DCR VVT Actuator Update

[silvapain]

Originally Posted by RaisedOnPunk Upgrading my valve springs sometime early July. My PTP VVT is on the way. Unit claims to be rated for 600 whp+. Now the question is, with dual coil vale springs and a PTP VVT, what is a safe redline for my motor? Block will be built, but cams will be stock. Input much appreciated.

'Rated for 600+ WHp' is just marketing bullshit from John (PTP). I don't know enough about upping redline safely in this car to speak to your question.


Tapadatass

[Tokay444]

Originally Posted by RaisedOnPunk Upgrading my valve springs sometime early July. My PTP VVT is on the way. Unit claims to be rated for 600 whp+. Now the question is, with dual coil vale springs and a PTP VVT, what is a safe redline for my motor? Block will be built, but cams will be stock. Input much appreciated.

Zero balanced crank?

[06Speed6]

I agree that horsepowet doesnt break VVTs, its valve springs.

[djuosnteisn]

Originally Posted by RaisedOnPunk Upgrading my valve springs sometime early July. My PTP VVT is on the way. Unit claims to be rated for 600 whp+. Now the question is, with dual coil vale springs and a PTP VVT, what is a safe redline for my motor? Block will be built, but cams will be stock. Input much appreciated.

Stock springs and cams rev out to 7500 easy.

I don't think finding the rev limit will be the biggest issue for you, it'll be fueling the motor at such high rpms, and hoping the stiffer springs don't cause your keyless crank to slip timing.

[Erich]

Originally Posted by RaisedOnPunk Upgrading my valve springs sometime early July. My PTP VVT is on the way. Unit claims to be rated for 600 whp+. Now the question is, with dual coil vale springs and a PTP VVT, what is a safe redline for my motor? Block will be built, but cams will be stock. Input much appreciated.

As mentioned HP likely does not matter, but PTP's VVT has been run at 708hp and out to 8000 RPM (not both conditions at the same time. The ECU takes a shit somewhere around 7750 RPM and we ran the 8000 RPM test prior to the higher HP pulls.) It also ran on a 640hp tune being daily driven for close to 2 months.

Originally Posted by djuosnteisn Stock springs and cams rev out to 7500 easy. I don't think finding the rev limit will be the biggest issue for you, it'll be fueling the motor at such high rpms, and hoping the stiffer springs don't cause your keyless crank to slip timing.

This. I have been running for close to a year with a 7500 (and at times 7700) RPM redline with stock springs and zero issues.

[djuosnteisn]

Didn't you go to track on much lower power tune erich? I thought you were dailying at like 450 or something, didn't know it was 640 this whole time.

[Erich]

Originally Posted by djuosnteisn Didn't you go to track on much lower power tune erich? I thought you were dailying at like 450 or something, didn't know it was 640 this whole time.

My daily tune is 460hp (which is what I went to the track at) but after I let John take my car out (the night he ran the Camero) I left the 640hp tune on for a while. Not that it was really useful, but I wanted to see how things would hold up.

[djuosnteisn]

Hahahaha, it would take a lot of work to make 640 useful. All i want on my 3 is 500 and call it a day.

[Erich]

Originally Posted by djuosnteisn Hahahaha, it would take a lot of work to make 640 useful.

4 lane freeway? Check
No cars with in 100+ yards of me? Check

Okay, I get to step on it.

Originally Posted by djuosnteisn All i want on my 3 is 500 and call it a day.

The 460hp tune is a great daily driver tune.

[RaisedOnPunk]

Originally Posted by Erich As mentioned HP likely does not matter, but PTP's VVT has been run at 708hp and out to 8000 RPM (not both conditions at the same time. The ECU takes a shit somewhere around 7750 RPM and we ran the 8000 RPM test prior to the higher HP pulls.) It also ran on a 640hp tune being daily driven for close to 2 months. This. I have been running for close to a year with a 7500 (and at times 7700) RPM redline with stock springs and zero issues.

Thanks for the info guys. So will stiffer valve springs benefit me if I'm only looking to sit around 500 whp daily driver? Almost seems like a useless upgrade...

[Erich]

Originally Posted by RaisedOnPunk Thanks for the info guys. So will stiffer valve springs benefit me if I'm only looking to sit around 500 whp daily driver? Almost seems like a useless upgrade...

Waste of money in my opinion.

[06Speed6]

Without cams its a waste.

[TWOptSL0W]

Although with cams it's gonna be fantastic

[jmhinkle]

just got my tracking number from Cox. I had been so busy ordering shit for the Tundra I forgot I ordered this. I couldn't figure out who Cox performance was for the life of me. Built motor should be come along nicely when all these parts start rolling in.

