Lots of Black Smoke After New Cam :(

Installed a new cam for my sisters BRM yesterday...this was the kit we bought: http://www.idparts.com/camshaft-replacement-kit-brm-p-1318.html

We installed it without a hitch, went very well, our special tools cam in real handy. So when we started it up, we 'broke the cam in' by doing about 10 minutes of a mix of idling and higher rpms(around 2,000 to 3,000). After the engine was nice and toasty I looked at the torsion value on VCDS on engine/advanced measuring blocks. It was -2.9 on idle. We advanced the timing (turning cam sprocket clockwise) by just a titch, and remeasured on VCDS and it was at 0.0, whether it's idling or revving high(weird, because before it would change with the retarded timing).

PROBLEM IS: It smokes pretty much the exact same amount as it did with the 'old' timing, as it does with the current 0.0 value. Even with the bad cam, it didn't smoke as much. Lower rpms are nothing but a puff, but after 3k, it dumps black smoke out. Too soon to tell for fuel mileage, but startup and idle is REAL smooth. Any ideas?

The picture is an example and shows maybe a little more than what it's smoking, but it's after 3k rpm, on full boost.

I'm not sure about those engines, however, it sounds like an adjustment is out. Maybe the timing you did was the wrong way.
Seems like it should fluctuate a bit where the ecm has the capability to adjust what it needs to.

Turning the cam sprocket clockwise would have sent it even more negative in the torsion value. The cam HUB needs to be turned clockwise, not the sprocket.
The 0.0 torsion value could mean that it is off-scale and the ECU is using a default value of 0.0.

I am assuming when you said you advanced the sprocket you mean you advanced the cam clockwise by turning the cam hub bolt ( I think it is 18 or 19 mm) after loosening the 3 cam sprocket bolts. You probably have Maf or vacuum leaks or pressure leak or egr problems if the timing is correct, but as 2nd post says you better be cirtain your timing is correct as a 00.0 and not moving is worrisome.

The torsion value on my BEW is @ 0.0 and no smoke. Are the injectors set properly?
Franko6 has a write-up on how to center the injector lobes.

buyingconstant7 said:

Installed a new cam for my sisters BRM yesterday...this was the kit we bought: http://www.idparts.com/camshaft-replacement-kit-brm-p-1318.html

Click to expand...

I just installed that exact same BRM kit a few weeks ago.

Have you run an Autoscan with VCDS? Any codes? How is the idle stabilization?

Can you take a picture of the cam sprocket and show us where the 3 bolt heads are relative to the slotted holes?

Just curious...
Did you put a BRM cam kit in a BEW engine? I see the rear end of a Golf in the picture...but you are in Canada and I don't know if that is how they came.
If I am not mistaken, the BRM cam profile fuels the engine a bit more than BEWs but I don't know if it would result in that drastic of a soot show.

JETaah said:

Just curious...
Did you put a BRM cam kit in a BEW engine? I see the rear end of a Golf in the picture...but you are in Canada and I don't know if that is how they came.

Click to expand...

I think he must have used the picture as an example only. We only got the BRM in the 2006 Jetta in Canada, same as the US.

Ahhhaa....

You need to get some reads off of VCDS or similar equipment to read your ECU to tell what's going on. Alternatives; SnapOn European, Genesis... Any mechanic shop that works MB, VW, Audi, Volvo, etc, will be able to work as the VCDS.

You need to know what the MAP sensor is reading for millibar of boost ( I think it's block 10) and you need to know if the injectors are running well together in block 13. If one of the injectors is running near 3.0 mg/str compared to the others, you have an injector issue.

We have seen some very misleading information posted all over the place. As far as I know, and we have looked at many different cam products, and we know of NO CAST CAMS sold on the market at this time. ALL PD cams from every location we have checked are billet cams. . The same reason that cracked rods are made (30% cheaper to produce) is the same reason billet cams are made. Billet is neither harder or 'better', but it is CHEAPER to make. Production from the raw billet to 'ready to be induction hardened'... about 3 minutes. Modern machine processing is insanely fast; much faster and safer and cheaper than a cast cam. So, don't fall for the 'Billet Baloney'. They are all billet.

Also, the TTY 'use once' cam and rocker bolts are more misinformation. We have been using our chrome moly reusable bolts for about 9 years. In that time, we have only had 2 cam cap bolts fail due to incorrect installation. The deformity that happens on the cam caps is caused by incorrect machining process when manufacturing the cam. The same deformity happens regardless of using OEM bolts or our reusable bolt kit, as the clamping force is identical. The disadvantage of a OEM TTY bolt; use once, throw away. The rocker shaft should be installed to torque level and the cam journals align bored in order to create a truly straight cam journal bore. That is how we do it. After we align bore the cam, we can take it apart, put it together and the bolts are still good to go...