I thought I would clear up a lot of confusion on several of the Nissan websites concerning which KADE models have what cam specs in them, and which cams can be retrofitted into any KA24DE (be it a 240SX, Altima, or Frontier truck variant). Also, this will dispel all the myths about whether the Altima cams can be used in S13 or S14 240SX engines. All of the specs I list below come directly from the Nissan factory service manuals for each of the years, and I have an actual example in hand of most of them that I carefully measured to verify that the specifications are correct.

Let me say here & now that ANY Altima cam (both intake & exhaust) will fit into any of the other KA24DE variants, but in order to get the exhaust cam to fit in them 5/16” has to be cut off of the slotted distributor drive end in order to clear the rear valve cover seal…that is all that is required, end of story!

Also, another issue to point out is that ALL of the ’98 & up KA24DE’s changed to the use of a single driven chain sprocket from the previous double chain sprocket that was used on the ’91-’97 models (also the ’98 up intake cams had the dowel pin relocated to match the same 12 o’clock position as the exhaust cam has). Along with this change the rear most #6 cam bearing was also eliminated out of the head casting (I guess after 7 years Nissan finally decided it wasn’t necessary…that or they got cheaper on the whole design to save costs!!!). Even so, any of the early ’91-’97 cams will still fit into & work in the later ’98 up S14 & Frontier KA24DE’s (and they will also work for the intake cam in any ’98 up Altima KA24DE). On the flip side any of the later ’98 up cams will also fit into & work in the earlier ’91-’97 S13 & S14 KA24DE’s (and once again they will also work for the intake cam in any ’93-‘97 Altima KA24DE). For use as an exhaust cam in an Altima, the correct version Altima exhaust cam HAS to be used (this means a ’93-’97 Altima exhaust cam is required for a ’93-’97 Altima KA24DE, and a ’98 up Altima exhaust cam is required for a ’98 up Altima KA24DE) because the distributor drive bearing diameters are different between the two versions. MAJOR NOTE: if an earlier ’91-’97 cam is used in any ’98 up engine, then the rear oil plug in the cam will have to be punched in deeper past the oil feed hole that feeds the rear most #6 cam bearing in order to avoid spraying oil around in the valve cover area!!! (this is not necessary if a later ’98 up cam is used in the earlier ’91-’97 engines…but then why would anyone want to do that since the later cams have reduced duration specs & thus lower performance!).

Now for all the cam specifications:1) ’91-’93 240SX (S13) - Note: '94 exh specs are slightly different intake cam = 240 deg duration with a 1.6699”-1.6774” lobe height (intake opens 1 deg after TDC & closes 61 deg after BDC) exhaust cam = 248 deg duration with a 1.6699”-1.6931” lobe height (exhaust opens 64 deg before BDC & closes 4 deg after TDC)2) '94 240SX (S13) intake cam = 240 deg duration with a 1.6699”-1.6774” lobe height (intake opens 1 deg after TDC & closes 61 deg after BDC) exhaust cam = 248 deg duration with a 1.6699”-1.6931” lobe height (exhaust opens 60 deg before BDC & closes 8 deg after TDC)3) ’95-’98 240SX (S14) intake cam = 232 deg duration with a 1.6699”-1.6774” lobe height (intake opens 1 deg after TDC & closes 53 deg after BDC) exhaust cam = 232 deg duration with a 1.6699”-1.6774” lobe height (exhaust opens 48 deg before BDC & closes 4 deg after TDC)4) ’93-’95 Altima intake cam = 240 deg duration with a 1.6699”-1.6774” lobe height (intake opens 1 deg after TDC & closes 61 deg after BDC) exhaust cam = 248 deg duration with a 1.6699”-1.6931” lobe height (exhaust opens 60 deg before BDC & closes 8 deg after TDC)5) ’96 Altima intake cam = 240 deg duration with a 1.6699”-1.6774” lobe height (intake opens 1 deg after TDC & closes 61 deg after BDC) exhaust cam = 248 deg duration with a 1.6856”-1.6931” lobe height (exhaust opens 64 deg before BDC & closes 4 deg after TDC) (Note: Ca exh cam has 232 deg duration with a 1.6699”-1.6774” lobe height) (Note: Ca exhaust opens 48 deg before BDC & closes 4 deg after TDC)6) ’97 Altima intake cam = 240 deg duration with a 1.6699”-1.6774” lobe height (intake opens 1 deg after TDC & closes 61 deg after BDC) exhaust cam = 232 deg duration with a 1.6699”-1.6774” lobe height (exhaust opens 48 deg before BDC & closes 4 deg after TDC)7) ’98–’99 Altima intake cam = 232 deg duration with a 1.6734”-1.6809” lobe height (intake opens 1 deg after TDC & closes 53 deg after BDC) exhaust cam = 216 deg duration with a 1.6104”-1.6179” lobe height (exhaust opens 32 deg before BDC & closes 4 deg after TDC)8) ’00-’01 Altima intake cam = 224 deg duration with a 1.6551”-1.6626” lobe height (intake opens 1 deg after TDC & closes 45 deg after BDC) exhaust cam = 240 deg duration with a 1.6551”-1.6626” lobe height (exhaust opens 53 deg before BDC & closes 7 deg after TDC)9) ’98-’00 Frontier intake cam = 232 deg duration with a 1.673”-1.681” lobe height (intake opens 1 deg after TDC & closes 53 deg after BDC) exhaust cam = 216 deg duration with a 1.610”-1.618” lobe height (exhaust opens 32 deg before BDC & closes 4 deg after TDC)10) ’01-’04 Frontier intake cam = 224 deg duration with a 1.644”-1.651” lobe height (intake opens 1 deg after TDC & closes 45 deg after BDC) exhaust cam = 224 deg duration with a 1.646”-1.654” lobe height (exhaust opens 37 deg before BDC & closes 7 deg after TDC)

