ProtegeES

I am thinking getting the mazda motosport cams (intake and exhaust). I read that the cams have the SAME lift but longer duration. My car has only 10k miles. Do I need to mess with a valve adjustment after installing the cams? Thanks

JDMstuff

It's always recommended that you adjust your valves after you work on the cams.

TheProbeKid

Do you guys not have HLAs?

carguycw

If the car is a 99+ 1.8L or 2.0L, the answer is no. The earlier BP-engined cars did, but the F-series engines in the newer cars have mechanical lifters. Unfortunately, they are not the screw-adjustable type- they use shims. To change clearance, you must buy new shims.

And to answer the original question, I would *definitely* check the valve clearances after installing the cams, but the Mazda factory FS-ZE cams are ground to the same base diameter as the stock FP/FS cams. Unless your cams and/or lifters have significant wear (which is rare), you should be able to slap 'em in and go. Numerous people on this board have installed the FS-ZE cams and they have fit perfectly with no need to change the shims afterwards.

Traveler

When I did mine the base circles were identical and I didn't need to re-shim. Still, better to check it. The spec is .089 (009) to .0116 (011). Mine were .010 to start with and the same when I got done. The exhaust cam does have more lift. It's basically the same grind as the J-spec intake cam. It adds .020 lift over the stocker. The lobes look the same on it as they do on the j-spec intake. You'd have to find someone that has the degree wheel for our OHC engines to get an actual number for duration though. I don't have one for these engines. I just got rid of the one I had for V-8's a few months back and it wouldn't have worked. I've read on a couple Japanese tuner sites (the ones that are in English) that the Mazdaspeed exhaust is an exact match for the intake cam and came from the Japan MP3. From measuring the lift (identical) and comparing the lobes next to each other I'd say they're right.

TheProbeKid

Man... that sucks for you guys. 93-97 2.0L FSD Probes have HLAs.

TheProbeKid

HLAs ownz j00!

carguycw

Personally, I like the solid lifters. They don't "pump up" and make the valve timing inaccurate at high rpm like HLA's, and they're VERY maintenance-free. Mazda did a really nice job on their new solid-lifter cars; several Mazda mechanics I've talked to have told me that the lifters on new Proteges and Miatas basically never go out of spec if the oil is changed religiously. The HLA's on BP-engined Proteges and Miatas have a nasty habit of clogging up and collapsing, causing the dreaded "tick-tick-tick"

I just hope mine never go out of spec, though; I'm not really looking forward to pulling the cams. YMMV