Franko6 ALH Stage II cam

Bob,

I just stumbled onto this thread. Thank you for the kudos, Bob.

As for the 'one star', we know who and why that happens and it's happened before... it's bottom-dweller antics. We don't like the nonsense and prefer to quietly go about our business. WE QUIETLY ADVERTISE this cam... we sell plenty enough and we are absolutely unconcerned about any competition, such as it is.

Our own proofs are in our ET's and fueling logs. There has been a noted reduction in EGT's. Moving slightly positive 1-2 degrees in cam timing does improve performance. That is all we know.

We don't pretend to have the end-all and be-all cam. It is a cost conscientious cam that is designed like our PD cams; improve performance without sacrificing reliability.

Franko6 said:

Bob,

I just stumbled onto this thread. Thank you for the kudos, Bob.

As for the 'one star', we know who and why that happens and it's happened before... it's bottom-dweller antics. We don't like the nonsense and prefer to quietly go about our business. WE QUIETLY ADVERTISE this cam... we sell plenty enough and we are absolutely unconcerned about any competition, such as it is.

Our own proofs are in our ET's and fueling logs. There has been a noted reduction in EGT's. Moving slightly positive 1-2 degrees in cam timing does improve performance. That is all we know.

We don't pretend to have the end-all and be-all cam. It is a cost conscientious cam that is designed like our PD cams; improve performance without sacrificing reliability.

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By moving positive 1-2 degrees in cam timing, you mean advance? I always thought that a slight cam retard helps mid-top end?

Robnitro,

We have seen upper rpm range improvements by 'moving slightly positive 1-2 degrees'... That is advanced.

The best way to improve low-end torque would be to reduce the lobe separation by a degree or two. We are most likely going to stay quite conventional in our approach.

IndigoBlueWagon said:

That's too bad. It would still be nice to see a dyno: there are enough cars out there with similar setups that you could see a comparison and see if there's a difference, especially at high revs.

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It's an AHU and not an ALH, but I am having the wagon dyno'd on Friday. I'm dyno'ing it with just the PP520's (DBW installed, stage 1) and stock GQ ECU, then putting the RC3+ back in it and dyno'ing it again. Friday the Franko6 stage II cam is arriving and I'll toss it on later that day as well. Once it's broken in (in a few weeks) I'll have it re-dyno'd to see what the change is.

I am curious as well and could not find a lot of actual data, just the Levi test results.

When I put the Sprint 205's in the sedan, it was also on the dyno. That change alone gained 12hp and 20 ft-lb of torque.

That's great. I'm eager to see your results.

The B4V does have 361K on it (I bought it for the low mileage) and I have no base numbers with the stock injectors, so it'll be a little different than what other people may do with their cars. Still, it should be close enough for our purposes.

Five stars from me as well. Must resist modding another car!!!!

Abacus said:

It's an AHU and not an ALH, but I am having the wagon dyno'd on Friday. I'm dyno'ing it with just the PP520's (DBW installed, stage 1) and stock GQ ECU, then putting the RC3+ back in it and dyno'ing it again. Friday the Franko6 stage II cam is arriving and I'll toss it on later that day as well. Once it's broken in (in a few weeks) I'll have it re-dyno'd to see what the change is.

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So I had the wagon dyno'd today, here are the results. I'll have it dyno'd again when I break in the Franko6 cam, which will be in a month or so. The lower line is with just the PP520's on an otherwise stock engine, and the upper line is with the PP520's and the RocketChip 3 Euro tune. You can really see the boost difference.



Awhile ago I had the B4 sedan dyno'd and here are the numbers, keep in mind these are at the wheels, not the crank. I have not had the B4 dyno'd again with all the modifications on it, but will at some point. Everything else on each car was stock at the time.

B4: Stock engine with 292K....................................................72 hp and 142 ft-lbs torque
B4: Stock engine with 292K and Sprint 205's..............................84 hp and 164 ft-lbs torque (+12 hp and 22ft-lbs)
B4V: Stock engine with 361K and PP520's only...........................102 hp and 183 ft-lbs torque (+30 hp and 41 ft-lbs)
B4V: Stock engine with 361K, PP520's & RocketChip 3 Euro tune.....120 hp and 228 ft-lbs torque (+48 hp and 86 ft-lbs)

Awesome results! I'm looking forward to seeing the final results!

Will you do with and without the tune?
How are your current smoke levels? It is possible that if you are smoke free now, that you may not see a huge bump. I'm curious to see though!

I can do with and without the tune since I have a spare ECU. Smoke levels in the wagon are pretty good, with some nice haze at WOT. The sedan has more smoke due to the worn turbo.

Well, this thread has me interested now. The frank06 cam is going into my ALH hopefully next weekend. No "before" dyno. But maybe I'll put her on a dyno after.

That EGTs are supposed to be lower is a good thing, as I'm already running RC3 with .205s and an 11mm pump on the stock turbo. (Too bad I don't have gauges yet. Sigh.)

Judson said:

Well, this thread has me interested now. The frank06 cam is going into my ALH hopefully next weekend. No "before" dyno. But maybe I'll put her on a dyno after.

