Advanced Timing

[adam2562]

has anyone here advanced their timign on their solara?... my mechanic did on mine when he did my 120k service and timing belt... my god my car pulls good and sounds like more of a american V6 now.. its throaty and sounds soo good... someone should try it.. i want to see what i run with that now... i was at 15.09 before

[EricSol]

Intresting, heres a quote from the manual;

"Ignition timing cannot be adjusted, If the timing is incorrect, the PCM might be defective."

[Jai_Jai_Binks]

Adam2562 wov! you've sure packed in some miles in your solara...
How the car handeling for that many miles...any rattles in the dash? (thats the only thing i'm worried about...esp by the sunglass storage area)

[onefiend]

I think even though the manual says we cant adjust the timing I would still think its possible to do so. I had this done on my Civic years back and I know what Adam means about the better "pull" feeling you get from the engine. I dont know if this is a bad or good thing for our Toyota's but it does feel more powerful when this is done.

[700t]

[quote][/quote]
When changing the timing belt you must align the cam gears with the crankshaft pully. I'm guessing the mechanic turned the cam gears forward a tooth or two. This will give you a permanent mechanical advance.
I wonder if now you have to run 92 octane, emissions will probably be high and you fuel economy bad.

[NASTY]

...sounds like more of a american V6 now...

that cant be a good thing

[Yanks0114]

...sounds like more of a american V6 now...

that cant be a good thing

LOL. I hope it doesn't have the longevity of one.

Can't wait to see your track times 15.09 is allready amazing

[impactX]

I thought the ECU advances/retards the timing when you put in different grade of fuel.

[99solarai4]

I thought the ECU advances/retards the timing when you put in different grade of fuel.

The PCM or ECU will advance or retard timing in response to the input from the knock sensor. This prevents pinging and detonation.
Adjusting the cam gear a tooth or two would be the only way to physically change the timing (without an engine management system) since the solaras don't have a distributor to move.

But like 700t said....doesn't that hurt your emissions and fuel mileage?

[Fletch]

Is there any way to see which knock sensor is wanting to retard the timing. I the same bank always wants to retard the timing, one could disconnect it from the ECU and route the other sensor to both inputs.

[adam2562]

thats what the mechanic did... when he did my timign belt.. he notched over the cam gear a couple teeth.. honestly he did.. when it came out the shop it sounded differently.. and now i've taken out my resonator in the stock exhaust with the TRD muffler and it sounds amazing... i havent noticed anything yet on gas mileage but i havent been checking.. at 121k my car still runs quietly and are just very minor rattles.. one is the moonroof shade.. but i just drive with the windows down anyway and drown it out.. i'm goign to the track tomorrow as long as it doesnt rain.. we'll see how i run..

[Fletch]

--Adam 2562--

I hope the advanced timing does not adversely affect your engine. I don't know about the 1mz-fe, but some modern day engines have camshaft position sensors which can adjust your timing also. Aftermarket adjustable cam gears typically allow 6-8 degress of maxiumum advancement, I don't know how many degrees notching the cam gear over a couple teeth would be, but I would guess it's more than 8 degrees.

Advancing the cam gear seems like an unorthidox practice to me, but it may be acceptable for your mileage. Please keep us posted on any quanitative performance and efficiency benefits or losses.

[Airwalk1421]

With the adjustment to the cam gears is it necessary to change the grade of gas to 92 octane or would you be able to still run on lower octane? And would this cause anymore stress on the motor or the timing belt?