What’s interesting about all of the above cam specs is that both the S13 & S14 240SX’s are rated as having the same 155 hp output even though the cam specs are vastly different. Not only that, but all of the ’93-’99 Altima’s are rated as having a 150 hp output, whereas the ’00-’01 Altima’s were changed to claim a 155 hp output (the same as the 240SX). Once again that seems a bit strange considering that all of the cam specs are so different between the different Altima models. On top of all that, all of the Frontier versions are listed as a 143 hp output despite the difference in cam specs in the ’00 back models & the ’01 up models. What gives here? Perhaps Nissan is bull****ting us as to the actual power ratings, or can ECM programming account for all of these differences? Granted the comp ratio of both the Altima’s & Frontiers is 9.2:1 vs the 9.5:1 that the 240SX’s have, but that would only amount to about a 1.5 hp difference between them at the most. Also the intake manifold & runner diameter is smaller on the Frontier vs the Altima & 240SX, which could amount to up to about a 4.5 hp difference (this value is based on the fact that the better flowing SOHC KA24E manifold that was used on the Stanza only increased its power rating 4 hp over the smaller runner truck intake despite the 8.6:1 comp ratio & cam being identical). Thus if a Frontier engine were to have the 240SX intake manifold & 9.5:1 pistons retrofitted into it, you would probably experience an overall increase of about 6 hp or so bringing up the power rating to only 149 hp. This would imply that all the different cams are really only good for about a 5-6 hp difference between them all.

Just as an interesting comparison, ALL of the SOHC KA24E engines have the following specs:

10) ’89-’90 240SX, ’90-’97 Hardbody truck, & ’90-‘92 Stanza intake cam = 240 deg duration with a 1.7653”-1.7728” lobe height (intake opens 3 deg before TDC & closes 57 deg after BDC) exhaust cam = 248 deg duration with a 1.7653”-1.7728” lobe height (exhaust opens 56 deg before BDC & closes 12 deg after TDC)