That EGTs are supposed to be lower is a good thing, as I'm already running RC3 with .205s and an 11mm pump on the stock turbo. (Too bad I don't have gauges yet. Sigh.)

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Do you have a smartphone? You could buy a cheap OBDII bluetooth and an app like Torque, cheaper and easier than a dyno. The differences before/after would not be definitive, but generally speaking the difference in hp measured will be pretty close to the info you would find on a dyno.

Better yet, use VCDS and a laptop and save logs of a few performance runs before/after the cam install. That would be ideal, because we could see intake air temps, boost, torque, rpm, etc.

With not changing tune/turbo/injectors, a good before and after test would be to log group 03 (maf) and group 11 (pressure/IAT).
If the maf is not already saturated, at the same pressure/rpm/IAT, the cam should show a higher maf reading.

Anybody in Virginia who wants to do this Sunday let me know. I don't have VCDS...

I just bought a new VCDS. Sigh. OK, I will take some logs this weekend. Hopefully I can figure out how to work the software well enough!

OK, I have the software (arrived late yesterday). Reading through the guides sent to me (one via PM - thanks!) it appears I have to do full power runs from 1500 to 5000 RPMs, logging various things.

I have a very serious question then: I have one of the timing belt pulleys whining at me. I have 80k on this belt, and 140k on the engine. Dare I do full power runs? The risk is breaking the belt and ruining my engine.

The whine is loud enough now (been going on for a month) - you can hear it over idle and it goes up/down with RPM - that I fear it's creating undue tension on the belt.

The car goes into the shop Saturday....

TIA.

I wouldn't risk it.

I would change that as soon as possible. If the pulley seizes you have yourself a nice hefty paperweight with a $2,000 price tag.

Are you sure it isn't the serpintine belt (or pathway) making the noise?

Abacus said:

I would change that as soon as possible. If the pulley seizes you have yourself a nice hefty paperweight with a $2,000 price tag.

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Yes, which is why it's going into the shop on Saturday....

dieselfuel said:

Are you sure it isn't the serpintine belt (or pathway) making the noise?

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Might be, but it sure sounds like a bearing whine....

If it was mine, I would remove the serpentine belt and run the engine to determine if the whine is coming from a serpetine-driven component or from one that is timing belt driven. Then you will be able to proceed with your troubleshooting from a more certain perspective.

Riflesmith said:

If it was mine, I would remove the serpentine belt and run the engine to determine if the whine is coming from a serpetine-driven component or from one that is timing belt driven. Then you will be able to proceed with your troubleshooting from a more certain perspective.

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Good advice.

df

Well, it's at 80k on a timing belt, and the general advice is to replace the timing belt, water pump, and all pulleys at the age of my car - 140k.

I had thought the whine was from my power steering pump, and I had had that replaced (which it needed anyway, but that's a long story.)

The only possible remaining component is the alternator, and in all my years of owning and working on VWs, I've never heard an alternator complain like this.

Anyway, the question was really about getting logs prior to the install of my frank06 alh cam. It looks like y'all agree that it's too much of a risk, which is too bad. I will post logs after the install after it's broken in.

Risk for what? The TB components are under the same strain if you were cruising at 1000rpm's compared to running it WOT until 5,000rpms... If they are going to break they will, regardless of what you're doing at the time..

LNXGUY said:

Risk for what? The TB components are under the same strain if you were cruising at 1000rpm's compared to running it WOT until 5,000rpms... If they are going to break they will, regardless of what you're doing at the time..

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"The faster it goes, the faster it blows!"
-- every hotrodder ever...

LNXGUY said:

Risk for what? The TB components are under the same strain if you were cruising at 1000rpm's compared to running it WOT until 5,000rpms... If they are going to break they will, regardless of what you're doing at the time..

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I second this to a certain extent.

The water pump on a PD is under more inverse strain under full load Never seen one fail from it though

slamhouse said:

I second this to a certain extent.

The water pump on a PD is under more inverse strain under full load Never seen one fail from it though

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TB parts on the PD's definitely seem to be a bit more robust then on the ALH engines.. That reminds me, I've over on my TB job, I gotta get it done sooner then later.

LNXGUY said:

Risk for what? The TB components are under the same strain if you were cruising at 1000rpm's compared to running it WOT until 5,000rpms... If they are going to break they will, regardless of what you're doing at the time..

Click to expand...

It's the sudden increase and decrease in torque (speed) put on the belt I'm worried about.

I'm going with my instincts here. I'm not even driving her into work - instead borrowing a car or getting a ride all this week.

I'd double check that there's good mechanical timing and tension in the belt and I'd run it to 5000rpm. If you're worried which bearing is making the noise, worry no more. Pick up 3-4ft of flexible hose and put it in your ear. Put the other end near each roller (Be extremely careful to not get your hand or clothing caught in the belts!)

You will find out easily whether the whine is coming from your serpentine, timing, tensioners, rollers, etc. It might just be the type of replacement belt that makes all the noise, too. My belt path has been making a linear, rpm-based noise ever since new and it's been doing fine for 60,000 miles.