MarcelinoCamTimingMod.

Simplified
Eliminatingallthebackgroundtogettothebasics.

TheexplanationoftheMarcelinoCamTimingModificationisinterestingandinformativeasto
howhearrivedatthemodification.ItdoesclutteruptheactualHowToforthemodification.
Afterfightingwithitreadingseveraltimes,whenIactuallydidtheworkitbecamecrystalclear
andverysimplewelltheideawassimple,gettingthepropertoothpositiononthecam
sprocketsprovedtobeabitconfoundingattimes.Iwouldmoveitthewrongwayoronetoo
manyteeth,butstillonceIrealizedhowitwouldfigurativelylookitallbecamequite
elementary.Hereitis:

AfterdisassemblingeverythingdowntogettothecamsIrecommendyoufirstcheckclearance
tomakesureyourvalveclearanceiswithinspecandIrecommendyoushimtothemiddle.Asa
friend/mechaniconcecommented,Anoisyvalveisahappyvalve.Theimplicationbeingif
yourvalvesaretootight,evenbyabit,youriskburningthevalveedges,butifthevalvesare
evenafewthouoverthemaxallyougetislowerperformanceandaclatteryvalves.

Nowtodothemod:
1. Unscrewthecapsonthestatorsideoftheengine,clampingalarge1orsowasherina
pairofViseGripswillworkperfectsincethoseslotsareactuallycurvedasistheKaw
specialtooltheyhavetoremovethem.,likeagiantwoodruffkey.
2. Breakthecamsprocketboltsloosenow,tomakeiteasytoremovethemlater.
3. CranktheengineovertotheTmark(TDC)oncompression,thecamswillbeoffthe
valvespointingoutandupabit.Perfecttimetocheckvalveclearance.
4. Ifyouhaveamanualtensionerloosenthelocknutandbackthetensioneroutveryloose.
IfyouhavetheOEMtensionerlookinthemanualhowtoremoveitandprepfor
resettingitatreinstallation.
5. Unboltthecamcap.Ifyouwanttogetanalretentiveaboutityoucouldlookatthe
tighteningsequenceandreverseit.Popthecapoffcarefully,tappingitwitha

screwdriverhandleorsmallplasticmallettoloosenit.Youwanttotreatthispartlike
gold,becauseifyouhoseitupyouwillpartwithsomegoldtogetawholenewhead
sincethecapandheadaremachinedtomatchforthecambearingsurfaces.
6. Pullthecamsout.
7. Removetheboltsfromthesprocketontheintakecam,rotatethesprocket
counterclockwisethesmallamountittakestogettheboltsintotheEXholesandsnug
themup.
8. Removetheboltsfromthesprocketontheexhaustcam,rotatethesprocketclockwisethe
smallamountittakestogettheboltsintotheINholesandsnugthemup.
9. AtthispointIbringuptwowaystodealwiththeKACR(automaticcompression
release),repositioningitandanothermodthatisfarsimplerthanpressingtheKACR
mechanismoutandrepositioningit,disablingit.NeithertheCRF250northeWR250use
acompressionrelease.IpersonallyamoftheopiniontheKLX250hasitasaremnant
fromtheKLX300onwhichitisbased.The300iskickstartonly.
a. Marcelino
IHAVETOREPOSITIONTHEACR,itmeansIneedapressanda
custommadewoodenclampfortheexhaustshaft,wedontwanttobreakorchiplobes
nowdowe?Afriendlywordofadvice:Dontdothisathome!Takethecamshafttoa
headshopandhavethemdotheACR.ThecamshaftishollowandtheACRcanbe
pressedoutusingarod,itneedstobeturned67mm(1/4inch)attheedge
counterclockwiseasyoulookattheACR.

b. Marksmethod,imagesbelowtheinstructions
i. RemovethespringfromtheKACRmechanism.
ii. Getawirecoathangerfromtheclosetor.090(2.25mm)baremildsteel
weldingrod.Testfitittothespringholes.ThestandardhangerIhadwas
aperfectfit.
iii. Cutalengthofhangermaybeabout3inchesorso.
iv. Benda90degreeangle,putitinaviseandtapitwithahammertomake
itanicecrispbend
v. Measure41mminsidelengthandmakeanother90degreebendforminga
U,placeitintheviseandtapitwiththehammertomakeanothernice
crispbendandmakesureitis41mminside.

vi. CutthelegsoftheUdownmaybetoaboutorabout15mm.
vii. SpreadtheKACRshoesopenandputthewireintotheholes.
viii. Bendtheendsoutwardandcliptheexcess
ix. TheKACRisnowdisabled,butwithasniportwoandthespring
reinstalleditcanbeenabledifyouundothemod.

10. WiththeenginestillsetatTDC,hopefullyyoudidntmoveitwhilegoofingwiththe
cams,placethecamsbackintheengine,putsomeoilonthejournalsjustbecause.You
needtosetthemsothealignmentmarkthatisnormallyhorizontalwiththeheadsurface,
isnowrotatedtothepointwhereyouseethemarkbetweenthetwosprocketsatabout2
2.5teethabovethesurfacedependingonhowyoulookatitprettysimpleexceptif
youarelikemeyouwillkeepscrewingupandmovingthecamsonetoothtoofarorthe
wrongway,butseeingandknowingthissettingitisveryobviouswhenyouareoffone
tootheitherway.Itnowitisquiteeasytosetthecamsproperly.Imagesbelow:

Exhaustcamsetting

Intakecamsetting

Alldone!

11. Installthecamcap,thelongboltsgointhetwoholesthathavethealignmentpins.
Importantnote:Makesurethecamcapseatsdownagainsttheheadsurfacebefore
tighteninganybolts.LIGHTLYtapthecapwithascrewdriverhandleendora

plasticmallet,butDONOTforceitdown.Itshouldseatdownwithoutanygaps.
Breakthecapandyoubuyanewheadthecapislineboredtomatchthehead,you
cannotboltoneonfromanotherhead.
12. Snuguptheboltswithyourfingersorlightlywitharatchet,thenstarttorquingthe
fittingsinthesequencelistedinthemanual.Idothemfirstat50inlb(6Nm)then106
inlb(12Nm),twostepsfullsequence.
13. Adjusttheplayoutofthecamchainifyouhaveamanualtensioner,resetandreinstall
theOEMperthemanualifyouuseit.
14. Tightenyourcamboltsupto44inlb(4.9Nm)andthen87inlb(9.8Nm)
15. Dumpabitofoilonthecamassembly,again,justbecause.
16. Putthecamcoverbackonandtightenitup69inlb(7.8Nm)
17. Readjustthemanualtensioneragain,fingertight,thenbackoffabout1/81/4turnand
lockitdowntight.
18. Allisnowgood,buttonherup!Dontforgetthestatorcovercapscrews.

Atthispointallshouldbegoodonthecammod.Asyousee,oncethesprocketsarebolted
onitissimplytoseewhenthecentermarksoneachcamareproperlypositionedabovethe
headsurfacekindasimple.