Skunkworks adjustable cam gears: Timing marks were made wrong...?

[doctorstupid]

I have a 6 bolt 4G63 up on the engine stand getting some TLC, and I came accross something I've never seen before. This engine has Crower cams and Skunkworks cam gears (going to be pulling it back apart very shortly for HKS 272 or FP 2 cams). When I set the timing belt (not at all a new job to me), the cam gears' marks are wrong. I mean wrong as in the gears were made wrong.

I first noticed this when tearing the engine down (I did not originally install any of this), I rotated the crank to TDC and made new marks with a Sharpie. Upon reassembly, same issue, and I need to be sure everything is correct here. According to the service manual, it's done right, but according to these gears, it's way wrong. Looks like two exhaust gears, except the mark is in the wrong place.

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Both gears have a mark on a tooth (can't see the intake mark, it's opposie the tooth with the Sharpie mark, identical to the exhaust), where the exhaust gear should have it between two teeth. If I were to rotate the outer gears around, the adjustment marks would not line up with the pointers, and I would still have the problem of one mark in the wrong place. The timing mark on the crank is dead on, both on the pump housing and timing cover. Belt tension is perfect, it's been sitting timed for about two or three weeks and the grenade pin still slides in and out perfectly freely, tension is even all the way around.

Am I just being stupid and missing something here?

Thanks!

 

[CHnKTSi]

hmmm... looks to me those sprockets are assembled wrong. well, since the sprocket key (the hump on the bolt. don't know the exact term) is in right place, just take those 6 adjusting screws and align it on our own. that means take the outer gear out and match with the exhaust gear.
but after doing everything, make sure everything is in TDC.
timing gun is a good idea.

 

[doctorstupid]

The problem with that is both gears have marks ON teeth, the exhaust gear should have it BETWEEN teeth. Plus the degree marks for adjustment would not longer line up.

And a timing gun won't help me here, that's for igntion timing. And since I recently removed and reinstalled the CAS, and will be doing so again shortly, if the ign. timing is way off it could be the cam timing or the fact the CAS is not set yet.

 

[steve]

Is there anything on the reverse side of those gears?

Since the marks don't seem to be right you'd have to degree the cams to make sure they were set correctly.

Steve

 

[doctorstupid]

Disn't see anything on the backside, no. We're thinking about just dropping these oddball gears and putting on a pair of Fidanzas instead. I don't have a degree wheel, so at least for the time being degreeing the cams isn't an option, and I don't want to run it without being damn sure it's completely dialed in.

Any other ideas?

 

[Defiant]

(I did not originally install any of this)

You say there are no marks on the back side, but I wonder if the intake cam's sprocket is on backward, or otherwise mis-indexed. I've not had a set of these in my hands, so I don't know what all there is to look for. But I have confidence in your acuteness to realize something's amiss.

 

[doctorstupid]

No, the outer gears can't be on backwards, the gear would be significantly off center and the timing belt would probably just fall off.

What I really don't get is why the outer cogs have a mark that should be exhaust but is in the intake location. As you can see, just flipping the cogs around makes the adjustment markings not line up, but as they are the marks are in the wrong places. Does anyone else here run the Skunk2 gears? Nobody's ever seen marks like this?

I have no clue where these would have come from WTF

 

[Defiant]

No, the outer gears can't be on backwards, the gear would be significantly off center and the timing belt would probably just fall off.

I suspected as much.

I have no clue where these would have come from WTF

Call Skunk and ask, I suppose.

 

[tiresmoke69]

I had the same problem, i just loosened the adjustment screws and moved the intake gear a little and they lined up a lot closer (within a mm). I cranked my engine and it runs fine it could be a little better timing but it does run good. I have hks 272 cams and hks adjustable cam gears. I do not know if they are suppose to be marked like that.

 

[Nito15]

I just re did a bad install someone had done on a pair of skunk 2 cam gears and finally have time to update this for those who have the necessity to run them. The issue is manually doing the timing marks to them. I assume skunk does not have the machinery to mark them in their factory so it is left to the customer to place the factory gear perfectly ontop of the skunk gear and marking them accordingly. What I did notice was an indentation from skunk half a tooth off from where the factory timing marks should be. The mark should be done to the left of that indentation looking at the cam gear's outer side, facing you. I took this picture so you can see where it should be marked. The top gear is the factory cam gear I was using for reference, the bottom gears are the skunk 2 gears. I used whiteout to place the correct marks. Picture is self explanatory. Don't forget to use locktite on each of the allen bolts and don't forget to mark both sides of the gear (same side, 180* from each other).

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