Cam gears for V6. Add power AND mpg

If you’re like @nd4spdbh then probably until your clothes go out of style

 

WOOOOOOOOOW LOW BLOW sir. LOW blow....




*looks over at valve cover gaskets sitting on computer desk*

Im honestly thinking of doing this tomorrow as i have finally rounded up the necessary tools etc. (I also have a loooong drive coming up in a few weeks and extra mpgs and power woould be nice as well as a good data logging opportunity)


EDIT - also my clothes have always been out of style HAHAHA

 

Got them today. Thanks for the fast shipping @mightytacoman .

now to start accumulating the other parts

 

just double checking. The cam bolts themselves are a standard (not reverse) thread correct?

And when rotating the motor, if i was standing at the front of the truck looking at the grill, i would rotate the motor in a clockwise fashion? (I guess i could check when the motor is running, but im lazy and currently tied to my computer for work from home purposes)

 

You are correct in all of those statements

 

That's a possibility. I did buy the 17mm torque adapter.

I own jeans and Slayer concert t shirts. Not sure where I land on the style scale.

 

Good luck today sir. I'm around if questions or concerns come up

 

Thanks man. Just making sure i have all my ducks in a row so things go smooth. Going to take the opportunity to check valve clearances while im in there and likely clean the throttle body and the plenum if its needed.

 

Whelp they are in. It took a GOOD chunk of time (~5.5hrs), but I also work slow n methodical when it comes to stuff like this on my truck, as its my only 4 wheel vehicle and daily driver (i gotta few motos but still). I also had to deal with the 2012+ SAIS valve assembly, replaced all the gaskets, clean the throttle body, do a valve clearance check (all was spot on), as well as line up the intake manifold spacer when going back together. Also triple checked things cus paranoia, and a few beers with the GF while the process was taking place. Could I of done it quicker sure, but I wouldnt of been as at ease when I went to start it up.

Things of note: All the driver side injector plugs need to come off. Only the front one on the passenger side does. For the SAIS valves, there are 2 nuts up top and one bolt on bottom that hold the assembly to the motor, the bolt on the bottom is rather hidden and can be accessed easily through the wheel well.

Like others have stated undoing the cam bolts initially... GOOD EFFING LORD they were on there. A LONG handle 24mm paired with a doubled up 17mm and 21mm wrench was needed to pop it loose.

The Mercedes benz engine mount 17mm with a 1/2in to 3/8 adapter was perfect for torquing things down. With my 1/2in HF torque wrench (calibrated with a digital torque adapter) which is right around 15in from center of handle to pivot, and the ~ 3.5in long benz engine mount thing, it calcs out to be 60ft lbs set on the torque wrench for the 74ftlbs at the end of the adapter.


Got it all back together, n the truck started right up. Just drove it around the block as dinner was ready so no idea on performance differences, but the exhaust note has changed a smidge as well as she idles a bit smoother now! FYI i prepped yesterday and pulled the engine cover and fogged down the engine bay with the hose to knock any dust / mud / debris off things to have less of a chance of shit getting in the motor when opened up.

Tomorrow some logging will take place to see the numbers differences!

Edit - also clean as a whistle in the engine with 107k miles on it! was happy to see that.

 

Welcome to the dark side!

 

How do I figure this out? Pretty much same setup to torque, except I haven't measured the length of my torque wrench.

 

If you put it at a 90* angle you don’t have to correct anything.

 

Quick measuring tape and you will be good to go

https://belknaptools.com/extensions-calculator/

Technically no but for our purposes it doesnt make a difference. 3.5in extension at a 90* turns your (assuming HF 1/2in drive torque wrench) from a lever arm at 15in to ~ a 15.5 in lever arm, which if set to 74 ftlbs would yeild ~76.5 ftlbs at the nut.

Also much easier to go straight up and out the motor than a 90 kink in a torque wrench.

 

Some data!

Orange line = after install of 3* cam gears
Blue line = stock cam gears
Bottom axis = engine rpms
Left axis = MAF reading in lbs/hr

Stock cam gear pull and 3* retard pulls were done at the same air intake temps, same exact engine and maf tune, same trans tune, pull started rolling in 1st and the auto shifted to 2nd on its own (left truck in D), data below is from the bottom to the top of 2nd gear just before it shifted to 3rd.

Your looking around 5% increase in MAF numbers!

Truck feels happier for sure, and very curious as to mpg numbers over time.

EDIT - Keep in mind, this is on a bone stock truck, stock exhaust, stock intake, stock throttle body with the ONLY addition of an XTP 1/2in intake manifold spacer between the lower intake manifold and the upper (surge tank).

 

@nd4spdbh I love how detailed you are in your work. I remember seeing a post on the hptuners thread about a correlation between the maf numbers and horsepower. Do you recall this?

Awesome to see this in a graph! Were you happy with the improved performance?

 

Maf in g/s x 1.18 is generally accepted as the wheel hp for our trucks from multiple people performing dynos

 

Butt dyno is hard to calibrate, and given so many variables as far as ambient temps / elevation around here its hard to get consistent logs, BUT it does seem happier thats for sure!

 

Thanks for sharing! Great data

 

EDIT - Keep in mind the numbers above, this is on a bone stock truck, stock exhaust, stock intake, stock throttle body with the ONLY addition of an XTP 1/2in intake manifold spacer between the lower intake manifold and the upper (surge tank).

 

How much help do you think the surge tank spacer helped with this outcome?