# Cam specs for LUJ LUV



## a2chris (Jan 13, 2017)

Hello everyone.

I will be looking into pulling the head on my LUJ for a low compression issue on one of the cylinders. I figured since I had it off, I would do some porting/cleanup and install stronger springs.
I was curious if anyone knew the specs for the cams in the LUJ and is it the same as the LUV? Is it also the same as the N/A LUU from the Volt(84hp) or are they the same as the cams from the N/A LDD and L2N(99hp)?

Any info would be great.

Thanks


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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

This isn't exactly what you asked for, but it is a little more than what you have.

GM EFI Magazine

Family 0 Engines

GM 1.4 Liter Turbo I4 Ecotec LUJ/LUV Engine


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## a2chris (Jan 13, 2017)

Blasirl said:


> This isn't exactly what you asked for, but it is a little more than what you have.
> 
> GM EFI Magazine
> 
> ...


Thanks for the info.
None of those list the cam specs though. I am basically trying to find out if the non-turbo family 0 1.4 engines LDD and L2N have a hotter cam than the turbo 1.4.
I know some people have inquired about upgrade cams for our engine but I have not found anyone trying this creative upgrade method.


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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

a2chris said:


> Thanks for the info.
> None of those list the cam specs though. I am basically trying to find out if the non-turbo family 0 1.4 engines LDD and L2N have a hotter cam than the turbo 1.4.
> I know some people have inquired about upgrade cams for our engine but I have not found anyone trying this creative upgrade method.


I have looked high and low for quite some time. That post about the 2.2l was the "only" post I could find with any cam specs. If someone has theirs torn down, they could at least give you the lift, by measuring the base circle of the cam and subtract it from the thickness across the cam lobe's highest point. (included for the general population) As for the duration, you will have to find someone with a Cam Doctor.


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## a2chris (Jan 13, 2017)

Blasirl said:


> I have looked high and low for quite some time.


Yeah, I have never had this much trouble finding info for one of my cars.
I can get the general specs of mine with a dial gauge and degree wheel but still need the specs for the other applications/engines.
A mechanic friend is looking to see if he can find them somewhere.
Thanks.


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## a2chris (Jan 13, 2017)

Still have not been able to find any specs for these cams. i did get a chance to use a dial caliper on a LUV engine and the lobe lift for the intake is 17mm and the exhaust is much lower at 13mm. I have no idea of the actuator/rocker ratio though so I will see if I can measure the valve lift directly.


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## carbon02 (Feb 25, 2011)

There's a post by "Preloader" over on the sonic forum that has some measurements of components. I know he removed the cams from the head. 

The problem becomes timing tools to get the head back on. There have only been two people that I'm aware of that have pulled heads and replaced them. One person was in a custom built air boat, and the other was Mark222 (sorry if I got this handle wrong.) Both have mentioned that the GM designed head tools are required.


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## EricSmit (Dec 21, 2016)

carbon02 said:


> There's a post by "Preloader" over on the sonic forum that has some measurements of components. I know he removed the cams from the head.
> 
> The problem becomes timing tools to get the head back on. There have only been two people that I'm aware of that have pulled heads and replaced them. One person was in a custom built air boat, and the other was Mark222 (sorry if I got this handle wrong.) Both have mentioned that the GM designed head tools are required.


1.4L Teardown/Modification - Chevy Sonic Owners Forum


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## a2chris (Jan 13, 2017)

The thread did not show him re-assemble. When he replaced his engine, I think he got different one that had the salvage yard markings on it.


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## speedworxs (Jul 9, 2017)

i found a cam on ebay in europe, its for the a14xer (LDD)
i need a good tool to measure, but i can at least find max lift , not any of the timing and such


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## speedworxs (Jul 9, 2017)

good news and bad... got the european cam measured, and this is what i was told :
Lift .280 Duration 172


So there is an increase in lift, duration is pretty much, or possibly exactly the same.


It is better than stock, but for the work involved, I'm not sure I would bother with the swap

BUT i would swap, since a stock cam is going to be quite reliable, and the increased lift would be beneficial to the turbo; not going to be a huge increase, but in this motor i don't think the cam swap is terrible to do.


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## a2chris (Jan 13, 2017)

What did you measure the stock lift at? Did you have both intake and exhaust measured? The intake cam on mine had much higher lift than the exhaust.


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## speedworxs (Jul 9, 2017)

i had the exhaust cam , i sent to a guy in ontario (from the sonic board) and he measured it. he is also going to make another cam profile to experiment with. 
i'll see if i can find the link...
Performance cams 1.4/1.8 - Chevy Sonic Owners Forum


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## a2chris (Jan 13, 2017)

speedworxs said:


> i had the exhaust cam , i sent to a guy in ontario (from the sonic board) and he measured it. he is also going to make another cam profile to experiment with.
> i'll see if i can find the link...
> Performance cams 1.4/1.8 - Chevy Sonic Owners Forum


I was looking for that thread and forgot to check the sonic forums. Thanks
I posted over there about the A14XER/LDD cam as A2mike


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## speedworxs (Jul 9, 2017)

for some reason, i cant post on the sonic board... but can here. the luj has a slightly lower lift than the ldd, but neither of them have a lot.


