77 volare,stock supersix.....major pinging ,and slight occasional sputtering thru carb..almost like timing is off. checked the dist. adjusting nut and is tight. Would these be the signs of a timing chain ready to fail?? Seems fine in neutral...

Excess pinging could be caused by any of the following things:
Bad gas.
Heat riser valve stuck closed.
EGR valve stuck closed or plugged.
Timing is too far advanced.
Carb. is running lean.

I would start by putting some premium fuel into the tank to see if that helps. Next would be to check the timing with a timing light. After that i would check to see if the EGR and heat riser valves are both working.
DD

For a 'quick check' you need to roll the crank back and forth by hand (make a reference mark and roll it from 12 o clock to 2 o clock, then back to 10 o clock), with the distributor cap off and the rotor installed....if you move the crank one wy and the rotor moves, then reverse it and the rotor takes a while to move back or doesn't move....then you have slack in the chain that will only get worse. But I would go with what doc suggests, if you are resetting your timing to 'spec' and have the cap off to line up TDC then go ahead and see if you need to do something more 'involved'.

good luck,

-D.Idiot

How do you check if the EGR and heat riser valves are working?
and if they arent working, how do you fix 'em?

-Gregor

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thanx for the ideas.just on a whim,iloosened the distributor and moved it a 1/4 inch and low and behold she's running stronger than ever !!!! Nothing like feeling of restored supersix power !!! MOPAR TO YA!!!!!!!!!

ok guys'now I really need some ideas.Like i said earlier,major pinging and some loss of power;adjusted distributor and ran great;for one day !!Now the same problem reocurred.Sort of comes and goes.Almost seems like when I turn right and accelerate,it gets worse{reappears} HELP!!!

your distributor's probably worn. Your vacuum advance could be sticking or ruptured, your mechanical advance springs could be broken and so on.

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I've been calling it as i see it for my entire life and that's not about to change. Take it or leave it.

check your vaccum hose at the dist! probally fell off.

Check fuel pump and fuel filter,,,,,sounds lean

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Yeah....Im the one who destroyed this rare, vintage automobile.....

rhinosix nailed it ! sorry for being an idiot !! thanx everyone !!!!