My 440 died yesterday, and I would like to avoid throwing parts at it

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it's worth pulling all the pushrods and rolling them on a flat surface too. if you had any valve to piston contact it'll probably have bent a pushrod or more. if you're lucky no valves bent. been there.
neil.
 
treblig wrote: "What made you decide to remove the timing cover???"

It died suddenly while driving, and would not re-start. Spark was good, as was fuel delivery. Backfired through the carb when cranking, and there was a lot of lost motion in the distributor shaft when rotating the crankshaft back and forth. It was the latter which convinced me it was the timing set.
 
Bill Crowell said:
treblig wrote: "What made you decide to remove the timing cover???"

It died suddenly while driving, and would not re-start. Spark was good, as was fuel delivery. Backfired through the carb when cranking, and there was a lot of lost motion in the distributor shaft when rotating the crankshaft back and forth. It was the latter which convinced me it was the timing set.
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Oh OK, it's just that there were so many suggestions on how to approach the problem I was wondering which approach you decided to use. treblig
 
mygasser said:
it's worth pulling all the pushrods and rolling them on a flat surface too. if you had any valve to piston contact it'll probably have bent a pushrod or more. if you're lucky no valves bent. been there.
neil.
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Really good suggestion, Neil. After 40 years the pushrods need to be replaced to make sure the valves are opening properly.
 
I found mine. You all can see why she jumped time. Haha
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WARNING!!! PLEASE PULL THE PAN AND OIL PICKUP and clean them and look for junk getting up into the pump!!! (Sprocket teeth pieces)
 
Bill, I know I am late to the party, but here is my 2 cents. Even if you check pushrods and find none bent and no evidence of bent valves, I would pull that engine and go through it and freshen it up. How worn do you think the rest of that engine is? Just as worn as the timing set. Like Del said in post 31, the nylon on the cam gear went "somewhere" and we all know where that is. In the oil pan. Small pieces of nylon float. They can and will make their way into the oil pump screen. They will make their way into the pump and things can get ugly from there. Just my personal opinion here Bill, but that engine is ready for an overhaul at the very least. You will save yourself a lot of trouble down the road.
 
It would be great to do an overhaul if the budget permitted, Rusty, but right now I'm just trying to finish installing insulation and dry wall in my shop, and after that I really want to buy a lift. I only drive the truck around town, anyway. I don't plan to make any long trips in it. The oil pressure is consistently good, and it passes smog OK.

EDIT: Can you believe that a '78 vehicle still needs to be smog inspected in this state? What a joke.
 
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Bill Crowell said:
It would be great to do an overhaul if the budget permitted, Rusty, but right now I'm just trying to finish installing insulation and dry wall in my shop, and after that I really want to buy a lift. I only drive the truck around town, anyway. I don't plan to make any long trips in it. The oil pressure is consistently good, and it passes smog OK.

EDIT: Can you believe that a '78 vehicle still needs to be smog inspected in this state? What a joke.
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wow. they are really serious in CA! In WA state, it stops after 25yrs, I think. Thank Gawd, for small favors.
 
Bill Crowell said:
It would be great to do an overhaul if the budget permitted, Rusty, but right now I'm just trying to finish installing insulation and dry wall in my shop, and after that I really want to buy a lift. I only drive the truck around town, anyway. I don't plan to make any long trips in it. The oil pressure is consistently good, and it passes smog OK.

EDIT: Can you believe that a '78 vehicle still needs to be smog inspected in this state? What a joke.
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It's all a ridiculous money grab, Bill. More of our freedoms slipping away everyday and most are none the wiser. Do the most you can to it. You did say you were taking the pan off, right? That will allow you to inspect everything really well. Good luck sir!
 
Bill Crowell said:
It would be great to do an overhaul if the budget permitted, Rusty, but right now I'm just trying to finish installing insulation and dry wall in my shop, and after that I really want to buy a lift. I only drive the truck around town, anyway. I don't plan to make any long trips in it. The oil pressure is consistently good, and it passes smog OK.

EDIT: Can you believe that a '78 vehicle still needs to be smog inspected in this state? What a joke.
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We have the same emissions laws here in CO and yes it's totally wack. My 1993 Jeep Cherokee still requires a full dyno emissions test every 2 years; anything 1976-1981 just needs an idle test but that's still sooo stupid. The worst part (?) is you can't diesel swap anything that gets e-tested so if I wanted to build myself a diesel truck or Jeep it would have to be pre-1975 because the laws require emissions for the type of engine the vehicle originally came with.

And Colorado doesn't even have bad air! Everyone comes here because the air is so clean and fresh! It's not like we have a Los Angeles with smog all the time. Regardless, next vehicle I get will be 1975 or older. Or maybe I'll do that thing where you can register your car in Vermont even if you don't live there lol.
 
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