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## a2chris (Jan 13, 2017)

speedworxs said:


> for some reason, i cant post on the sonic board... but can here. the luj has a slightly lower lift than the ldd, but neither of them have a lot.


Do you have specs on the LDD intake and exhaust cams. Thanks


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## a2chris (Jan 13, 2017)

So Zomby Woof over at the Sonic forums measured the stock cam and here is his results:

"Intake 

(Lift in inches, duration at .050")

Lift - .330"
Duration - 180 degrees

Exhaust 

Lift - .247"
Duration - 165 degrees"

And the LDD exhaust cam was measured at .280 lift


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## speedworxs (Jul 9, 2017)

wow, it does seem like if you could use the intake cam for the exhaust side, that would work best... lift and duration, 
but would it 'connect' to the timing chain?
for all the effort, i think an experienced engine builder, could port the head and make better results. although it would cost more than a cam.


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## a2chris (Jan 13, 2017)

speedworxs said:


> wow, it does seem like if you could use the intake cam for the exhaust side, that would work best... lift and duration,
> but would it 'connect' to the timing chain?
> for all the effort, i think an experienced engine builder, could port the head and make better results. although it would cost more than a cam.


The cam would need to be degreed to get the timing right as the normal locking tool would no longer work. 
I was going to port my head before putting in a replacement engine in but decided it was not worth it. The ports are pretty good and I think the cam is the limiting factor here.


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## speedworxs (Jul 9, 2017)

see, i wouldn't be worried about teh exact timing bar tool , as there is a section of the cam that you could grab with a wrench- but connecting it to the timing chain actuator would be the part i wonder about. if the dowel pins are oriented in the correct spot, you could use the intake cam on the exhaust side for a big increase- i don't have a cylinder head to examine myself, but i would certainly look at that (am i making sense)


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## speedworxs (Jul 9, 2017)

im looking on european sites, and i 'think' that the z12xe, z14xe, and all that family 0 (gen 2) share the same cam dimensions with gen 3. *maybe
so if you found some uk cam manufacturer with a better profile for the z12xe, for example, which seems to have a little bit of choice available


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## jmardlin (Jan 29, 2021)

Well from what I see for aftermarket cams on the 1.4 your stock intake cam does get installed on the exhaust side and you use the new cam in the intake side. I have not looked up the procedure for doing it but I expect you install the intake normally then rotate the motor 180° clockwise and do the exhaust side. The tool that locks the cams is just a flat bar inserted into the back of the camshafts. Then there is a separate tool that sets the position of the reluctor wheels for the cams.


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## jmardlin (Jan 29, 2021)

Correction, the cams are 180 apart from each other. There is a custom lock plate that allows you to easily swap an intake cam to the exhaust side.


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## a2chris (Jan 13, 2017)

jmardlin said:


> Correction, the cams are 180 apart from each other. There is a custom lock plate that allows you to easily swap an intake cam to the exhaust side.


Yeah my original thought was to get an LDD intake cam and put my intake cam on the exhaust. I wanted to verify the LDD intake specs first but never found them. I was guessing that our 1.4t had the 84HP cam and not the LDD 99HP cam otherwise they should have been rated for a lot more than 138HP with the stock boost that they run. Cams may not have helped since finding out the extreme restriction of the stock turbo manifold.
I now see that ZZP has 3 cams available but no specs are listed. They do state that the turbo manifold will need to be upgraded to see any gain.
Sucks that it took so long for some decent performance parts to come out for the LUJ/LUV. 
I would almost be more tempted to get a gen2 Cruze since it is lighter and has more stock power. It also has the option of putting a 1.5 in it and then go from there on up.


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## jmardlin (Jan 29, 2021)

a2chris said:


> Yeah my original thought was to get an LDD intake cam and put my intake cam on the exhaust. I wanted to verify the LDD intake specs first but never found them. I was guessing that our 1.4t had the 84HP cam and not the LDD 99HP cam otherwise they should have been rated for a lot more than 138HP with the stock boost that they run. Cams may not have helped since finding out the extreme restriction of the stock turbo manifold.
> I now see that ZZP has 3 cams available but no specs are listed. They do state that the turbo manifold will need to be upgraded to see any gain.
> Sucks that it took so long for some decent performance parts to come out for the LUJ/LUV.
> I would almost be more tempted to get a gen2 Cruze since it is lighter and has more stock power. It also has the option of putting a 1.5 in it and then go from there on up.


I now have 2 LUV intake cams in mine along with tuning and a ported stock intake. I really didn't notice a power difference but the engine likes the cam change. It has much improved idle quality. So much so that it pulls 1.5 inches more vacuum at 680 rpm. When the weather gets better it will get the ZZP BWV3 turbo put back on. The first one had a mechanical defect and failed catastrophically after 5 weeks of use. One reason the LUV makes so little power is the restrictions in the intake. They respond well to porting and the boost drops considerably with them removed on the stock tune. Mine dropped to about 9psi lije that which is in line with the listed power output and what they make NA. One other note is that since the cam swap it revs easier than before. I just can't stay on the throttle real hard once I get above 5k because I startbto get intake valve bounce. It really could use some better valve springs which will get done when the turbo does.


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