My rebuilt 440 only fires on 2 cylinders

[mopar367]

I rebuilt a 440 to .030 over with mostly stock parts. stock replacement pistons 906 heads .455 purple cam and torker intake. I have a edelbrock 600 carb on it right now.

The problem I am having is I am trying to run it to break it in on a home built stand. The ignition only fires 2 cylinders. The plugs are new, wires are new msd street fire, Ignition box is a working unit off a running engine, I had the engine timing set at 10 degrees advanced. There is enough gas getting to it.

It is very hard to start and when running is a dog. With it revving I can turn the distributor and it does nothing. I am stumped If you guys cant help me out, I might resort to a simple points distributor to start it.

Any ideas on what could be wrong? would a bad coil cause this? or some of the new plugs be faulty? The ignition box is grounded.

 

[67 B-body]

How is it that you know only two cyls are firing?
Have you checked each plug wire to see if its sending current to the plugs? I check this by placing a timing light inductive lead to each cable, checking for a consistant flash.
Do you have compression on all cyl's? Is the firing order correct?

 

[mopar367]

Ya ill have to check with the timing light for spark at all cylinders. But i know it is only firing two because only 2 header tubes are hot. and those 2 plugs are brown and the rest are covered in gas. It does have compression at all cylinders yes. My firing order is set to 18436572

 

[tpodwdog]

Ya ill have to check with the timing light for spark at all cylinders. But i know it is only firing two because only 2 header tubes are hot. and those 2 plugs are brown and the rest are covered in gas. It does have compression at all cylinders yes. My firing order is set to 18436572

that firing order is COUNTER CLOCKWISE...incase you didnt know...ill almost guarantee you that #3 and#6 cylinders are the only ones firing. i think you got firing rotation wrong........... right sequence....wrong direction !.,,,maybe.....perhaps.....:headbang:

 

[mopar367]

Ohh, that actually does make sense Ill have to check that. Why do you predict those two are the ones firing?

 

[tpodwdog]

Ohh, that actually does make sense Ill have to check that. Why do you predict those two are the ones firing?

very simple,,,,i did this on a piece of paper

1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2

2-7-5-6-3-4-8-1

see how the 6 and 3 are the closest ?? thats how!:headbang: let me know if i nailed it! lol

either 6 and 3 or 1 and 8

 

[coloradodave]

Actually, if you draw it in a circle and go clockwise starting at #1 and then go counter-clockwise starting at #1, #1 and #6 will align in both directions, thus firing only those two cylinders. As Ed McMahon used to say" You are correct, Sir". Good call..........

 

[mopar367]

Ok guys I did have my firing order correct but backwards as stated above. The engine seems to spark on all plugs when tested individually. ground the plug to the header and turn it over. I have my timing set at 10 before the tried 5 before and then slightly retarded. Wont fire up. It is doing a lot of backfiring out of the carb too. Could it be because its flooded and the plugs are fouled? Also it is not 180 out I tried that.

 

[67 B-body]

Ok guys I did have my firing order correct but backwards as stated above. The engine seems to spark on all plugs when tested individually. ground the plug to the header and turn it over. I have my timing set at 10 before the tried 5 before and then slightly retarded. Wont fire up. It is doing a lot of backfiring out of the carb too. Could it be because its flooded and the plugs are fouled? Also it is not 180 out I tried that.

Did you have the reluctor out of the distributor? Some have used the incorrect dowl pin hole when re-installing the reluctor into the distributor.... The notch should correspond to the little arrow showing rotor rotation.

 

[tpodwdog]

hmmmmmmmmmmm........

bring #1 cylinder to top dead center on the compression stroke. then take off the dizzy cap....the rotor should be pointing to where your #1 plug wire is and your timing marks should line up on the harmonic balancer. sounds like you have it on the exhaust stroke....but you said its not 180 out. hmmmmmmmmmm...but it was running on 2 cylinders before you say?

heres a dumb question......did you line up the dots on the cam shaft and crank shafts? cam dot should be at 6 o'clock......crank dot should be at 12 o'clock

keep this in mind too

ADVANCE TIMING is against rotation
RETARD TIMING is with rotation.......opposite of what you would think ....that has bitten me many times

 

[mopar367]

67 B-body, that is actually what I was going to try next. I read an article on google about that. I did rebuild the distributor and have been a small-block guy for years. I could have overlooked that as well. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[67 B-body]

67 B-body, that is actually what I was going to try next. I read an article on google about that. I did rebuild the distributor and have been a small-block guy for years. I could have overlooked that as well. Thanks for the suggestion.

