UPDATE: fixed-440 missing? What am I missing?

-
G

Gwywnc

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 15, 2015
Messages
58
Reaction score
5
Location
Cherokee nc
i have a 440 and it's sudden started missing slightly. Probably not enough for the average person to notice but enough to make me embarrassed to drive it and I can't figure it out. I changed plugs and wires and I'm trying to figure out what distributor cap and button to get cause it's after market and they have no clue at the local parts places here. It's blue cap. It started like a whistling sound but didn't start missing when it started that sound not sure what's making that. Any help would be great thank you.
 
Did you check your timing? Also check for vacuum leaks, fuel pressure, floats? what have you changed if anything
 
Make sure you have good grounds. Electronic ignition is particularly sensitive to a bad ground.
 
I have checked vacuum leaks and see none. And when you say good ground do you mean at the battery?
 
My voltage reg on the firewall was not grounded properly, i had to unscrew it and scuff the paint behind it. Go through all the ground connections, all the small ground wires, make sure they have a clean surface to mount too.
 
Gwywnc said:
I have checked vacuum leaks and see none. And when you say good ground do you mean at the battery?
Click to expand...
You should have solid ground from the engine to the frame and also, preferably, from your ECU to the body as well.

I had a 440 six pack that was giving me fits for months. I put a 50 cent junkyard ground strap from the engine to body, and my tuning problems disappeared.

Moral of the story, poor ignition spark can mimic carb problems, and it can be intermittent, which can drive you nuts.
 
inspect the cap and rotor, and when running at night in the dark look for spark leakage. whistling sounds like a vacuum leak. do a cranking compression test. check ignition timing
 
Thanks for all the replays and help. I have checked every ground that there is a still the problem is there. It went from running perfect one day to missing the next (if it's even missing). When I drive it it kinda surges like its running really lean. I have checked it in the dark and no jumping spark. When deceleration it kinda back fires out the tail pipe and it had never done that before. And it there is a hesitation on take off and at the beginning of accelerating were I have to "feather" the throttle. I am running out of things to try.
 
I checked the fuel. I pulled the line off at the carb and it pumped fine. It sure what else to do. Seems odd that it just started it one day. Is there a way to check and see if it's getting a strong spark at home?
 
get an inline spark tester. it goes between the wire and the plug, and will show you how well it's sparking. should be obviously bright spark if it's running good, dim/no spark is obviously a problem. Here is an example of one: Sears.com
 
So I drove the duster today and it was completely embarrassing and I could hear a whistling like a vacuum leak so I got home and thought to myself "there are no vacuum lines on this thing" so how could air be bi passing the carb? So while it was running and "missing" I used a 9/16 to check the intake bolts and sure enough hey were really loose and I could tell a change in how the car ran immediately. So I tightened all them down and went for a ride and it was like night and day! My dusters a tire smoking bad *** again! Thanks for all you guys help!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top