The above specs for the SOHC KA24DE are close to being the same as the ’91-’94 240SX DOHC KA24DE engine, yet it only makes 140 hp vs the 155 hp that the DOHC version makes. But all is NOT the same here…it really isn’t a true apples to apples comparison since the SOHC 3 valve KA24E engine has smaller intake valve diameters that have only 86.8% of the open area that the DOHC motor has and only a single exhaust valve that has only 82.1% of the open area that the DOHC motor has. Basically if the hp were to be considered as a linear function in relation to the airflow (which is dependant on the valve area), then for all practical purposes you could expect a decrease in power of around 15% between the SOHC & DOHC engines when both have the same comp ratio & cam timing due to the valve diameters alone. This would suggest that the 155 hp would drop to somewhere close to 131 hp or so. In reality it should really be compared to the 150 hp ’93-’95 Altima engine since it has a 9.2:1 comp ratio vs the 9.1 that the early SOHC 240SX had, and both have similar cam timing. As we can see that only amounts to a 10 hp difference which is only about a 7% difference. This would imply that the SOHC KA24E engine would easily match the DOHC KA24DE engine in power if the intake valves were simply increased in size to match the DOHC intake valve sizes (36.6mm vs 34.1mm), and if the single exhaust valve were to be increased in size from 40.1mm to 44.2mm (this is about a 1.74” dia valve vs the stock SOHC’s 1.58” exhaust valve) to match the same valve area as the DOHC’s two exhaust valves. An interesting observation (courtesy of Adam Hutchison on the Fresh Alloy website) is that the stock SOHC intake flows 208 cfm vs 240 cfm for the DOHC engine (that is about a 14% difference...virtually the same as the valve open area difference). The stock SOHC exhaust flows 145 cfm vs 196 cfm for the DOHC engine (that is about a 26% difference...which is worse than would be expected in relation to the actual valve open area difference, so the exhaust port would probably require a little porting work as well to match the DOHC’s exhaust side). Adam also reported that with porting work on the SOHC head and still using the stock valve sizes that the intake flow increased to 240 cfm (the exact same as a stock DOHC intake port), and the exhaust increased to 181 cfm (which is only down about 7.5% to the stock DOHC exhaust port). My bet is that if the SOHC’s valve sizes were increased as I previously mentioned and some slight port work were to be done that the SOHC KA24E would more than be a match for the DOHC KA24DE even with its stock cam (never mind if the Nissan Motorsports R4 cam were to be installed, as that would push it way beyond the DOHC KA24DE!!!!

Sorry for the long read, but hey hopefully there is a lot of useful info here!!!!!!!!

Modified by tloof at 3:31 PM 4/18/2006

Modified by tloof at 3:39 PM 4/18/2006
Modified by tloof at 10:11 AM 5/1/2006

so question about the 93-95 atlima exhaust cam..

it is the same as the 94 240sx exhaust cam..

can u compare running the 248/248 cam swap using the 91-93 exhaust cams

then using the altima exhaust cam as an intake cam which would be a better swap? 60* v 64* 8* v 4*... im not to good with this but it be nice to know which 248/248 would be best

248/248 uusing both 91-93 cams248/248 using 93-95 altima cams248/248 using stock s13 exhaust can and atlime cam as intake248/248 using altia cam as exhaust and s13 as intake

also if i was looking for mid rnage power which would be the best 240/232 or 248/232 or 248/240 i wish i knew how to figure this all out..

sorry if this is too much trouble...

Ok you mentioned ca intake/exhaust cams under number 5....

A ca has a 240 degree intake cam, and exhaust is rated at 248 degrees.Where did you get the 232 number from?

Also maybe you can help me with this, what can you use from the ca valvetrain....lifters, valvesprings, cams retainers.....Obviously a lot of people havent heard about this yet.

maybe he ment california......

Yes,

That is exactly what I meant by Ca. Only the California Altima models in '96 had the 232 deg exh cam in them along with the 240 deg int cam, while the Fed versions still had the 248 deg exh cam in them.

I did answer the question of which 248 deg exh cam is best to use in my posts under "My comments on 248/240 S13 cam swap" originally started by DJPantsSpecR. In those posts I also cover the 240/232 combo and the 248/248 & 248/240 combos. Take a look at that post and it will answer all your questions!!

Tloof well put observation. But I also feel that there needs to be more clarity representing the ECU tuning and the changes in the smog tech as well.Both OBD and OBD1 KA's utilized SCV's actually taking up precious diameter space that could of been used to increase there CFM. DOHC OBD2 intake manifolds use no SCV, and there for can use a less significant lobe and duration cam when compared to the SOHC and the DOHC's, and were able to use it much more effeciently, making a better CFM rating in the higher RPM range.Even in the ecu tuning there isn't to much of a signicant change in the maps between OBD and OBD1, the greatest significance was in OBD 2, which could be seen drastically as the OBD2 engines could produce the same power output as the OBD1 DOHCs using less lobe and duration in the cams 232/232. Mostly due to it's MAPS, making knock less pertinent, and actually increasing it's timing to increase power output to 155 at the flywheel.If you ask me it's just poor programming on the part of nissan when they devised there On Board Diagnostics for OBD and OBD1. It's more of what lacks in the ecu tuning than in the cams itself.Just the removal of the SCV's on OBD1 DOHC's is about a 6WHP increase.As far as the SOHC and DOHC engines being comparitve in making the same power you are pretty much correct, even though the SOHC can not utilize curtain space to increase it's exhaust flow the head itself has much more room to port unlike the DOHC. Although the downfall of the SOHC is infact its ineffeciency to tune different settings in overlap which is something that can be done with the DOHC's. DOHC's are still much better as far as oil flow since it uses oil squirters, so on any level why bother with an ancient SOHC engine, although it can make the same achievable power.As far as achievable power nothing surpasses OBD1 KA24de's without a cam change these engines can use there 240/248, with just the removal of the SCV's and continue to make much more power in the mid end and high end.Then with an ecu tune to bring up ignition timing, closed loop disabled, there really is no need for any other cam swapping unless it is something to the liking of the PDM, JimWolfe Technology, or crower cams.I admire this write up since it would of probably given me a headache to go through every KA lobe and duration cam.

