# Sticky  KA24 cam comparisons



## rogoman (Dec 16, 2004)

Here's an article I found on the internet. Author unknown.
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*KA24 cams*

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 = 232 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 bullshitting 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)


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