i will install my aem adjustable cam gear tomorrow and i was wondering how much
can i advance it without messing anything up? i have a 93 dx hatchback with an
88 crx si cam in it. should i advance it two degrees or four? i don't want to screw
up my car so how much should i go?

thanks,
93hb

 

the best way to get the most power out of that cam gear is to put it on a dyno and play with it.

 

i don't have a place to get it dynoed at so any suggestions would help out. i was
thinking of just going 4 degrees advanced.

 

I did advanced mine 2 degrees.

 

did it make a difference advancing it 2 degrees? some other guy is telling me that
i'm going to mess up my whole motor if i do that.

 

I don't have the cam that you have. Mine was stock. But I added I/H/E, time gear, pulley, fuel rail, fuel pressure regulator, throttle rotor, and spark plug wires all at the same time.

So, ya I noticed a difference. But I noticed cause I did everything all at once. Sorry I couldn't help.

 

88 CRX cam = zero on the cam gear. You can advance it 3-4 degrees, but car will never get above 100 mph.

 

why wouldn't i be able to go past 100 mph? i noticed that my gears don't go as far anymore now that i have the cam gear and
i adjusted it four degrees, but i didn't notice that i redline at a higher rpm now.

 

At any rate, I wouldn't advance it more than 6 degrees without checking valve clearances.. It's usually a bad thing when pistons hit valves..

 

because advancing gives you low end power, and kills your high end.

 

if you have a compression tester handy you can do what i normally do. pull the #1 plug and turn the engine over with the dist disconneted. keep advancing the cam gear until you don't see a gain in compression anymore. then reset your ignition timing and go for a ride. sometimes this is a decent street tune. this only works on NA motors btw..

 

retard 2-3 degrees for top end power with the 88 Si cam.

Make sure to readjust your ignition timing EVERYTIME you adjust the cam gear!

 

so if i retard it, i will get top end power with the 88 crx si cam? will anything happen
to the bottem end power, will i lose any?

i am going to readjust my valve clearance gap this wed.

93hb

 

I have a D16Z6 with ZEX S/S cam and AEM cam gear. Anything above 5 degrees makes my motor run like ****. Good off the line power, but shitty high end. If it's -2 then it's slow off the line, but the highend power is beautiful.

I have it at about 2 degrees right now because that cam really makes it bog down hard with the a/c on. By the way I have an automatic.

*note. Stock 1/4: 18.2 and with cam and gear @ 5 degrees: 17.2 (one whole second)

 

i may try and retard it 2 degrees and see what that feels like. i did notice this though, i can redline higher now, but my gears don't go as far as they used to.
i used to be able to go up to 93mph in third and now i can only go up to 82mph
and then i have to shift into fourth. does that have anything to do with me advancing the cam gear four degrees?

93hb

 

yes, covered above

 

my best advice would be to don't advance more than 4 degrees, remember that is only two marks not four marks. Each mark equals 2 degrees. For the street and without any other major things done, just advance it some, it will give great low end power and since you shouldn't be racing up to really high speeds, you'll pull decently. But once you put a turbo or whatever, then i would retard the timing some to give more high end power.