My 440 is having problems • The Dodge Challenger Message Board

by **thor** » 04 Mar 2004 22:19

I have a 70 440 Challenger with electronic ignition. When I get to 2500 RPM, the tach starts jumping 600-800 RPM, and the motor will not smooth out. When I drop back below 2500 RPM, it runs just fine. Any ideas?

by **dave-r** » 05 Mar 2004 8:25

Put Ignition ignition questions in the electrical section please. :!:

You will find lots of trouble shooting stuff for the ignition there too.

Is this a stock chrysler ignition?

How old are the distributor cap/rotor/plug leads?

My hunch is you have bad plug leads or a bad lead from the coil to the distributor. Or both. Make sure all the plug leads are in the right order, clean and dry, and are not running close alongside each other.

In the dizzy make sure the rotor and cap are in good condition and that the reluctor is clean and the gap set to 8thou. Make sure there are no iron filings stuck around the magnetic reluctor.

Also just check you have a good ground from the dizzy to the engine and to the chassis. Make sure the ignition module is grounded well. There is a piece on checking the grouind connections in the electrical section too.

by **LITEMUP** » 26 Jun 2004 22:06

yes my 440 seems to be having a problem...just from me of course...

i pulled the factory stuff off of this 440 for a guy and was in the process of cleaning it up for a aluminum intake when i accidently bent some sort of plate/shield/cover etc. what is this and what do i do?

by **dave-r** » 27 Jun 2004 10:01

If I am looking at the same bit as you then that is the edge of part of the head gasket. It is not sealing anything at that point so no worries. Just make sure it is not contacting the pushrods.

by **LITEMUP** » 27 Jun 2004 21:26

so what you are saying is that it is just some sort of tab from the metal head gasket possibly for positioning or something? no it is not in the way of anything...