Running Warm
Senior User
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 420
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From: Harrisburg USA
I agree with ctfuzzy ... it CAN. Some older engines used ignition vacuum advance at idle to help "cool" the engine if it got a little too warm. Thus, the inverse is somewhat true. And retarded CAM timing acts VERY MUCH LIKE retarded ignition timing! Do you suspect that you have retarded cam timing?? There are other symptoms that are dead giveaways. What year and engine are you running?? Several symptoms might be - Tendency to buck and backfire through the carb/throttle body - Harder to start and/or keep running on COLD mornings - Somewhat more sluggish than it ought to be - Black or dark gray smoke from exhaust at wide open throttle and high revs - Fail emmissions testing (high CO and/or unburned HC, but LOW NOx), etc. Do you have any such symptoms?? If NONE of these symptoms exist, I would suspect a cooling system flaw first (thermostat not opening FULLY, cruddy radiator, blockage or restriction... Have you done any work on it to cover any of these bases?? Give us some history... I'm curious...
Posting Guru
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 2,107
Likes: 3
From: California Desert
If you are thinking of the cam timing as a last resort because you have checked everything else...a cracked head can cause you to run warm. The exhaust can leak right into the coolant and raise the temp quick. This happened on my old Toyota. It can happen without a coolant loss.
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New User
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 1
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Thanks for the feedback. This is what I recently did.
Ported and Polished aftermarket heads, Comp Cam 49-410-8, Pro-M 75mm MAF, BBK 66mm TB, FMS 24# Injectors, JBA Headers, Dual Mode chip.
It seems a little sluggish off the line and on acceleration. It wants to turn over a few times before it starts where as before the mods, it would start at the turn of the key. One thing I do notice is, when I let off the pedal and coast it seems like it wants to bog down, almost like you are Jake braking. I wanted to check the base timing but found out that it isn't possible to do from the '99 models on up. When I installed that cam, I was very careful to bring it to TDC and line up the tiiming marks on the gears accordingly. I didn't have access to a degree wheel at the time to verify the actual position. And when I reinstalled the CMP I borrowed the positioning tool from a friend of mine who is a shop foreman at Ford to make sure that I had marked it off correctly when I removed it to install the cam.
So there you have it. Any feedback or comments you have would be appreciated.
Thanks guys,
Jim
Ported and Polished aftermarket heads, Comp Cam 49-410-8, Pro-M 75mm MAF, BBK 66mm TB, FMS 24# Injectors, JBA Headers, Dual Mode chip.
It seems a little sluggish off the line and on acceleration. It wants to turn over a few times before it starts where as before the mods, it would start at the turn of the key. One thing I do notice is, when I let off the pedal and coast it seems like it wants to bog down, almost like you are Jake braking. I wanted to check the base timing but found out that it isn't possible to do from the '99 models on up. When I installed that cam, I was very careful to bring it to TDC and line up the tiiming marks on the gears accordingly. I didn't have access to a degree wheel at the time to verify the actual position. And when I reinstalled the CMP I borrowed the positioning tool from a friend of mine who is a shop foreman at Ford to make sure that I had marked it off correctly when I removed it to install the cam.
So there you have it. Any feedback or comments you have would be appreciated.
Thanks guys,
Jim
