Hello everyone. Before I begin, I know people will say to "do it right", but bear with me and if you have advice on what settings to alter, I'd like to hear it. I understand there is a traditional answer to this, which I am not looking for.

So here goes: a friend of mine with her 2011 Ford edge had a water pump that died. She and many friends spent a week or so tearing the car apart and helped her replace the water pump. Buttoned everything back up, it runs again. That's the positive. After a short while, it quickly became apparent the timing chain was put on incorrectly and it is off by a tooth. Looking at this, it appears to be about 15 degrees retarded by being off a tooth. Since I do not want to (and neither can she re-gather that group to work on this for quite some time) work on tearing this apart because of the amount of hours, I am hoping I can help her deal with this by readjusting settings in the ECU. I've programmed mostly GM cars, not really familiar with this 3.5 variable timing setup. But, looking in the settings, I see that there are some things that I might be able to do. 1 - Disable the variable valve timing for now, which I presume will let it run, but run like a dog (correct me if I am wrong). However, I also see I can do things like input the cam degrees, and also adjust the variable valve timing. Her main concern is down low it is now noticeably slower on takeoff, but up top it doesn't seem too bad. Can I do something like advance or retard the VVT 15 degrees to help bring it back to normal (or close enough to just drive better). If so, I would just try it a few degrees at a time to make sure this is headed in the right direction. Or, could I adjust the cam settings and effectively explain where the cam is rising and falling under this new incorrect timing?

Suggestions for watch to watch to make adjustments (obvious things to me are fuel trims, O2 readings, knock readings, looking if there are other areas to watch).

Any suggestions welcome, I get this is kinda of a screwy way to deal with this, but it's far easier to spend money on 2 credits and a little time to make adjustments than for her to try and tear it all down again (I believe they spent 10 days taking it apart slowly and when everyone had time).

Thanks for reading.