So with the Detroit Rockers that say they don't need limiters I should be safe? With the advance not going over 40 then it is most likely both of the cams together. My tuner set it not to go over the limiter or I would get a CEL. So if I can see individual cam timing then I could compare the two to see if I had a phaser going out. I don't, but just asking.
Just to be clear, 0 degrees is as far "advanced" the cams can physically go. 0 degrees is referring to what our VCT tables and computers are concerned with, not the actual spec of the cam. At 0 degrees, the phasers are at rest against the rotation of the motor. The phasers are always under tension by the spring contained in the phasers, internally. When the car is at normal operation, say cruise throttle at 45mph steady, the cam timing table will adjust cam angle based on load from closed loop (open loop being WOT, closed being anything other than WOT condition. Open loop is a commanded table, and will always run off those parameters strictly for performance, while closed loop tries to find the most efficient parameters.). Typically, the most efficient parameters for cruise conditions is to keep the cams as far "retard" as possible, maximizing air flow in and out, keeping the cylinder as hot as to keep carbon build up down and emissions clean (thus why 3v and 4v coyote cars don't need EGR's and other crappy emissions equipment). What causes phasers to move against spring tension, is oil pressure. VCT solenoids control how much oil pressure is allowed into the phasers to push against the spring, and hold a specific cam angle.
The catch. Custom cams (Comp Cams, BBR, Steeda, whoever) are based on their specifications. Comp typically uses stock cams as a base, and increases durations/lifts/ICL/ECL from there. Stock cams have "advance" ground into the cams. So saying 0 degrees, only refers to what the system thinks of as 0 degrees. The true degree of the cam could be an additional 5 or 10 degrees of advancement, at phaser 0 degree. From there the system can retard the cam to move to actual 0 degrees, which may be 5 degrees of cam retard according to the VCT system.
But if you get some yuckety yuck company trying to make money on a "one-off" cam that decides to grind something from scratch, you better pray their techs understand how VCT works and takes it into account. I had a cammed car that got 24-26mpg cruise, 18-20mpg average, and made 10-40 additional whp throughout the power band from low to peak. This combination of efficiency and power can only be had from a VCT or TiVCT engine. If you're using a cam designed to be used in conjunction with VCT, it'll never be a max effort build, but you also won't suffer the inefficiency of a max effort cam, either. Tuner is huge too, which is my point on these yuckety companies that have the nerve to not include a cam spec card with their cams. A tuner can only tune a car as well as the knowledge he's provided with. Any asshat can throw a car on a dyno and fuck with fuel, timing, and cam angle until it makes it's best numbers safely. A real tuner makes sure your car isn't chugging fuel at a stop light, or spewing shitty emissions cruising down the freeway. Hard to do without knowing the cam specs. A tuner going into the cam tables and wiping out everything above 40 degrees and leaving the car to its own devices after that, isn't doing you any favors, for all anyone knows 35 degrees is out of that cams efficiency range and isn't helping save fuel or emissions.
I know most of this wasn't specifically informative as to the OP's issue, I'm fairly certain it's a matter of looking at the correct PID for individual cam angle. But I think it's important stuff when considering putting cams in a car, who made them, for what purpose the cams will serve (mild or wild), and how important a spec card should be to your tuner.
