How To Pass Emissions With Aftermarket Cams

Well heres a thought, and besides my thought please post own comments and theorys.........

Come on you guys and gearheads tell me if shorter pushrods can a help a 422 comp cam pass emissions better? I know it would not run so well but I see a major reduction in overlap at only the cost of needing new valve covers. Am I the only person who have thought about this? Come on this can be a big breakthrough for us. I have heard guys with the 410 cam running stock rods and it not working to full potential (hint,hint) but their trucks still run fine well if this is so what possibly would be the proper length for the shorter rods?

And y not get the 410 cam, I don't want to be dissapointed and want the 422 that much more.

 

[Jakee]

Well heres a thought, and besides my thought please post own comments and theorys.........

Come on you guys and gearheads tell me if shorter pushrods can a help a 422 comp cam pass emissions better? I know it would not run so well but I see a major reduction in overlap at only the cost of needing new valve covers. Am I the only person who have thought about this? Come on this can be a big breakthrough for us. I have heard guys with the 410 cam running stock rods and it not working to full potential (hint,hint) but their trucks still run fine well if this is so what possibly would be the proper length for the shorter rods?

And y not get the 410 cam, I don't want to be dissapointed and want the 422 that much more.

I assume you're having a hard time passing emissions, right? I guess you're not running cats also, right? Is this the problem you're having?

 

[Makahveli]

Actually I haven't even bought a cam yet, but want to install one really bad, and yes I have a stock cat on the ex still.

 

[Makahveli]

I have another year till emissions are due anyways (every 2 years here)

 

[Jakee]

I wouldn't think you'd have a problem if your cats are still there and there's no check engine light on? Could be wrong but the cats burn off any excess gases that manage to make it thru. That's why they get RED HOT when the truck is not running correctly. (Trying to burn off the unburned fuel)

 

[pufferfish]

don't quite understand how shorter pushrods could even allow it to run. a correctly sized pushrod sits on top of the lifter with a small aount of preload. if you shorten the pushrod, your preload is gone and you will likely be throwing pushrods around violently. am i wrong? am i not thinking about it right? was the statement interpreted wrong?

 

[jah81592]

Just a thought. Good tuning, good tune up and if you are wanting less from the cam just install a lower ratio rocker arm. Just food for thought more ratio the "larger" the cam will act.-J

 

[410Fortune]

where is the proof a 422 grind wont pass the CO sniffer and visual inspection?
I heard a long time ago the 422 grind was not CA emissions legal, the problem is if you give it a try and fail you may be 100% screwed, even with CO's lienient number limits for exhaust emissions. With the blower and the cam its going to requie a good dyno tune to get the emissions in limits I am guessing, this can get $$$$$$$$ real fast and in Denver it may be difficult to find people with the ability to tune your V6.

the 410 grind cam can work with stock pushrods, but that does not make it optimum.

What other mods are you planning for the OHV 4.0L? I see the TB and headers in your sig, is the 422 recommended for the blower? Any head work planned?)
because just tossing the cam in there without being able to take advantage of it is not a good way to spend $$$, the milder 410 grind may be better suited for you and the 6-8 psi blower?? Also keep in mind in CO 6-8psi will only get you back to sea level up here
Is this a daily driver? the 422 I heard is pretty aggressive, do not expect a smooth idle at all

 

[jah81592]

Tuning with cams

The first thing I would do is make sure I have good plugs gapped properly,clean air filter,new o2's,good fuel filters, clean MAF (very important). Ensure your hard parts are good before tuning. If you don't approach this method first then tuning cannot help if the support hardware isn't good.There are several different ways you can tune your setup. The only thing I with cams at idle when in closed loop the exhaust (o2's) will see raw fuel(due to the longer duration cam and slight intake/exhaust overlap) leaning out your mixture. Your engine will be lean because the o2's think since they are seeing raw fuel the engine needs to be leaned out. In reality this is not the case (overly rich idle condition) as usual when adding cams this is the problem, hence the bad "rolling" idle and hard starting,etc. Now there are ways to tune around your setup. If you were in/near Alabama I could tune your driveability on the street! A dyno tune is good but for emissions I really recommend street tuning (due to the real world loading conditions). At which time we could go to the dyno and tune for you HP #'s for WOT! Contact me if interested. Thanks-James

BTW I would not change pushrods or rockers. It would make the rocker not be centered on the valve correctly(too much rocker angle).Tune it the way it is! If you are going to pass emissions you will do it with your existing setup anyway.

 

[Makahveli]

Wow its nice to see this thread has finally came around. I still haven't installed the blower, headers, or the 422 cam yet but its all here. I'm trying to wait till June when my emissions are due and after that I will have two years to play with the setup. I thought that beside getting my chip flashed there isn't much I can do to tune a first gex explorer. I have all the bolts on, and internals i only plan on doing the cam pushrods and springs, what am I missing? Its not a daily driver, thats what the benz is for. And what am I really trying to create? I'm not even sure anymore but its my first ride that I feel I'll never sell. It may sound nuts but I just bought a set tires on 22"s for it, but will still alternate time to time with the mud-allterrain tires. I'll sometime scrap the bodylift if I can ever find some stock bodybolts and bushings and remain with just the 4inch suspension. And yeah the cam is aggressive I heard but I do have a 5-speed manual tranny which I heard they are better for.

Jah- of all the things you mentioned the oldest is of 4 years old and the plugs are those ngk iridiums almost 2 years old with less than 3k miles on them. How much tuning can one actually do with a 4 program SCT ship? (already installed)

 

[jah81592]

Chip or flasher(for newer vehicles) doesn't matter,the tuning software is where the tuning is at! The chip or flasher only intercept what the pcm/ecm is doing. So in theory the SCT software we tune with is the heart of the system for direction. The chip or flasher only relays the messages. Depending upon your mods the more dependant you will be on the tuning. For instance my truck won't even start up without tuning!!!!!!

 

[Tbars4]

...Any updates on this thread???...

 

[reserved50]

I say who cares, get it tested stock then worry about it 2 YEARS from now

 

[Tbars4]

...Actually, I care...

...If you look at his signature it says he has the SCT 5 chip, the cam, etc. waiting on the dynotune...:biggthump

 

[jd4242]

yea i know this is an old thread but do you still need to change your pushrod length if you use stock rocker arms

 

[Makahveli]

Sorry to all of you I still haven't got my ride dynoed yet as I have gotten too caught-up with many projects as I messed around and started working on my mercedes as well and with the economy and the way it's been I've had to put things off cause I'm a single guy and live alone so I got to pay my bills alone. I will be getting the explorer dynotuned with the tax return I'll get this time around!!!

And about the pushrods you will need different lengths if your getting a different cam no matter what!!! I'm still using my stock rockers too (couldn't find a source for aftermarket rockers!!!)

 

[jd4242]

i have the 410 cam and stock rockers any one know what size pushrods i will need??

 

[jd4242]

fyi the 410 and 422 need .050 longer pushrods than stock its 5.525 and are from smith bro.