CA18 adjustable cam gears

[J0RD0]

Hi before you start I am aware this is a toyota site and im asking a nissan related question but there are a few people that run ca's in celica's and rolla's and they may know more than I do and the awnser to my question. I have me a ca18 and a pair of adjustable cam gears. The question im asking is about the "cam timer" or if thats what its called, im not sure what it does, is it a cam timer or does it change the degrees of the cam? or both? can I install the cam gears and adjust them out and not have to worry about getting tuned, will this affect the "cam timer" and what degrees would be best for a n/a ca with stock computer???

[Crazyracer]

I think what you're talking about is the crank angle sensor, although in this case its actually a cam angle sensor. It doesn't change the cam timing, it just tells the computer where abouts in the cycle the engine is, so that it knows when to inject fuel, fire the spark plugs etc.

As it runs off one of the cam wheels (the exhaust from memory) if you put the adjustable cam gears on and play with the timing, then yes you will most likely stuff up the reference point for this and have to reset it. Also if you adjust the cam timing the computer may need retuning, although a small change may not necessitate this.

Changing the cam timing on an otherwise stock NA motor probably isn't going to gain you a whole lot though, and will probably cause you more headaches with re-timing and tuning than any benefit you'll see. Turbo motors on the other hand can respond more to cam timing changes.

Having said that though, you could always have a play with it to see what effect it does have. Make sure you know what you're doing with the cam timing though or you'll end up with a bucket of bent valves.

[J0RD0]

so how do you get a factory computer tuned?

[merc-blue]

adjustable cam gears are more designed to help you rectify timing after shaving blocks/heads, not to acctually gain HP
you cant tune a stock ECU but you can fiddle with other bits eg AFM

[J0RD0]

ok, just seemed like a good idea to chuck them on because I got them dirt cheap! any one got any suggestions for degrees settings?

[mr2gze]

you cant tune a stock ECU but you can fiddle with other bits eg AFM

Not entirely true. The factory ca18 ECU is tunable. Along with most other neesarns. The most basic way with the ca involves desoldering the eprom chip, reburning it with new values/maps and resoldering it to the mainboard.

[merc-blue]

True, you can do that with bassicaly any ECU thats essentialy what powerchips do, or you can open it up and change resistor values,

But you cant plug it into a PC and play with nice 3D fuel/ignition maps etc