VG30E cam lift

[sewebster]

Since I replaced my cams just recently, I've been measuring a bunch of camshafts. The FSM lists a "standard height" for the cam lobes and gives a wear limit. All the cams I was measuring were way below the wear limit, even the new ones I got, which I thought was a bit weird.

 

Now, the total height isn't really the important quantity, what you really want is the lift. I was at the local cam shop (Shadbolt Cams in Vancouver) and the guy there said that there were two cam lifts available for this cam, 0.240" and 0.260", with the 260 version being more popular. Mine were 240, and all the ones I measured from a Pathfinder were 240. He seemed to think that the lower lift was likely more appropriate for a truck since top end power wasn't necessarily what we needed, and maybe saving some gas wouldn't be a bad thing either.

 

So is the FSM just wrong, and maybe giving the standard height for the 260 cams? Maybe some Pathfinders actually have those cams? Probably this is a bit of an obscure topic, and I already have the cams installed now, but I'm just a bit curious about this. I wonder what the lift on the "euro" cams is.

[MY1PATH]

so what page are you seeing this Cam lift spec?

On EM48 it stateds standard lobe height of 1.5566-1.5641

 

It is also known that the actual lift of the 3.0 cam is 0.393 and 0.366 for the 3.3

the eurospec has the same lift but with a longer duration. It behaves like stock but it keeps pulling where the USDM would start to fizzle out.

[sewebster]

Hmm. The guy was measuring the "240" and "260" with a dial indicator, rotating the cam on his measurement setup. I just assumed he meant thou. I'll look up the manual tonight, but I assume it's the same page as yours. We can check to see if we have the same numbers I guess. It's too bad they don't tell you the stock lift, or stock "on on the actual lobe" diameter.

[MY1PATH]

I think lift is top of lobe to center minus bottom of lobe to center. thats how re-grounds make more lift without adding material. they just subtract from the low side.

[sewebster]

Ok, so in my manual (91) on pages EM-26 and EM-54 it has the same specs: Standard cam lobe total eight (all the way across the cam) is 1.5566-1.5641". The wear limit is 5.9 thou.

 

I measured my old cam and it is 1.5377 total (note this is a lot lower than the spec, way more than could be wear IMHO, they don't look that bad). The measurement across the perpendicular is 1.3008". Those measurements probably aren't accurate to tenths because I didn't spend enough time setting it up to make sure I measured exactly the right spot. Anyway, the difference is 0.2369". This is the "240" thou lift that the shop was talking about. I haven't seen any cams with 393 lift. Do some people specify the valve opening range? Because it looks like the rocker arm is 3:2, so with my cams the valves will open 0.360".

 

A bit of a mystery...

[MY1PATH]

I belive the rocker ratio is 1.51:1 (close to 3:2) wich would give you .260 at the cam if your lift is .393

[sewebster]

I belive the rocker ratio is 1.51:1 (close to 3:2) wich would give you .260 at the cam if your lift is .393

 

Interesting. Well, my cams are 240. So perhaps I'm just the one with strange cams, but I have seen a bunch of other 240 cams as well (and a lot of 260).