Fidanza Cam Gears

[eclipsers-t]

I bought Fidanza adjustable cam gears to put on my fully built engine, well the guy who did the engine worked on getting these gears aligned for a day and this is the best he could do. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

 

[VelocitàPaola]

That's not good... I didn't realize that the Fidanza gears didn't come with any sort of index marks like the AEM gears. The marks would've probably made it a little easier to get the gears aligned better.

I don't know how much of a difference that misalignment will make. I don't think it will be very much, but I'm not an expert on the effects of cam timing.

 

[eclipsers-t]

I know it is not off much, but I do not know much about timing either and want to check on it.

I would assume maybe the valves are slightly open on either the exhaust or intake side? I am not really sure.

 

[dr1665]

That's not good... I didn't realize that the Fidanza gears didn't come with any sort of index marks like the AEM gears. The marks would've probably made it a little easier to get the gears aligned better.

The set of Fidanzas I have in the garage have index marks on them. Go figure. From what I've heard, they are the preferred cam gears for the 420A. :shrug

Someone might want to edit the title of this thread. It's not about Fidanza cams, but Fidanza cam gears. A bit misleading.

 

[VelocitàPaola]

Someone might want to edit the title of this thread. It's not about Fidanza cams, but Fidanza cam gears. A bit misleading.

Done.


Maybe they're knock-offs?

 

[eclipsers-t]

ok sorry about the title of the thread.

the cam gears came in the box from Modernperformance.com which seem to specialize in 420A stuff. I guess I might try calling them to see if they actually have installed them to see if they have had any trouble.

what other marks are you referring to?

 

[VelocitàPaola]

Oh... nevermind, I see the calibration marks now. Sorry about that. They're really small, aren't they?

Anyway, maybe they're not knock-off afterall.

I've yet to install cam gears, but I would've zeroed them out off the car, then installed them. I don't see how/why you'd try to zero them on the car.

Other than that, check to make sure that the timing marks are accurate when the gears are set to zero (by comparing them to the stockers). I know some people have had trouble with inaccurately marked gears, but I wouldn't think that a brand name gear would have that problem.

 

[eclipsers-t]

I believe that the gears are set to zero, but I will double check. I will also check on the stock ones to see if I can tell anything with them, of course I do not know too much about it but anyway.

Maybe I'll call Modern tomorrow to see if they can tell me anything as well.

Thanks for your help!

 

[4UH8ERS]

half a tooth of timing is too much on our cars. you will lose a decent amount of power at high rpm's. just a little advice from my expierience. I had to redo my timing 3 times to get it right.

edit: although, I'm not very familiar with aftermarket cam gears

 

[Blitzeclips]

I would get that SPOT ON if you can. I zeroed out my AEM cam gears before they were put on the car, and haven't had any problems the last year I've had my motor in, nor the last month I've had the turbo in.

You also need to let them idle for 30 minutes before ANY driving whatsoever. RIght after you set the timing and everything is running properly. It's a procedure AEM requires, so I'm not sure if Fidanza does the same.

I believe the only differences between these two is their bolt amounts. One has 5 vs. 3.

 

[ninjai_ruken]

I did not read all the replies but if it has not been said before...you will want to locktight the adj. nuts. You dont want them working lose. That would suck.

 

[eclipsers-t]

You also need to let them idle for 30 minutes before ANY driving whatsoever. RIght after you set the timing and everything is running properly. It's a procedure AEM requires, so I'm not sure if Fidanza does the same.

Just out of curiosity Blitz, what is the reasoning behind idling for 30 minutes?
Is this just to make sure everything is running properly?

 

[Blitzeclips]

You know I'm not %100 sure.

BUt my guess would be to make sure none of the bolts are defective, loose, off-zero, etc..

It was clearly written in bold letters to do this with AEM. I wasn't trying to bend some valves for 30 minutes of idling. I figured there was a reason this needed to be done. Yet there was no explination.

 

[VelocitàPaola]

You wouldn't necessarily bend any valves if the gears were fully retarded/advanced. They wouldn't make a gear that could distort the base timing so much as to damage something permanently. The car wouldn't run very well... you'd just have to re-zero them.

I actually had a friend who had his intake gear (Fidanza) brake loose of its setting while he was driving. So, heed ninjai_ruken's advice and use thread locker so that doesn't happen to you.

 

[Blitzeclips]

I actually had a friend who had his intake gear (Fidanza) brake loose of its setting while he was driving. So, heed ninjai_ruken's advice and use thread locker so that doesn't happen to you.

That alone could be the reason for 30 minutes of idle. If those suckers come loose during idle, it's better to know before you are actually driving with them loose...