Originally posted by Kremithefrog: is it possible to adjust the stock gears?
Of course it is. How do you think a mechanic sets the cam timing after changing the belt?
Stock gears aren't adjustable...
when a mechanic sets cam timing; all that is being done is getting the belt on the correct teeth on the cam since 1 tooth is equal to about 9 degrees. Being 1 tooth off on the gear would cause the car to run like total crap.
I accidently installed my cam 1 tooth retarded once and there was NO power at all...felt like a geo metro or something. One cam tooth made the difference between having uncontrolable wheel spin through third gear when it was right and hardly enough power to accelerate when it was wrong.
that's what i was thinking, and the engine has to be at TDC or something like that. a set of adjustable timing gears may be your fix paul.
98.5 SVT
91 Escort GT (almost sold)
96 ATX Zetec (i brake to watch you swerve)
FS: SVT rear sway bar
WTB: Very cheap beater
CEG Dragon Run - October 13-15
Exactly, CYL 1 is set to TDC on the compression stroke; then the cams are set to TDC with a camshaft alignment tool (ford part# T94P-6256-CH). Put the belt on; set belt tension.
There is no adjustment able to happen in the stock system (except in 9 degree increments). So maybe one of your cams is off by a whole tooth Paul. You might want to look into that. It would cause a serious loss in power.
ummm ever hear of moving the gear a tooth forward or back.... hence advance or retard timing.... and I would say doing that is not a good thing... that is WHY ther are cam gears out there... where to take and loosen it up and rotate it forward or back to adjust and they are marked telling exactly how much you are advancing or retarding the timing... and NEVER do this without dynoing your car to see if you make a gain or lose... each car even with the SAME MOTOR AND MODS can still respond differently...
2003 Subaru WRX some mods
Even if you don't have the answer, you certainly have to admire the problem.
aka ZetecRacing
Originally posted by Blackie: Umm...are you implying it's common practice to advance or retard a whole tooth at a time?
ALL I am saying is that is how you could do it... BUT that is not they way you should do it... but being that I did say it I bet some people would be dumb enough to try it.
2003 Subaru WRX some mods
Even if you don't have the answer, you certainly have to admire the problem.
aka ZetecRacing
Originally posted by Blackie: Umm...are you implying it's common practice to advance or retard a whole tooth at a time?
ALL I am saying is that is how you could do it... BUT that is not they way you should do it...
but being that I did say it I bet some people would be dumb enough to try it.
Yeah, that's not the way you should do it. Advancing 10degrees would shift the powerband so high that you'd have no power below 3500rpms. And retarding it 10 degrees, it would run out of steam around 3000rpms.
The unorthodoxracing.com install page for the zetec says "We have also found 2-3 retard on the exhaust cam and 1-2 degrees advance on the intake cam give the best overall results"
I guarantee if anybody tried to adjust cam timing a whole tooth at a time, I'm sure they changed it back REAL quick.
Originally posted by Bob Blaylock: I would expect them to be keyed to the shafts, so that no adjustment would be possible. For them not to be keyed would, I think, introduce an unacceptable risk of slipping out of adjustment during normal use.
They are not keyed, they are bolted on flat. The process of adjusting them is awkward but routine for e.g. the dealership mechanics. (Loosening the bolt can be an awkward business... perhaps best done with an impact wrench.) The risk of slippage is not great because the forces exerted on it when the engine runs are very moderate.
Originally posted by Blackie: Stock gears aren't adjustable... when a mechanic sets cam timing; all that is being done is getting the belt on the correct teeth on the cam since 1 tooth is equal to about 9 degrees.
