hi guys new here, bought a ford laser which has the E5 mazda engine and carby, engine was rebuilt at roughly 1000 kms ago and was built by my mate, he sold it at 600 kms old and an old man played with the cam timing, then sold the car to my brother and i managed to get the car with 4 months rego for $200

anyway i tuned the carby up because it had no power, bought a timing light and found the timing running at a guess about 16 deg btdc so i set it to factory 10 deg at 900 rpm, to find it running like crap even more, spoke to a mechanic and he said the cam timing would be out.

so called my mate(4 hours away from me) and asked for cam timing advice over the phone but hes not the sharpest knife in the draw and i set it the way he said so and its actually worse(havent bent a valve), so i was wondering if someone could direct me to a free downloadable/ viewable work shop manual for an E3 or E5 engine or some advice on where the balancer should be at tdc and where the cam sprocket mark should be at tdc, would like to be able to set it up without taking the timing case off if possible guys but if its not possible let me know and ill have to remove it, im fairly confident with putting spanners to cars i have done a couple engine swaps i tune my own carbys/ have done the usual wear and tear replacements on most car parts before so if you guys give me the info ill be fine with the work,
thanks in advance

 

I was doing a Google search because I’m doing what you did, some 10 years ago. The engine is still in the car, the chain tensioner appears to be under the engine mount on the right side of the engine bay. I’m not sure if the timing cover has to come off in order to release the tensioner. How did you go can you provide any insights?



QUOTE=bry40l;125313]hi guys new here, bought a ford laser which has the E5 mazda engine and carby, engine was rebuilt at roughly 1000 kms ago and was built by my mate, he sold it at 600 kms old and an old man played with the cam timing, then sold the car to my brother and i managed to get the car with 4 months rego for $200

anyway i tuned the carby up because it had no power, bought a timing light and found the timing running at a guess about 16 deg btdc so i set it to factory 10 deg at 900 rpm, to find it running like crap even more, spoke to a mechanic and he said the cam timing would be out.

so called my mate(4 hours away from me) and asked for cam timing advice over the phone but hes not the sharpest knife in the draw and i set it the way he said so and its actually worse(havent bent a valve), so i was wondering if someone could direct me to a free downloadable/ viewable work shop manual for an E3 or E5 engine or some advice on where the balancer should be at tdc and where the cam sprocket mark should be at tdc, would like to be able to set it up without taking the timing case off if possible guys but if its not possible let me know and ill have to remove it, im fairly confident with putting spanners to cars i have done a couple engine swaps i tune my own carbys/ have done the usual wear and tear replacements on most car parts before so if you guys give me the info ill be fine with the work,
thanks in advance[/QUOTE]

 

Very short and sweet summarized answer.....

The simple answer it NOT to adjust any cam timing when using a stock camshaft and to leave it as it was intended and install it as per the factory service manual.

There are so many aspects to a camshaft profile and how adjusting the cam timing can affect so many aspects of the engine. Without have a Chassis Dyno to test the adjustments then it is all a crap shoot that when actually measure on a Dyno is negative overall results.

The other thing is where are all these individuals that do the basic camshaft measuring to know with some intelligence the starting point of why the cam was ground as it was. Well this cost money to have a camshaft profiled or what we call in the business "rolling-up" a camshaft. This means measuring every aspect of the camshaft. With that information you then go to the head and measure a few parrs that are associated with the camshaft . I won't go into this because at this point many readings are rolling their eyes. But then I don't see them offering and camshaft on the market....

The test is ask someone if they know how to both read and interpret for use a camshaft card?

 

Oldmaz Welcome to the forum

 

I’m pulling the engine out. Im re using stock cams. There are shiny links on the chain and they have to line up perfectly with the notches on the cam and crank sprockets. Then release the cam chain tensioner hook and rotate the engine all the way through till the chain shiny links line up with the notches in the sprockets at No:1 TDC. If they don’t, and you have missed a tooth. Start again and realign chain with notches. I have built a couple of ford Barra’s and it’s pretty similar.
just to add, the is a key way on the cams so the sprocket can only go on one way, then match the links to the notches. That’s my plan anyway.

 

lol I thought you were talking about adjusting the cam timing in order to change how the engine responds to say advancing or retarding the mechanical cam timing from stock and not wanting to know how to install it factory on a rebuilt engine or head job.

But I did suggest to use a service manual and service the camshaft installation.

Reads now from you last response like you found how to do the normal assembly service

 

To be honest I’ve gone down a rabbit hole. There was no compression in 1 and 4. It seems the valves leak. To remove the head the cam sprocket has to come off and the you have to go through the sprocket cam chain alignment two step. To do that correctly the engine has to come out, then I’m told it’s best to remove the transaxle as well. So what started as a simple “head job” has turned into a mega drama engine gearbox removal…… I’d be interested in anyone who has removed the head and put it back without removing the engine. I can’t see how it’s done.

 

So I am confused you did what to the head? And what did you do to determine it was a bad head or bad head gasket in the first place?
There is a lot of service information absent in your responses?
No compression in those 2 cylinder after you supposedly only needed to set the cam timing suggest a blown head gasket and badly warped head in which case you would have likely coolant and oil leakage. Its just sort of unusual for those 2 cylinder being so far apart but could happen. And that is just the head we are not even talking about the lower end of the engine?? What this is reading more like is the wrong cam timing or a totally bad engine all together lower end and head?

Maybe start over and list your steps before starting the engine project to determine problematic engine parts?

 

Yeah I think we have our wires crossed a little. In your first message you talked about setting up cam timing and I responded to that while I was looking for information on removing the head off my engine.. I don’t know the history of my engine. I know it’s the valves and or gasket because I did a valve leak down test. I nearly have the engine out and when I put it back together I’ll do a video on setting the cam timing and rebuilding the carb and setting the right mixtures

 

Just trying to help.
I guess we have a technique difference in problem shooting. hahaha!
A leak down would have been after 2 types of compression testing first as one example .

Anyway good luck pulling the engine and tearing down the engine.