I have a 1994 civic ex with a d16 engine and I'm about to change the timing belt on it. I don't use the car for racing at all, this is just a car that gets me to school and work. I care about gas mileage and I'm pretty sure getting an after market light weight cam gear would help me since the car would accelerate easier. I don't know much about racing parts and was wondering if any one had any recommendations for aftermarket cam gears. I just need a brand that will be reliable. Would any one trust a no brand cam gear from ebay? has any one tried them?

 

If the car is stock, leave it stock.

 

No just no. ppl don't go with aftermarket gear(s) for weight saving's you'd be better off taking the spare tire out lol. just leave it, they weight next to nothing on their own no gain to be had on a stock engine.

 

Stock

 

Thanks for the advice. I have already removed my spare tire. I thought removing rotational mass would help like having a lightweight flywheel, I'm sure it wouldn't make as big of a difference as that though. So there's no real weight difference between the stock d16z6 cam gear's weight and a aluminum cam gear? or even a d16y8 cam gear?

 

Dude. It's a grocery getter. You won't be able to remove enough weight to make this thing go "fast" or get enough mileage that it would even matter.

 

You're approaching it the wrong way. Can an aftermarket cam gear increase gas mileage? Yes, but not because of reduced rotational mass. It allows you to tweak your engine to increase fuel mileage.

The problem? You'll need a full array of tuning hardware to realistically make it work. The amount of money you'll spend getting it dialed in will never, in the life of the car, be made back in fuel mileage.

Leave it stock.

 

Haha I agree with you. The thing is I have like $50 ebay bucks and I already have my timing belt so I thought I'd buy a used one from ebay since I'm going to be changing the timing belt anyways. But if you guys don't think it would make any difference then I'll just find something else to spend my ebay bucks on before they expire.

 

Buy some Philips Xtreme vision bulbs and call it a day.

 

calibrate your tps and adjust the throttle cable big improvement and nobody hardly ever takes the time to do it and its worth doing

https://honda-tech.com/forums/tech-misc-15/diy-how-calibrating-voltage-your-tps-sensor-2947986/

 

This is what happens when you use an ebay cam gear.

 

You get what you pay for^^ but I think OP was talking about a used AEM or S2 one something name brand


you could always retard the ign timing...I did it on my GSR but that may be a different story with your SOHC. I did notice a nice MPG gain fully retarded is the way to go

 

 

I'll try retarding my ignition timing a little bit. Thanks for the idea.

 

So you are doing this just because some random stranger told you so?

There is no point in messing with the timing unless it is out of spec and causing a problem...leave the car alone.

If you care about mpg, then make sure the car is up to date with maint, and that your tires are inflated as should be.

 

I started reading about it, I wouldn't try it before I got more information about it. I'm actually seeing a lot of conflicting information online about the ign timing and MPGs.

 

I meant fully advanced lol that full retard bit was a joke and was waiting for someone to post what jbpnoman did. read up on it first I tried it on my dx and it ran shitty my gsr loves fully advanced tho.

 

You'd be better off trying to lose 20-30lbs yourself than trying to shave weight from the car like this.

If you're already a twig, then forget what I said and just drop the entire topic.

 

Wow fun convo.

The oem timing gear is a metal stamping - it's basicly hollow, you will have a tough time getting lighter, and the key is stamped into it so it can't walk like the key on the eBay gear did.

An adjustable cam timing gear performs a specific function: Retarding cam timing will push the cam's power profile higher into the rpm range, possibly generating a little more horsepower way up top. Advancing cam timing has the effect of bringing your cam profile to work sooner, possibly building a little more torque, but limiting the top end power rpm. If you never plan to exceed 5000 rpm for example, and drive large hills you could benefit from advancing 6 or so degrees, Maybe. Don't jump a belt tooth, that's almost 10 degrees.

Ignition timing has to be set with the shorting jumper installed near the ECU, don't tangle with it unless you have a timing light and then your best bet is to run it at spec - the ECU will be moving it around as needed anyway.

Finally, anything you do to your Cam timing with one of those sprockets Will screw up your ignition timing by the same amount, requiring you to do the above also.

 

Thanks for the useful info. I've decided to keep it stock though. I don't even go over 3000 rpm lol. So if I understand correctly advancing the timing helps with efficiency in the lower rpms right? would advancing the distributor's timing alone help me then? or do I actually need an adjustable cam gear for that to work?

 

You can do it just through adjusting the distributor, but you'll also be playing with dangerous things if you don't have, at the bare minimum, a wideband O2 sensor to make sure you aren't leaning the car out too much.

You can "just do it", or you can do it safely. This is starting to dive into the realm of cost effectiveness.

 

It can help with efficiency in the lower/mid RPM's by efficiency we mean MPG. fully advancing the ign timing did help me out with mpg but i have a different engine then you. no you don't need an adj gear for it to work but with a stock cam it's really point less. you can play around with it and try n see. just mark it before you do.

.02

 

I can't believe no one pointed out the obvious: unless the Op is planning on buying 2 to have one spare, the plural form 'cam gears' in his post title and question would be incorrect considering a d series is a single cam, and has a single cam gear engine. Just call me the Grammer Hammer. And to the Op, use your eBay bucks to buy something that's actually useful, like plugs, wires, rotor cap, oem oil filter, etc. Don't mess with the timing or anything else that could compromise the integrity of the engine. I'd bet my car that the honda engineers know more than anyone on here, and I'm sure sure the set the timing to exactly where it needs to be

 

I can not believe you revived this thread, it was almost dead.

 

I can't believe you didn't pick up on the fact that no one gave a ****.