The goods and bads about the 440

[VR6INSD]

i just picked this up
this 2004 honda 400 ex. its acually a 440 with the new bigbore kit i just had installed with a new rev box, and a larger cam.( stage 3) and has a new pro air filter, it has white brothers exhaust and a jet kit too.
i was wondering about the goods and the bads about the 440 bigbore? he said it was hard to keep it idling because of the big cam? true or false? plus he said hes going to send me the paper work so i know all what was done but can anbody tell me a little about the 440? thanx so much

[the Z Man]

I heard you need to put in aftermarket head bolts because the high compression pulls out the stockers....

[f4istunna]

ya hopefully it has the head studs or helicoiled. 440's tend to pull the head studs.

Your idling is probably in the carb Check the pilot circuit out or maybe just need to clean the carb.

I had a 440 w/ stage 2 cam 12.5:1 compression and it idled perfect

[drew416ex]

yeah if it doesnt idle the pilot jet may not be large enough. As long as it was built correctly a 440 will last a long time. I dont have a 440 big bore, but i have a 440 stroker and love it. Havnt gotten to race any 450s yet but hopefully i will be going to the track next weekend to see what it will do.

[440exadee]

I have a 440 12.5:1 and it has a stage 2 with stock bolts havent had a problem plus im running it on alcohol. Love embarrassing 450s

[drew416ex]

Originally posted by 440exadee
I have a 440 12.5:1 and it has a stage 2 with stock bolts havent had a problem plus im running it on alcohol. Love embarrassing 450s

What kind of jetting do you run with the alcohol. Ive been considering trying it out.

[440exadee]

well to start i had to get a fcr flat slider to do the conversion to alcohol then i bought the kit from esr which came with a bigger dump tube bigger needle with one side grinded down and a variety of jets including a new pilot jet. and then tune tune tune. but well worth it.

[400exrider707]

Running alcohol will help aid in keeping the head studs in place because of how much cooler it runs. Yes higher compression will make your head studs much more likely to pull out, but its not the compression itself (in most cases anyways) it's the extra heat built up from the compression, it breaks down the metal in the cylinder and the head studs pull out. Quite common, and especially more common on a 440 with higher compression and some sort of rev box (if it advances timing) Even with a stage 3 cam it should still idle on its own. Sounds like a jetting issue more than anything. Depending on the compression of this 440 kit, myself I would do headstuds and a heavy duty rod for reliabilities sake. A heavy duty cam chain is also a must. You still have quite the mild 440 build. To get that thing to be a fire breather, head work and a carb are a must.