Does anyone have a blown up view of the variable cam timing mechanism? Lets start trying to figure out how to make it work "better!"

 

 

That's awsome. Probably learned more about general automotive workings from this site than I've ever know.

And I've completely rebuilt a '77 Chevy Pick up.

 

Thanks Brad, hard to tell how it works from this shot....but a good friend of mine gets wrecked stuff at his shop all the time. I guess I'm going to have to find a wrecked 04 5.4 out of a truck and "investigate"

 

Anybody here qualified to answer why Ford went with a 3-valve design on the new '05 V8 as opposed to the more conventional 4-valve setup we see in the imports?

 

I beleive I read somewhere, that the 3V setup delivers just as well as a 4V, but that there is less moving parts, less weight, so Ford went with the 3V.

I think this is right, but I'm too lazy to dig out the Motor Trend article right now...

 

I'm not qualified, but I vaguely remember that the geometry of the design lends itself to more efficient combustion. Better fuel economy, hp, etc. I also think that they mentioned that Mercedes had good results with the 3 valve setup.

 

3V heads are lighter than the old 2V heads, are easier and cheaper to machine, and have a centralized spark plug design. The rest has already been covered, I believe.

 

Oh and it's also able to change within 30 degrees for more efficiency.

 

I read that Ford opted to go 3V because it wasn't as expensive as 4V, but still provided most of the benefits.