cam gear adjustment
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Joined: Jan 2002
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From: richardson, tx
cam gear adjustment
just got aem pulleys and cam gear installed, but they left the cam gear at the stock setting. i don't have a place around to get it dyno tuned, so is there a safe amt to adjust it on my own? i have already advaned the distributor/ignition timing a little bit. i've heard people say you can advance/retard the cam gear it maybe 3-4 degrees w/ no problem. i'm assuming to adjust it, you can just loosen the bolts and turn it the desired amt. do you have to use a torque wrench to tighten the bolts a certain amt? this is on a sohc, running 93 octane. any replies would be appreciated...
Honda-Tech Member
Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 431
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From: Roswell, GA, USA
Adjusting & tuning cam gears w/out a dyno
I just realized that you have an SOHC, but I've already typed this nice long reply & I'm sure people can benefit from it. So all you SOHC people, skip down to the fifth paragraph. DOHC peeps, read on.
Actually, with everything internally stock, you can go up to 10° +/- on either cam. You'll never have a need for that much on a stock motor though - hell the car probably won't even run at anything more than 6°+/- for either cam.
Anyway, the settings that your engine will respond best to, depend on the other mods that you have done. If it's a typical stock four-banger, it will probably want the LCA, (Lobe Center Angle), to be a bit tighter than stock:
[To tighten the LCA, you have to advance the intake cam & retard the exhaust cam. I.E., if you advance the intake 1° & retard the exhaust 1°, you just tightened the LCA by two degrees.]
How much tighter the LCA should be, again, is dependant on what your engine wants, if it wants it tighter. It's also possible, that it'll want the LCA to be wider instead.
A typical 4-cylinder will also like a bit of advance once the LCA is set. Normally between two & four degrees. However, your engine might only want 1°, or might like 6°, or may even respond better to a few degrees retard instead. I hope you're seeing the pattern here.
[SOHC peeps start reading here]
Settings that work well for Billy next door, might not work for you, even if you have the same model car, engine, mileage & mods. Every engine is different. So you can't go by what works for someone else.
You'll need to do some tuning, or take it somewhere to get it tuned.
Obviously, a dyno would be the way to go. But if you don't have access to a dyno or don't have the loot for the tuning time, you can do it my way. All you need is a friend & a stopwatch. Find a straight, closed road, or old abandoned parking lot that's considerably long. Start out in first gear & shift into second so that your RPM's are under 1800 & once you get past the point that your engine would bog at, floor it. Have your friend start the stopwatch somewhere between 2000-3000rpm, (use the same RPM starting point everytime), & if you have enough room, don't have him stop it until near redline, (again you have to use the same RPM everytime). Turn the car around. Pick a starting point for going the other way & follow the same procedure. After getting at least 3 baseline times each way, adjust your cam gear by 2° in either direction. Then get at least 2 runs each way. Compare your times & readjust your gear accordingly. Once you're near optimum, you'll fine-tune it by only adjusting by 1°. To make **** even simpler, if a G-tech can be set for a single gear run between certain RPM, or for HP ratings, and you have one, you could use that to save a whole shitload of time.
[Modified by 94gsr, 4:43 PM 1/14/2002]
Actually, with everything internally stock, you can go up to 10° +/- on either cam. You'll never have a need for that much on a stock motor though - hell the car probably won't even run at anything more than 6°+/- for either cam.
Anyway, the settings that your engine will respond best to, depend on the other mods that you have done. If it's a typical stock four-banger, it will probably want the LCA, (Lobe Center Angle), to be a bit tighter than stock:
[To tighten the LCA, you have to advance the intake cam & retard the exhaust cam. I.E., if you advance the intake 1° & retard the exhaust 1°, you just tightened the LCA by two degrees.]
How much tighter the LCA should be, again, is dependant on what your engine wants, if it wants it tighter. It's also possible, that it'll want the LCA to be wider instead.
A typical 4-cylinder will also like a bit of advance once the LCA is set. Normally between two & four degrees. However, your engine might only want 1°, or might like 6°, or may even respond better to a few degrees retard instead. I hope you're seeing the pattern here.
[SOHC peeps start reading here]
Settings that work well for Billy next door, might not work for you, even if you have the same model car, engine, mileage & mods. Every engine is different. So you can't go by what works for someone else.
You'll need to do some tuning, or take it somewhere to get it tuned.
Obviously, a dyno would be the way to go. But if you don't have access to a dyno or don't have the loot for the tuning time, you can do it my way. All you need is a friend & a stopwatch. Find a straight, closed road, or old abandoned parking lot that's considerably long. Start out in first gear & shift into second so that your RPM's are under 1800 & once you get past the point that your engine would bog at, floor it. Have your friend start the stopwatch somewhere between 2000-3000rpm, (use the same RPM starting point everytime), & if you have enough room, don't have him stop it until near redline, (again you have to use the same RPM everytime). Turn the car around. Pick a starting point for going the other way & follow the same procedure. After getting at least 3 baseline times each way, adjust your cam gear by 2° in either direction. Then get at least 2 runs each way. Compare your times & readjust your gear accordingly. Once you're near optimum, you'll fine-tune it by only adjusting by 1°. To make **** even simpler, if a G-tech can be set for a single gear run between certain RPM, or for HP ratings, and you have one, you could use that to save a whole shitload of time.
[Modified by 94gsr, 4:43 PM 1/14/2002]
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