Still on any level to properlly tune an exhaust 248 onto INT. it will need a adjustable timing sprocket.

By the way, if you want piston squirters in a SOHC application then a truck version DE block from a Frontier can be used with a SOHC head bolted onto it (both the truck version E & DE blocks are identical with the exception that the DE block has a knock sensor boss & the piston squirters added to it).

I am already using a '95 up 240SX upper intake that doesn't have the SCV valves in it on the Frontier DE conversion in my 720 truck. I also have a JWT OBD 1 ECU that I am planning to use on it. The comp ratio on that engine is 9.2:1 instead of the 9.5:1 that the 240SX engine has, so it should be slightly more tolerant of knocking on poor quality fuel. I am also using the 240/232 cam combo which is better for low to mid range power while still having decent high end power. I think the JWT OBD1 ECU is programmed more aggressively like the OBD2 ECU's were, so hopefully this combo works well together!!

If you ever put it on the dyno. I would like to compare and contrast the difference in the Torque curve, between the 240/248, and your 240/232.Although there will be slight differences in the degredation loss since you use a 200sx/frontier transmission (FS5W71C) , open diff. I use the 240sx transmission (FS5W71C), Aluminum flywheel, with a VLSD. It should be very interesting......
Modified by Bigvinnie at 4:25 PM 5/18/2006

my question is...

i want to do some cam swaping with various stock cams to change my power band.. im looking for power from 2500-6500 (this would be my ideal powerband) but ill settle with anyhting thats close..

now i would like your opinion on which cam combinations to try first to achievew a powerband close tot hat...

im thinking of trying

240/232 first since this onese easy..then 248/232 (using altima exhaust cam 93-95)then 248/240 (using altima cam probably, unless 240sx exhaust cam be better..)

opinions??

thanks

tloof or anyone!!! I'm workin on a friends 99 ALtima w/ the KA24DE w/DOHCs and we have the cam timing off Could you tell me what marks I need to line up properly? Thank you!!!

The reason that there is no power difference between the 240sx's is at least partly due to manifold design. The later DE's lacked the butterfly valves that restrict air flow. If I'm not mistaken, removing these from the older version will cause idle problems as they are figured into the ECU program.

This is some awesome info I was under the impression that my 00' Altima had 232/232 int/Exh cams Glad I was wrong. I recently Dropped a 248/exh cam as my int, cause I couldnt swap my exhaust cam due to the cam being to short and not being able to reach the distributor slots ( so all altima owners planning the swap be forewornd its not possible unless the exhaust cam has notches for the distributor)But its awesome im running 248/240 int/exh not 248/232 which was what I was under the impression of. Car rips from 3.8k til redline and I still dont have the basic bolt-ons I can only imagine with an open exhaust and intake.

TravisD wrote: If I'm not mistaken, removing these from the older version will cause idle problems as they are figured into the ECU program.

Technically yeah...But eeh at the same time not really. You can adjust idle,TPS, or advance the timing a bit to fool the ecu. Kind of archaic, but it works.... It doesn't effect idle as much as it effects, the low end power band. Make's the engine much more high end powered.EDIT: I failed to mention that the SCV's are vacuum actuated and controlled, disconecting the actuall SCV's shouldn't do anything, but have a slight bog in IDLE. SCV's were only designed to atomize a rich fuel mixture at low RPM with a mild throttle.


Modified by Bigvinnie at 7:50 PM 6/26/2006

Does nissan use any identifin marks or numbers on the actual cam to designate them? I just had my the seal in the head replaced and had to pull cams. Bought these cams two years ago and I ordered 2 91 ka exhaust cams, I want to be sure I got what I paid for. My cams have a number 4 just about halfway on the cam stem (in between the cam lobes) and also 53 degrees or 53F. Do these numbers mean ne thing. One of the cams has orange stripe the other has green stripe.

Sounds like you got an intake cam and an exhaust cam off a 91 not two exhaust cams. Green is intake cam which has 240 duration and orange is exhaust cam with 248 duration.

