Motorheads, will a lose timing chain hurt power output?
02-01-2002, 11:06 AM
#1
Motorheads, will a lose timing chain hurt power output? i need to help out a friend of mine that has nearly the exact hotcamed LS1 as mine. mods in my sig. i pulled 365 RWHP (no pulleys, stock TB, no dyno tricks) on the same day and dynojet as my friend. he has a 98 LS1 with hotcam, dynatech headers, lid. the only difference b/w his and mine is my ported MAF ends and my new plugs. i am very happy with mine esp with zero tuning and stock catback (with cutout). his does not have a cutout on his stock cat back. he pulled only 322 nasty RWHP with a terrbile looking graph. the motor spikes and drops at 4500 rpms. his car stock with boltons pulled in the area of 317 RWHP on the same dyno here in KC. he said he noticed his timing chain was pretty lose and a mechanic said it was about 4 degrees lose. could this be the problem? his O2 readings are normal. what else could he do to pull like me? his car is also idling like crap (remember this is bad for even a hotcam!). my car does not nearly die as much as his! you can really tell the difference on the top end.
02-01-2002, 11:22 AM
#2
TECH Senior Member
Re: Motorheads, will a lose timing chain hurt power output? I'd say he has more problems than a loose timing chain. These LS1 chains are pretty damn loose to begin with so it's probably not as bad as you think.
A loose timing chain would have the same effect on power as retarding the cam timing. Retarding the cam timing tends to shift the power range higher. This can be a good or bad thing depending on the engine and the overall car setup.
A loose timing chain would have the same effect on power as retarding the cam timing. Retarding the cam timing tends to shift the power range higher. This can be a good or bad thing depending on the engine and the overall car setup.
02-01-2002, 11:31 AM
#4
Re: Motorheads, will a lose timing chain hurt power output? well thanks stephen for that. did not know about the ls1 timing chains being loose. at first i really thought it was a bad O2, but when we put it on a tech2 the readings were very normal. this really surprised us! i really dont think a bad y-pipe and stock catback really hold a car back 40 RWHP. hmmmmmm anyone else know? he is replacing stock plugs but when we pulled the cam the plugs looked good. i have el cheapo NGK tr-55s. he also has a 85 mm slp maf unit but when put on, he did not feel a difference. any other input would be awesome. he is sorely disappointed. especially when looking at mine! <img src="gr_sad.gif" border="0">
02-01-2002, 11:34 AM
#5
TECH Senior Member
Re: Motorheads, will a lose timing chain hurt power output? What valvesprings is he using and how many miles are one them? Got some Autotap data? Dyno graph we can look at?
02-01-2002, 01:47 PM
#6
Re: Motorheads, will a lose timing chain hurt power output? he is using the same valvesprings as i am, the LS6 springs. i dont think it is valvefloat though (if that is what you are thinking) or a broken spring. the springs and cam have about 1K miles on them. i will work on the dyno sheet this weekend. i wil have it scanned i guess. thanks guys
02-01-2002, 04:21 PM
#7
Re: Motorheads, will a lose timing chain hurt power output? Thanks for your help so far! my car pulled 320rwhp and 332rwtq, stock except for lid and loudmouth. I now have lid, hotcam, dynatech longtubes, 3" offroad y-pipe with stock catback, I also put on a SLP Maf, in order to copy John with the larger Maf, hoping that would help, but I didn't notice any difference!!now the car pulled a pathetic and dissapointing 328rwhp and 347rwtq. I bought a new timing chain, gears, etc.. today, so I will put them on next week, but there is about 40hp difference between mine and John's car!!! So your input is really appreciated!!!! Here is the link for the dyno graph http://www.webphotos.com/view_photo....6722&p=1131645
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02-01-2002, 07:08 PM
#10
Re: Motorheads, will a lose timing chain hurt power output? here is mine dyno (i am tyler's friend, john) with nearly the same mods by the same mechanic.
http://www.slpfirehawk.net/~gatorbait/hotcamdyno.JPG
[ February 01, 2002: Message edited by: gator's 99TA ]</p>
http://www.slpfirehawk.net/~gatorbait/hotcamdyno.JPG
[ February 01, 2002: Message edited by: gator's 99TA ]</p>
02-01-2002, 07:14 PM
#11
Re: Motorheads, will a lose timing chain hurt power output? oh and sorry about the crappy pic, but i dont have a scanner near me and wanted to post the pic with my old digital camera. it is 365 RWHP and again same setup. i think mine is normal.
02-03-2002, 06:33 AM
#14
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Re: Motorheads, will a lose timing chain hurt power output? I'd put new plugs/wires to make sure I wasn't chasing my tail and find out it's as simple as a plug or plugwire.
Checking the looks of a plug is fine, but they can be bad and look fine... I have seen a spikey dyno turn out to be plug/s, partucularly above 4000rpm.
No cam sensor position codes present?
[ February 03, 2002: Message edited by: 1fastdog ]</p>
Checking the looks of a plug is fine, but they can be bad and look fine... I have seen a spikey dyno turn out to be plug/s, partucularly above 4000rpm.
No cam sensor position codes present?
[ February 03, 2002: Message edited by: 1fastdog ]</p>