[silvapain]

Same here. They called me yesterday to say my VVT actuator was done, get my CC number, and I received a shipping notice later in the afternoon.


Tapadatass

[06Speed6]

They just shipped it today, took about a month

[TWOptSL0W]

i got mine a week ago

[06Speed6]

Damnit, they charge you $150?

[TWOptSL0W]

yup and they also broke my first vvt core and then denied it so i had to send another one

[jmhinkle]

I had no problems. I think it was 3 weeks total for mine. I paid online and didn't pay the core charge. Shipped them my VVT with the order number or whatever. Got it back a few weeks later ready to go. They even shipped back the old cam washers in a ziplock that were still in it.

[Tomas]

Originally Posted by Erich As mentioned HP likely does not matter, but PTP's VVT has been run at 708hp and out to 8000 RPM (not both conditions at the same time. The ECU takes a shit somewhere around 7750 RPM and we ran the 8000 RPM test prior to the higher HP pulls.) It also ran on a 640hp tune being daily driven for close to 2 months. This. I have been running for close to a year with a 7500 (and at times 7700) RPM redline with stock springs and zero issues.

@superskaterxes for him as reference

[jmhinkle]

Everyone get their VVT? Just curious if anyone was still waiting.

[06Speed6]

Mine is in the mail supposidly, it was probably shipped thursday or friday.

[speed31982]

Update.... I've had my DCR VVT on the car for over 2k miles now with no issues. Amazing how much more smooth the engine sounds under the hood, didn't know how bad the old VVT had went i guess.

Took less than 3 weeks to get my VVT back when I made this thread. Glad mostly everyone is getting theirs back in a timely manner.

[InFeXIoN]

.

[InFeXIoN]

Mines been on order since the 10th



Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

[djuosnteisn]

Originally Posted by speed31982 Update.... I've had my DCR VVT on the car for over 2k miles now with no issues. Amazing how much more smooth the engine sounds under the hood, didn't know how bad the old VVT had went i guess. Took less than 3 weeks to get my VVT back when I made this thread. Glad mostly everyone is getting theirs back in a timely manner.

When you installed it, did you just use the 2 blind plugs on the timing chain cover to lock the chain in place? Or did you throw it on when you assembled your built motor?

I think easiest way to do it with motor in the car would be:
- set motor to TDC using the SST on the crank weight.
- lock timing chain guides in place through blind plugs on the front cover.
- remove old VVT actuator.
- Using the cam SST to hold cams in proper position, install new VVT actuator, and dress chain. Replace cam friction washer while you're at it.
- remove bolts from blind plugs on front cover, and crank blind plug, etc...

Theoretically, that should keep the motor in time, and avoid having to touch the crank bolt. It would be a much nicer alternative to having to pull the whole front cover in order to replace the crank friction washers, etc.

[silvapain]

Just FYI, the friction washer behind the VVT Actuator is supposed to be replaced when replacing the actuator itself. It's a one-time-use item like the crank washers.


Tapadatass

[speed31982]

The current VVT was put on during the engine build, but I have done this all before with the engine in the car. If you follow the manual directions, using the crank lock and cam alignment tool, you can do it pretty easily. It describes the steps very well just as your steps. Good luck and double check everything as you are doing it.

The last thing you want is for the timing to be messed up.

Originally Posted by djuosnteisn When you installed it, did you just use the 2 blind plugs on the timing chain cover to lock the chain in place? Or did you throw it on when you assembled your built motor? I think easiest way to do it with motor in the car would be: - set motor to TDC using the SST on the crank weight. - lock timing chain guides in place through blind plugs on the front cover. - remove old VVT actuator. - Using the cam SST to hold cams in proper position, install new VVT actuator, and dress chain. Replace cam friction washer while you're at it. - remove bolts from blind plugs on front cover, and crank blind plug, etc... Theoretically, that should keep the motor in time, and avoid having to touch the crank bolt. It would be a much nicer alternative to having to pull the whole front cover in order to replace the crank friction washers, etc.

[Mandinca]

You mention holding the guides in place through the blind plugs, can anyone give more information on how to do this exactly. I plan to replace my VVT tomorrow without pulling the cover so I need to know how to release teh tension on the chain then put the tension back on after. The manual says to "ratchet" the tensioner but it doesn't say how to "un" ratchet again.

[06Speed6]

I think its obvious once you see it, there is a little triangle piece at the top of the tensioner that is spring loaded, you turn it clockwise to unlock the tensioner then you take another screwdriver and move the arm to the left and while holding the arm with the screwdriver you tighten the bottom bolt to hold the arm in place.

It can be done with one person but it would probably be easier with two.