Hey Tloof can you get those cam specs @ duration 0.05 in. or 0.04 in. (1mm). Cause im guessing those specs posted above where advertised duration. Im wanting to know so I can compare diffrent brands such as Crowers, JWT etc., And I think it will help clean up confusion about different specs on cams.

So how do we find these cams? just searching yards or i guess you could always just have them ordered eh?

Got mine from ebay for 60$ first mod I did to my ride or you can order them from nissan motorsports for a couple Hundred. I just dropped a 92 240sx Exhuast cam best bang for the buck my car rips from 3.8K til redline with an SR intake.

3dKa24 wrote:Sounds like you got an intake cam and an exhaust cam off a 91 not two exhaust cams. Green is intake cam which has 240 duration and orange is exhaust cam with 248 duration.

Careful how you read that about the stripes... the 232/232 intake/exhaust cams have the same stripes, they are just reversed. I have three sets of S13 cams and two S14 cams and the stripes all correlate to S13: green-intake, orange-exhaust and S14: orange-intake, green-exhaust

Here is a 232 intake /232 exhaust in my 95' S14

im new to this site but i was jus wonderin about this camshaft. will it fit on my 03 2.4L nissan frontier?

http://www.horsepowerfreaks.co...age_2

im lookin to push my motor to 150 or 160 to the wheels jus by adding a magnaflow catback, pacesetter headers, and camshafts from a 240

i already have a intake but im lookin to push more hp

Hi, i have some questionsif have the valve in my 240sx 98where is located de SCV's in my 240sx 98? if you have a picture i Appreciate.

and how can i remove to increase the power?

Thanks

Your not reading enough.scv's are in OBD1 KA24de's, a 98 is OBD2.

03frontin wrote:im new to this site but i was jus wonderin about this camshaft. will it fit on my 03 2.4L nissan frontier?

http://www.horsepowerfreaks.co...age_2

im lookin to push my motor to 150 or 160 to the wheels jus by adding a magnaflow catback, pacesetter headers, and camshafts from a 240

i already have a intake but im lookin to push more hp

about the cams fitting in youre truck.. they will the engine set up is the same (distributor at the fron of the engine) pretty much the same set up being that ur truck is rwd.. but going with those cams i would reconmend going to the bc springs and retainers. to prevent valve floating at higher rpms. and if youre going to put the cams in might as well pull the head, lap the valves, i believe if ur going to go ahead and change cams it would be a nice idea to change springs and lap the valves but thats just me.

I was doing the 248 cams in my 98...so I pushed the plug in deeper...the problem is it's not really that 'tight' once you do this.

JWT said on their cams that last journal is fine to leave open.

I have not tested this. I sort of worry about that galley plug working its way down the cam and blocking the good journals. This weekend I am going to check it and see if it moved at all.

*EDIT* forgot to add. ONLY NON-240SX's in 1998 moved to a single row timing chain. I have a 1998 and it is just like any other and can use normal timing gears.
Modified by alkemyst at 11:14 PM 4/12/2008

Quick question

I have a 95 240sx OBD 1 cams

are these 240/248 or like all the S14 232/232

FDNiss240sx wrote:Quick question

I have a 95 240sx OBD 1 cams

are these 240/248 or like all the S14 232/232

AFAIK all S14's have 232/232. The only odd child is the 94 vert. The cams were timed slightly different than the 91-93's.

you wouldnt happen to know where i could get a hold of camshaft for an 89 240sx?

hrm now i dont knoweither i make a 450 hp KA whatever i have one of each the KA24-E and KA24DE Or i go to a stroker SR20DE (NA) ITB setup i do like aluminum.

does anybody have a picture of the cam gears when you do these swaps? i think i just put the 248/248 in my car and its putting fuel back through the intake on cylnder #4? i retarded the intake cam 4 teeth like ive been told, am i off by one or what? need help asap!!!

240killer wrote:does anybody have a picture of the cam gears when you do these swaps? i think i just put the 248/248 in my car and its putting fuel back through the intake on cylnder #4? i retarded the intake cam 4 teeth like ive been told, am i off by one or what? need help asap!!!

Go to Jim Wolf Technology's website and they have good write ups.

Your cam may be out of spec or the shims off. Mine specced ok on the shims but must have been bad on a lobe or two as I made no power, had no vacuum and was lucky to get 125 miles on a full tank.

I went back to 232/232 as I had three sets of these cams sent and so far all had problems.