Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) Cam help!!!

[dspoon]

Alright guys & girls I need help on deciding weather or not to go with a cam the F1 Helix 2 cam in my setup. See my sig. below. A lot of people have told me thats what I need to bring my egts down they say it's the cheapest bang for your money I am having high egts pulling 1250+

on the grades my camper weights in around 10500 fully loaded water and all. Can everyone please tell me the pros and cons of a cam for everyday driving and pulling

Thanks: Rich

 

[PC12Driver]

Once it's in, there are no drawbacks to a cam. Most mods have a trade-off, but not in this case. A little better low end, cooler egts across the board (100-200* on top, 50* at cruise), less smoke, and probably a tad better milage. All the benefits of stepping up a turbo size without the associated lag.



I guess that one downside could be that you really don't "feel" any difference between the before and after. A cam is not a horsepower mod. It's not like swapping injectors and feeling the extra kick of power. But you will notice a decrease in egts. Think of it as a support modification for extra horsepower, like adding an exhaust or modding the lift pump.



There is a lot of stuff that has to be unbolted to do the swap, but it isn't difficult. The most technical part of the process is adjusting the valves after reassembly. Swapping the gear could be a pain, too (or the lazy way - I just took it to the local machine shop and they pressed it off/on for $15). And although not difficult, it is sorta stressful for the time that the cam is out knowing that wooden dowel rods are the only thing keeping your tappets from falling into your oilpan...

 

[BDaugherty]

I haven't done a cam swap in a 5. 9 Cummins, but I've been reading about it. The concensus seems to be that you'll get better mileage, faster turbo spoolup, slightly better bottom end power, cooler EGTs, and less smoke. Driveability should be improved. The drawbacks seem to be that said aftermarket cams are not emissions and installing one is not a shade tree job. It can certainly be done at home, but it's not a simple bolt on like a box or turbo.

 

[darkhorse]

There isn't much I can add to what's already been said. I had a Haisley street cam installed & I love it. What's most noticeable from the seat of the pants is the quick spool.

 

[aircop]

Love my Helix2, it spools turbo faster, lowers egts, extends powerband if you have the fuel for it. I also picked up about 1 mpg. Cam install is not that hard just labor intensive.

 

[WILLD420]

Throw that little HY turbo away.

I bought what was supposed to be an HX-35 off ebay, turned out to be an HY-35W? It's about the same size or bigger than an HX-35, but mine had a 14CM exhaust housing on it and a machined intake impeller.

WOW. Holy Cow Batman, what a difference a turbo makes. I dropped at least 50 Degrees EGT at IDLE... Used to have a hard time getting below 400 degrees no matter how long it idled. Now it will get down to 300-325 if it sits long enough.

I haven't pulled with it yet, but my cruising temps went down at least 75 Degrees across the board, and even more at WOT.

With the factory turbo I saw 1250 almost instantly at WOT and it would hit 1350 before 2nd gear was done with my edge set on 3. If I set it on 5 it would hit 1350 before I could get out of 1st gear. Now I can set it on 5 and it never goes above 1280 all the way through the gears up to the time I lift.

I'm hoping to try pulling here shortly. I'm expecting my temps which were running 1280-1300 to drop into the 1150-1200 range. I had to really watch the EGT's or I'd hit 1300 at less than 1/2 throttle on the tow setting and 1300 was pretty easy to hit on the stock setting at 3/4 throttle.

I know you think you will hate the spool up of the bigger turbo, but the $500 I spent on the turbo was worth every penny. It took 2 days to figure out how to get it mounted and make a wastegate controller work, but it was worth every penny when I take off and it walks the back end sideways and never gets above 1280 all the way to 100 MPH...

Good luck. Let us know how it turns out.

BTW, I live in Northern Nevada at about 4800ft Elevation.