440 getting repaired on need your expertise. Please Help

[garthed]

Hello everyone I hope that you guys can be of help. I bought a 1968 Charger RT 440 a few months back. I know enough about motors to know I do not know enough, only a couple auto classes back in school. Any how soon after I bought the car it stopped running. I was at a stop sign and the engine started back firing and diesels and died. I thought it might have been the carb or timing since it came from a higher altitude. The motor only has about 500 miles since the rebuild from the previous owner.

I noticed that it ran real rich at low RPMs and pinged like crazy above 2200 RPMs. After it died I tried starting it the next day and it started for a while and then died. I messed with the timing a little as well with the carb and really messed things up. I did get it started for a few minutes but I could hear a knocking so I turn it off and took it to a local shop.

I just got a call from the shop and they said that one of my push rods broke in 3 places and that 2 of the pieces were down in the oil pan. He also said that another push rod had popped out. He said that he thinks this happened because the valves were adjusted wrong. I was wondering if it was possible that the push rods pieces could end up in the oil pan. I am just trying to remember how an engine is put together and I'm a little confused. He also said that 2 of the lifters had popped out but was able to put those back into place using a magnet.

The shop was recommended by a few people. Any input would be great.

Thanks

[idahogrumpy]

Sounds to me like you might have too much cam lift for your heads. Or you could have thrown the timing chain. Correctly rebuilt engine?    High rpms without the proper valve springs could have pumped up the lifters and bent or perhaps broke some push rods. Do not just let the shop but it back together without very carfully checking the valve train clearances. If you lost a timing chain for some reason you could have deeper problems, valves hitting pistons and such.   Broken push rods just do not happen, there is a mechanical interference somewhere.
If after checking everything in the valve train for proper function, put it back together and run a leak down or compression test to see if you have proper cylinder pressures in all cylinders. As far as adjustability the stock valve train is not really adjustable. If the heads and block have not been machined to much and the cam, lifters and push rods are stock everything should be OK. If your block & heads have been machined excessively or your cam is quite a bit larger than stock then you will need adjustable rocker arms and or custom push rod lengths for proper setup. Hope this helps a little.   Grumpy

[garthed]

Thank you for the reply.

I know that the engine was built up a little from stock. It has forged pistons, a bigger cam, roller rockers and other higher performance stuff. Sorry I do not have the specs but I do have the build sheet. It is with the repair shop right now.

My main question is can the broken push rod pieces fall into the oil pan?

Another question, could I have caused the interference. I was messing with the timing when I could not get it running. I moved the distributor about ¾ of an inch. Would this cause the valves to hit the piston? I asked the shop and they said it was not likely. I think that he said that the roller rockers are adjustable. The shop also said that the compression check was good except for the cylinder with the broken rod.

[RD]

you probably just had a roller rocker adjusting screw failure causing your pushrod to get pinched and break, thus beginning the proverbial snowball.  I personally would tear everything apart to make sure there are no shavings or metal pieces near bearings (cam, rod, or main).

You can go the cheap route, but I would rather know everything is "a-ok" rather than hope it is.

[tecmopar]

To answer your questions, yes, the pieces of push rod can make thier way down to the pan and no, you didn't cause this by rotating the distributor. As stated above, it was  something mechanical, good luck.

[garthed]

Thanks for the input guys.