When this gets put in wrong, it will probably run with timing REALLY advanced..

 

[mopar367]

http://www.forbbodiesonly.com/moparforum/member.php?u=8424 tpodwdog after I re arranged my firing order to counter clockwise, I brought my timing mark on the balancer to 10 before tdc. I then removed plug number 1 and checked to see if it was at top. It was. And my rotor in the distributor was also facing forward and at plug number 1.

Also when I installed my timing set the key-way was facing the drivers side cylinder bank. And the crank dot was at 12 and the cam dot also was at 6.

 

[tpodwdog]

tpodwdog after I re arranged my firing order to counter clockwise, I brought my timing mark on the balancer to 10 before tdc. I then removed plug number 1 and checked to see if it was at top. It was. And my rotor in the distributor was also facing forward and at plug number 1.

Also when I installed my timing set the key-way was facing the drivers side cylinder bank. And the crank dot was at 12 and the cam dot also was at 6.

ok,,,,cool...just checking....sometimes the simplest things are overlooked,,,,,i do it all the time...lol ! youll get it goin!:headbang:

 

[mopar367]

Right on, thanks for the input. First thing in the AM i'm going to check the reluctor in the distributor. I hope that is where my problem lies.

 

[Ron 73]

Turn your distributor cap over if its been run any time at all... examine the terminals that stick down on the inside ... look at the burning marks caused by the spark jumping the gap.... if the burn marks all towards one side of each.. and not all the way across evenly... that usually indicates that the reluctor pin in in the wrong hole.. I think that the big blocks have the pin away from the arrow and SB have the pin close to the arrow, Its easy to get them in wrong, just my 2 cents, i would think it would run but like its way off tim. as said!

 

[440roadrunner]

http://www.forbbodiesonly.com/moparforum/member.php?u=8424 I brought my timing mark on the balancer to 10 before tdc. I then removed plug number 1 and checked to see if it was at top. It was..

This is NOT how you check TDC

The no1 piston comes

once when no 1 fires

and AGAIN when no6 fires!!!

There are two ways to set your static timing

If either valve cover is off, bring the timing marks NOT to TDC, but rather "where you want" the timing set. If you have a bone stocker, 5-10BTC. If a HP RR cam, etc, 10-12 or a little more. If you have a "big thumper" as much as 15

Now look at either no 1 or no6 valves. If both no 1 valves are closed, no1 is ready to fire and you can plug the dist. in with the rotor point in the proper direction.

If no6 valves are both closed, the no1 piston WILL STILL BE at the top, but no 6 will be ready to fire, not no1 You can either plug the dist. in with the rotor properly pointing for no6, or rotate the crank ONE turn.

THE SECOND WAY and what most of us do is:

Remove the no1 plug, stick a finger in the hole and bump the engine around until you START to feel compression. You may have to "go round" a couple of times to get the feel of it.

AS SOON as you START to feel compression, pay attention to the marks which should be coming up. At this point, I usually grab a socket and ratchet and rotate by hand. Continue to rotate until again, the marks are "where you want" the timing.

Now plug the dist. in for not 1. I always carefully mark the dist. directly under the no1 plug tower so that I don't have to "argue" with the cap.

Now RETARD the dist. (CCW) to get "slack" out of stuff, and slowly bring it to advanced until:

If using points, the points just open (use a light)

Or if breakerless, until the reluctor tip is centered in the pickup coil core.


Install the cap and wires, and START the engine.

 

[Jim's Maxie]

Regardless of how bad it runs,you need to get the rpm's up and keep it running or you will be replacing the cam.

 

[mopar367]

Well I got it fixed guys, turns out it was my firing order and.... Stupid me I did have it 180 out. It fired right up after i fixed that. Now its just a matter of keeping the beast cool to break it in long enough. Thanks for all the suggestions. It would have taken a lot longer to fix without the help.

 

[mopar367]

Ok so it runs great, but I am having cooling issues now. The rad i have hooked up isn't that big, but it should keep it cool for a while at least. I am running water for now. I tried it with a thermostat and without. Is it getting hot bc I am using water instead of coolant maybe? When cold I ran it for 5 minutes until it boiled over. And with new water in it it boils over after like 1 minute. Whats up?