[Mandinca]

Well, I gave up after a lot of trying, I couldn't get to the arm to hold it back as I only took the top cover off, not teh timing cover. Anyway, I put it all back together and when I turn it over by hand the chain goes slack then when it a piston gets past TDC the chain tightens back up and theres a knock. Sounds like it comes from #1 intake cams everytime but it could be the chain tightening up suddenly. Any ideas ?
I hope you're still online, I need the car tomorrow !
Could it be that the tensioner is locked in the unratcheted position, you said it was spring loaded so I would have thought not.
The noise only happens on #1 intake and on EVERY piston going past TDC.
I don't get it. Will the tensioner automatically retension the chain if I start the car ?

Is this actually the VVT actuator rattle I hear ?

[Mandinca]

When I watch carefully, right as the chain goes tight again and theres a knock the intake cams suddenly jerk round a bit faster than before then they go back to normal speed until theres another knock and they do it again. I'm really thinking this is the faulty actuator and that when I get oil pressure it will stop, I'm just reluctant to try to start it until I get a second opinion.

Besides, if it was interference would I be able to get past TDC so easily ?

[Sickspeed3]

So how much hp do the OEM VVT Actuators start going out? Or what's causing them to fail when you have stock head?

[speed31982]

Ok have you taken the vvt off yet? What the blind top blind plug is doing is not letting the chain guide move, because the tensioner is pushing on the guide. Are you at page 01-10b-6 of the manual? If the crank sst and the cam alignment sst are in place you can get the exhaust sprocket off, replace the vvt, then put the chain on the exhaust sprocket last as you tighten it down keeping all the timing right.

[Mandinca]

Speed, thanks but I had to get it all back together as I needed the car this morning. The knocking noise I heard when manually turning the engine over must have been the faulty VVT as I thought because the engine started as normal. One thing that is unusual is that at idle the engine is revving around 650 rpm and is almost stalling. Is there a manual idle that I may have disturbed that caused this, or maybe a hose not connected properly ?

Back to the timing, I could only get about a half inch of slack in the chain with the ratchet off. I was looking at 01-10B-6 and using the wrench on the cast hex on the exhaust camshaft as described. I figured there wasn't enough slack and was worried that if I took the sprocket off the chain tensioner would go to full extension and I wouldn't be able to get the sprocket back on again without removing the timing cover. My concern was that I hadn't been able to lock the guide in place with the bolt in the upper plug.
I assumed that if I had done it correctly there would be a lot more slack so I called Streetunit on Saturday morning and talked to one of their support guys. They confirmed that there should be more slack and it wasn't a good idea to remove the sprocket.
So, the motor is back together and going to Mazda. I can't dedicate the time to trying again right now. Plus I have a pretty massive oil leak from somewhere around where the transmission bolts onto the motor. Dropped a dinner plate sized pool of oil on my garage floor while I was working on it on Saturday. I thought it was burning off through the turbo, maybe not....

I'll be sending your tools out sometime this week.

Thanks for all your help though. I appreciate you trying to talk me through all of this.

[06Speed6]

About 1/2" is all the slack that there should be, you shouldnt be able to pick the chain up and move it off of the cam/sprocket. Iirc you shouldnt need to mess with removing the exhaust sprocket at all.

Maybe I need to read through that section of the manual again.

[Mandinca]

Maybe I had it right after all, I just didn't have the confidence to unbolt the intake camshaft in case the chain suddenly tightened leaving me with having to take all the pulleys off and the cover etc. I htink you have to remove the exhaust sprocket so you can get the chain off the top two sprockets completely. I could be wrong and I don't have the manual here. Anyway, it's all back together and I called Mazda to have them take care of it....pains me to do so.

I do have another issue that came up when I put it back together. In my last message I said it was idling around 650 rpm. Well, driving home from work last night I noticed that it is getting through a lot of gas. I've done 60 miles since my last fill and the guage already reads 3/4. This morning I am up to about 110 miles and I'm alsmost showing 1/2 on the gauge. Before I pulled it apart 1/2 would be at around 180. That's a huge increase in fuel consumption. All I did was to remove the IC, the plugs, the cam cover and the CDFP along with all the hoses that are in the way. What could have happened to cause my idling/economy issues or is it just a side effect of the VVT getting worse ?

[InFeXIoN]

Well DCR just called a few minutes ago and left a voicemail saying that my DCR actuator was ready and shipped out and should be here in 4 days.

[Matrix311]

I'm sporting the DCR VVT as well and i've had it installed for over a year and have about 15-17,000 miles on it and no issues. I just bought a gtx3071r so hopefully with my newish timing chain and dcr vvt i'll be good to go!