I kind of agree with Superdave, etc, except that I would try to check without pulling the engine. Pulling the engine is a pain in the rump, and you could use those hours to diagnose a little first. Maybe try turning the pump with a drill, and check it at a few places (like remove the filter, etc). Remember it turns CCW. I can't think of what would stop the oil flow, but if money is tight, you might find and fix the problem and get this engine to hobble along for quite a while while you save cash.
Let us know how it turns out either way!

 

D9351, I only advised on pulling the motor out so he could really be able to look at things good. You know, not standing on your head or looking at things upside down and backwards till you get a little disoriented. I know its more work.


And yes you also made a good point about turning the pump CCW, if you turn it CW it won't pump anything. And you do need to turn it with a drill, because by hand is not fast enough.

I am very suspicious of the oil pump or related parts, here. And yes, change the oil filter out also.

 

My time is limited lately, so if I pull an engine, I'm going to make it worth the effort and do some nice changes. If I were 15 again, I would probably pull it just for fun (since I had no money).
No upside down for me- I have a grease pit in my garage- One of the smarter things that I ever did (if I fall in it one day, I may not think that, though).
I said the CCW comment just in case they were getting misleading results by spinning it backwards.

 

I have seen instances of high volume oil pumps in these engines pumping all of the oil up into the valve covers and causing it to clog there not being able to drain fast enough-just an idea. had a friend who got his cam lobes all ground off like this-sound similar? Your possible spun bearing could be it but I would definetly investigate this further because it could be something obvious like all of these possibilities listed before. Shouldn't be too much trouble getting that pan off and the truck on a lift to check things out even if you have to loosen motor mounts to get the pan off. This would be easier that pulling it obviously-if there are no shavings in the pan or anything else that's obvious then stick a stock pump in there with the fuel pump and see what happends-turn it by drill of course and see if you're getting any up in the engine-pop those valve covers off and see what happends when running. If you still can't figure it out then you got me and even superdave about what you got going on-could be a lot of freak things but the bottom line is that this engine is definately worth tearing into to try to save! if you're tearing it out to replace it anyway, just flip it over and get searching-take this in steps-you could save this one brother. ---good luck -Bill

 

Thank you for all the theories and possibilities. Let me give you some history on this engine. Here what was done by the previous owner. He bought the truck after it had sat for 16 years. He did necessarry things to get the engine started again. He cranked it up and ran it for awhile. He noticed oil pressure problems in the engine. He took the valve covers off and discovered flaky rust on the valve covers. He decided to replace the oil pump with one from Autozone. He cranked it up to set the timing and the engine locked up. It sheared the drive gear off the distributor so something gave way to prevent serious damage to that engine. HE DECIDED TO GET ANOTHER ENGINE. This brings us to the one currently in the truck. It came from a 71 lincoln. He used the good parts off the old engine and replaced the bottom end bearings in this engine. He put it in the truck and drove it for awhile. Then the trans gave out. It sat for 2 months and then I bought it. I had the trans rebuilt and then the engine went. I have a mostly solid drive train from the bell housing back.
Now to deal with the bell housing forward.

 

this sounds like it can be rebuilt

 

Did he use the "good" oil pump from the old engine? If the rust flakes from under the valve cover got through the oil pickup screen (likely) the pump could be binding, scored or even locked up and the press fit gear slipping (cause of distributor gear pin shear, loss of oil pressure, feels like resistance but not pumping and excessive distributor gear wear).
Still curious.
Greg

 

He did not use the pump on the old engine. He replaced the one that came from the lincoln with a Moroso high volume pump. The distribotor drive gear did shear when the oil pump in the old engine locked up. The distributor in the truck now has a fairly new drive gear but it has been worn due to the lack of oil.

 

Biggreen4x4,

your last few posts have confused me a little... all the switching back and forth between an old locked up engine, and something from a lincoln, then swapping parts back and forth.

Could you give us a rundown of the *current* engine in the truck (the one that you're thinking of rebuilding). we don't need to know what was in the truck before, or what the prev owner did to the old engines...etc

Specifically, give us:

1) the history on the part (new on the current engine, used from the current engine, or used from a different engine) ...

2) have you tried a new one...

3) why the shop thinks this piece is busted...

for the following pieces.

Distributer (shaft/gear)
Oil Pump
Main Bearings
Camshaft bearings
heads/valve covers

4) were there shiny brass colored metal flakes in the oil that was drained, or in the bottom of the oilpan?

5) with all the spark-plugs out, and the trans in neutral, can you spin the engine with a breakerbar and socket on the crankshaft retaining bolt? (middle of the fan)

that's all I can think of... if you can give definitive answers to these questions I think a good set of steps to take can be devised by the helpful folks here at FTE.----

The reason I'm so optimistic about this engine is that I've made WAY too many expensive assumptions in my day and they've taught me to try everything before 1 green G.W. leaves my wallet. case in point. I had a 727 chrysler auto trans that was slipping in an old car I had. i didn't even drop the pan to see what situation I was in, or ask around for a junkyard replacement. i went right to the trans shop and got a $2000 rebuild for my "unsalvageable transmission" according to the shop. i could have gone a bought a junkyard replacement for $150, or a rebuilt one through a catalog for $700... but i was too uninformed and uneducated to think about it...

now i know better... sold that stupid car too.

 

The engine we are talking about is not the original. This engine came from a 1971 Lincoln. It looked to have been rebuilt before.

Okay heres what you wanted on these parts:

Distributor (shaft/gear) - The shaft was thought to be rounded
off and not driving the pump. It is still
driving the pump so it should still be good
- The gear teeth are worn thin. Only on
the old engine did the teeth get sheared.
Oil Pump - The oil pump was thought to have failed. The shop had
somebody spin the shaft. You could feel the resistance
from the pump pumping the oil.
Main Bearings - They took the #1 and #2 rod caps off and found
scratches in the bearings. One was showing the
copper.
Camshaft bearings - The camshaft bearing are belived to be
scored since no oil can be seen getting to the
bearings. This was shown by the teeth on
the distributor gear being worn.
heads/valve covers - The head on the passengers side have bad
valves on the #1 and #2 cylinders. The rusty
valve covers only pertain to the the old engine.

4) Were there shiny brass colored metal flakes in the oil that was drained, or in the bottom of the oilpan?
> From what I know there were no metal flakes in the oil pan or
in the oil itself.
5) With all the spark-plugs out, and the trans in neutral, can you spin the engine with a breakerbar and socket on the crankshaft retaining bolt?
> The engine will still turn over with the starter and with enough
persuation it will start. The engine is not seized.

 

This is more to sart off with tearing down an engine. I've still got that 400 sitting in the bed. Im going to tear it down. I would like to get an idea on wether I should use the 750lbs engine stand we used for my dads GM 305 or look for something beefier.

 

I used a stand that was rated for 750 lbs once on a 400. Never again. I bought a much heavier stand, 1200 lbs. With the intake and heads still on it, I was afraid to roll the motor on the 750 lb stand. It quivered and bounced terribly at the slightest touch. Of course I don't know what your stand looks like though.

Better safe than sorry.

 

my stand is a 1000 lbs one.