I have a 1996 se-r , ive been told that the 1996's may have bad cams. Now what i want to do is check for this. Can anyone tell me how to do this, what i will need, and i was also told that it should be 180 across the board, is this true? Any info is appreciated. thanks- Tom

96 cams are just one of the worst. I think they did that so that the SE-R could pass emmisions in Cali.

wow, i thought i would get more replys on this one, its been almost 24 hours and still only one... Does nobody know what the compression should be??? I guess i'll just go with 180 across the board and have it tested at the shop. I could still use some info if anybody has any...

TG:
Well, I won't say that the 96 cams are bad in the sense that they should be recalled. They just don't make as much power as the 91-92 cams. I'd replace the intake cam with a 91 cam. You'll like that :D You can usually find on in the for sale section of the board or call Dr. Dre. He's got a ton of 'em. BTW your compression sounds fine. Good on you for testing it :)
Cheers,
Charlie :)

Not all the 96 cams are bad. The best way to tell besides a compression test is to drive in another sr20 and see if yours feels slow.

i was also told that it should be 180 across the board, is this true?
Yep. Actually its 178 psi (I think the range is 147-178), but 180 is close enough.

like i was tellin u dude, if your car feels sluggish it prolly is the cams. if you have no other sr20 to test then id say do a compression test and check it out. 180 stuck out in my head, maybe because thats what mine reads but check it out its worth a try. if your compression sucks it can account for some performance.


91 cams $50 with like 20,000 miles on em, sounds good to me.


matt

CharlieH98- you missunderstood what i had said... i was wondering if 180 was the correct compression, i havent tested it yet- i was waiting to find out what it was supposed to be. Yes my car does feel slow although i havent driven another se-r. But i will get it tested now. thanks for everyones help

Yeah thats the "slow 96 syndrome" the best way to fix that is some JWT or Jun cams.

For furture. Questions like this best get answered in the tech. form. Thats where you find the guys that know engines like a porn star knows sex. Aaron

178psi is the correct number, but 180psi will work. Mine was 210psi before I installed a '93 intake cam. After the cam, it dropped to ~180psi. Also, if I recall correctly, the '96 SE-R was not sold in California because of emissions. The SR20 was allowed back in for the '97 model year.