EF S1 Fairmont Ghia: Wade Stage 2 Cam - Stalls - Ford Forums - Mustang Forum, Ford Trucks, Ford Focus and Ford Cars

xl250 · 09-19-2002, 18:36

Hey folks,

The Wade Stage 2 cam was fitted to my EF Series 1 Fairmont Ghia the other day by Mick's Motorsport at Milperra in Sydney.

I am running a standard EECV, K&N filter, AU XR8 snorkel, 2 1/2in mandrel bent, 1 resonator and 1 muffler, standard headers and cat. Changing headers will improve top end performance.... Was quoted $350 for pacemakers and $100 to fit, sounds excessive, but he said they are a bitch to fit. The car is always filled with PULP and just had an octane boost (wynns i think) added to the tank and serviced about 100kms ago.

My main problem after the cam install: The car while in drive idles fine, a bit rougher as expected, but when you are trying to park, the car stalls when engaging neutral or park. It revs slightly and then stalls (like it is hunting for the right idle point). Any ideas on what I can do? Can u just wind up the idle?

I had just cleaned the K&N, so could it be the throttle body air flow bypass? I have had this replaced about 10,000kms ago.

I don't have access to a scanner, so here is what their dyno (not sure what
type of dyno, it had very small rollers) said:

Std cam:

Nm Lb/ft KW HP KPH
456 336 93 124 81
315 232 93 124 117
311 229 100 134 127
295 217 102 136 137

After Wade 1004-14:

Nm Lb/ft KW HP KPH
462 340 97 130 83
313 230 92 123 117
311 229 101 135 129
297 219 103 138 137

I was hoping for a bit more. Is this what should be expected? It feels much stronger down low and does take off much better.

Here are the cam details:

cam duration Valv Valv Cam Phase
lift adv @050 Clr lift tdc <)
Intake 240 264 204 Hyd .48 020 114
Exhaust 240 264 204 Hyd .48 020

timing timing
adv @050
Open Close Open Close
66 18 3 6 -12 Exhaust
22 62 -10 34 Intake

40 -22
Deg over-lap Deg over-lap

(Sorry for the formatting on these tables?)

Mike Jones
Email: mjones@au.ibm.com

Great White · 09-19-2002, 23:39

Is that 462nm/340lbft a Typo????

I can only think that they have forgotten to connect or reset something? When you start the car in Park or Neutral does it start and stall?
I, too would have expected more from the cam, probably 6-8kw and 10-15nm.

Rollin · 09-20-2002, 04:36

the best thing you can do is wait till late at night wshen there are no cops out, disconnect the battery for about 15 mins, then reconnect and take the car for a drive.

start off driving gently at first, then get a bit faster so after about 15 mins when you stop at lights/on the empty freeway you are giving it full throttle all the way through 1st and second.

this will hopefully give your computer a head start as it learns the engines new fuel/air requirements. it will take approximatly 100 ignition cycles to completely learn how to run the engine perfectly.

that is of course if they havent stuffed up the job when installing the cam.

i think maybe give the shop who installed the cam a ring, tell them that it is stalling and running like crap, but you are going to give it a week to see if it is just the computer trying to figure its mixtures out or if it is something they have done, just so if there is a problem you can say you gave them a warning and you havent stuffed anything in the time after they fitted the cam.

book it in to be dynoed again in about a month and see how it goes, it should make more power then it did straight after the cam was fitted.

xl250 · 09-20-2002, 06:43

Great White: No typo... I am going to get the scanner out tomorrow... will post jpg's.

Could it be the oxygen sensor causing the rough idle? I am going to check that out tomorrow.... My thoughts are... 209k kms and after being dyno'ed, maybe the oxygen sensor gave up the ghost and it is lean/rich ing the idle--> entire rev range....

It pulls quite hard when driving it around... It kicks ass in fact. With extractors and a Unichip (or another chip? suggestions) it will haul...

Mike Jones
mjones@au.ibm.com

Bass Crazy · 09-21-2002, 00:26

How ya doing mate.

I was just checking out the dyno results you put up there, as they don't look very impressive sorry to say.

According to them, you have gained 4kw/6Nm down low, lost out on mid power, and only gained 1 kw up top... mate that aint right.

Did you have a variable cam gear installed?
If all your sensors/fuel supply system is correct I would put it down to incorrect cam timing.

From a bigger cam, there is almost always the majority of the power increase at the top end of the rev range, rather then the bottom end.
This power range can be adjusted by the cam timing. It can be set to encourage low end torque, or top end power. Its a matter of getting the right setting for the particular cam/engine. I would guess that this might be your reason for the low output figures.

Have a chat to the guys who did the install about this.

I was actually having a chat to Wade cams about this same cam yesterday. I'll be giving them another call on Monday to clear up a few queries which could not be answered at the time. They seem like good blokes who are switched on, so it might be an idea to have a chat to them directly.

Wade Cams: 03 9328 4001

xl250 · 09-21-2002, 02:01

Bass Crazy: Yeah, I know the kw figures aren't that great, but the torque is quite good (not that the cam made much difference). You can't expect high kw figures from a standard set of headers, the cam is designed to produce more kw up high and the std headers are strangling the flow of the engine. When I get some extractors installed I will let you know the kw figure.

How does the variable cam gear work? Who makes tham? Is it like a gear drive?

The poor idle has been fixed by replacing the oxygen sensor. Bought a NGK unit for $71.50 and within 5 minutes the car was running like new. The original ford unit was stuffed. Rusted and burnt out, it was the cause of poor fuel mix and unstable idle.

I talked to the installers and wade and they were both extremely helpful. Keith at Wade is a top bloke and very willing to offer advice or point me to someone that had more experience with my model car.

The bottom line is, I can't afford to do all of the mods I want to do in one go, so bit by bit I will get there. :-) $500 here and there doesn't hurt to much...

Cheers.
Mike

Darren · 09-22-2002, 03:03

where did you get the oxygen sensor as ford wanted over $150 last time I rang them

Rollin · 09-22-2002, 03:52

if you get pacemaker extractors make sure you get the ones that have the hole for the oxygen sensor at the end where all of the pipes join into one.

one of my friends who is a 3rd year apprentice at a Ford dealership tells me that pacemaker made a batch of extractors that had the hole for the o2 sensor in only one branch of the two (they are 6>2>1 design) so the o2 sensor was only reading 3 cylinders and it makes the car run like crap.

xl250 · 09-23-2002, 04:54

I thought pacemaker only made 6>3>1 "tri y" extractors, but thanks for the tip.

$490 at bankstown midas, $450 from Micks at milperra fitted and dyno'ed.

The o2 sensor I bought was from Auto1 at menai. $71.50 for a NGK model.

Thanks for the help folks!