left side and in between the two gears. It drains down and back into the pan. John

Thanks John. I'mjust surprised as to how clean the cover was. I was expecting to see some residual oil still.
Another question, where would iI hook up a mechanical oil pressure gauge line? I see the temp sensor on the side of the head on passenger side so assume I can use that location for my mechanical temp sensor but unsure where to hook up oil line to.
Thanks

There is a oil gallery on the drivers side of the block. The front has a line that feeds oil to the oil filter from behind the fuel pump. Follow that level to the rear of the block and there is another 1/8 inch pipe threaded hole there that originally has the oil pressure sender there. When you mount the sender, it needs to be as close to the block side as possible, or the brake pedal hits it when you apply the brakes. A mechanical gauge is hooked to a brass 90 right there instead of the electrical sender. John

Thanks again John. That exactly what I needed and I have found the location as per your description.
Brad

You will need a special bushing in the hole that the electrical Water temperature sender is in. It seals the bulb or probe of the mechanicl temp. gauge. Common item used by CJ2's.3's,and 3B's. John

oilleaker1 wrote:You will need a special bushing in the hole that the electrical Water temperature sender is in. It seals the bulb or probe of the mechanicl temp. gauge. Common item used by CJ2's.3's,and 3B's. John

Yes, I see this is available on most of the sites selling these parts. Thanks

In this picture you can see where I hooked in my mechanical gauge that I used for the initial startups.

Is that a repop tub? no place to mount the breakers and the holes for the dash Dzeus fasteners look odd. You painted your engine gray. Looks good, but more like a Ford GPW. I painted my CJ3A engine grey too, so don't take the comment wrong. I'm not a Jeep policeman.

It sure looks like a small puddle of oil laying on the face of the cam gear at the bottom. Checking that nozzle for flo is quite simple. Just remove one of the 1/8" P plugs on the left side oil gallery and jam a rubber tipped air nozzle in it and squeeze the trigger. 90 Lbs of air will blow any oil in the gallery through the entire system. Hold your hand in front of the gear lube nozzle when you apply the air pressure.

Wes, that oil came out after I loosened the bolt to the gear. Before that it was completely dry. With such dark oil that came out of the pan, I was expecting the inside of the gear cover to at least be coated.
Thanks for the tip on checking the nozzle. I will try later today and report back.

oilleaker1 wrote:Is that a repop tub? no place to mount the breakers and the holes for the dash Dzeus fasteners look odd. You painted your engine gray. Looks good, but more like a Ford GPW. I painted my CJ3A engine grey too, so don't take the comment wrong. I'm not a Jeep policeman.

It is indeed a repro tub which has proven to be quite the project.... I wish that it wasn't left to rot outside for so long before I got it. Among other deficiencies which I'll detail in a post some day, there is no provision for mounting the Dzeus clips or a circuit breaker bracket.

Thanks for reminding me about the breaker bracket - I've updated my build thread detailing how I managed that one.