Charger done something weird today!!!

[69wannabe]

I decided to take a spin in the charger today so I got in it and pumped the gas pedal twice and hit the switch and it kinda fluttered so I pumped the gas pedal one more time and hit the switch again and it fired up but it went pop!! pop!! pop!!! so I shut it off quickly and sat there kinda stunned. Pulled the driver side valve cover and all was good so pulled the passenger side valve cover and it had eaten one of my pushrods! Fished it out with a magnet and looked it over good and it looked fine so I figured the adjuster broke so took the adjuster out of the rocker arm and it looked fine too!! So i'm confused at this point and put the push rod back in and pit the adjuster back in and adjusted that lifter and spun the engine over with my remote starter button and it seemed fine and looked fine. I have had this engine running for a few years now and this has happened twice but like a year and a half apart.    I put the valve cover back on and started it up and it sputtered a little bit but smoothed out after a few min's and ran fine. Took about a 30-40 min drive and it ran out just like normal.  I have noticed lately it has a slight stumble on the primary side of the holley carb and since I was picking at it I decided to see what jets were in it and I pulled a couple of the plugs and they looked good but just perfect white with no tanish on them at all so maybe it is a little lean. It has 80's in the front and I dug around and found some 82's so I swapped them out and stuck the carb back on and tried it out around the block and it seemed much smoother off idle and cruising at slower speed's. Gonna try that out for a while and see how that does... Still don't understand my pushrod issue tho... Any thought's?

[Charger-Bodie]

Lifter draining down ? My dad had a 440 that did this same thing twice. He ended up getting the builder to send him a new set of lifters, but he had stuck two used ones out of a 440 I had layin around and never did have it happen again. Was it the same location both times?

[69wannabe]

Actually I don't remember which one popped off last year but it may be the same one!! I am planning on swapping in a set johnson lifters and that maybe pretty soon after this has happened again. That is a possibility tho and if the engine stopped in that perfect spot both times I guess it could happen. When I first got the engine running it threw a few push rods and I had to replace two lifters and I think that the one I had to put the push rod back onto today was one of them. I had the wrong set of pushrods in it at first and they were all too short but my machine guy helped me get the right length pushrods in it which have been working fine for quite awhile. The pushrods from the factory are not hollow and the ones in it now are hollow and I am running PRW rocker arms. I wonder if that has anything to do with it. 

[moparnation74]

I agree with bodie as well.  A new set of lifter and pushrods will probably cure that problem.  Sorry, to hear about that!

[c00nhunterjoe]

I vaguely recall a topic on this problem from you a while back perhaps? Might have been someone else. But pushrods dont just fall out. I would suggest a geometry issue as well, especially if this is an ongoing problem. If you have lifters collapsing it would be extremely noisey.some bleed down is normal also, if you pull the valley plate on a motor that has been sitting you will see the plungers sitting deep. Even modern cars will bleed down some after sitting. The 5.2 and 5.9 magnums were prime examples and they didnt spit out pushrods. Double check measurements before throwing more parts at it. 

[69wannabe]

I agree coonhunter!! Pushrods shouldn't just pop out. The last time it happened which was like a year and a half ago when my starter died on me and I decided to push it off and when I popped the clutch in second gear it started but was the same pop! pop! pop! and it was a broken adjuster on one of my rocker arms. I got extra's so I swapped it out and put a starter on it and it's been running good since then for the most part. Just installed a firecore plug and play and got it set up like I like it 18 initial and 16 mechanical and jetted up the carb a couple of sizes yesterday while I was tinkering with it and it is running even better with the fatter jets in the front of the holley. Gonna let that go for awhile since it did improve the driveability a good bit and may go up just one more size and that should be as close as I can get it to having it run as good as the 750 I had on it a few years back. I drove it today while I had a little bit of sunlight left and it started up fine just like normal and it drove out very nicely after I let it warm up for a few mins. I am planning to do a lifter swap since the comp lifters are a bit noisy but just haven't gotten around to ordering a set just yet.

[firefighter3931]

Chad, it sounds like you have a lifter that is bleeding down. The Johnson lifters work great and have proven to be quite reliable. You know what to do 


Ron

[69wannabe]

Chad, it sounds like you have a lifter that is bleeding down. The Johnson lifters work great and have proven to be quite reliable. You know what to do 


Ron

That is the plan Ron!!! I have a guy interested in the RTR distributor so if that deal goes through I will get me some new lifters on the way!!!!

[Dmichels]

Probably a bad lifter. But keep this in mind. Had this happen on an old truck that sat for a while The valves were a little sticky and hung up for a second but just enough time to let a push rod pop out.
Dave