Comp Cams 400

03blackrt · Post by **03blackrt** » Wed Apr 26, 2006 5:57 pm

Here’s my review of the Comp Cams 400 grind camshaft (107-400-8 259 HR).

I installed it in my 03 r/t. Before I purchased the cam I called Comp Cams “cam helpline” (1-800-999-0853) to find out more about the cam. The guy I talked with was very helpful. He stated that it was designed to work with all stock valve train parts including stock cam gear and valve springs. He did say that a little float may occur with stock (Magnum) valve springs at higher rpm. He recommended Mopar Performance springs (P5249846), but they were not absolutely necessary. He stated all around power gain is expected with substantial gains above 3,600 rpm. Next, I placed an order to Summit and received the camshaft in two days.

Installation is very straight forward. I followed the Mopar repair manual. Installation took around three hours. You must remove the stuff on the driver’s side (intake, battery, etc), the stuff on the passenger side of the engine (mounts, etc), and then you can freely remove and reinstall the camshafts. Not very complicated, just have to keep track of all the nuts and bolts

. I used the stock cam gear and valve springs.

Valve cover off...

Stock cam...

Engine jacked up on pass. side to allow better working angles...

Cam out....

The 400 cam and stock rockers...

All (I hope) parts back on....

Break-in was done by allowing the engine to run at around 3,000 rpm for several minuets and then light driving for several miles while slowly increasing shift rpm. The computer compensated drastically for the first 50 or so miles by dumping in A LOT of fuel, causing a few LARGE backfires

. After about 50 miles the car started to run more smoothly. The car didn’t feel very strong at first, but after 1,000 miles the car started pulling like crazy in the upper rpm’s. Now I have about 3,500 miles on the cam. Power below 3,500 rpm is marginally better, after 3,500 rpm the engine really takes off. The power increase is most noticeable at high rpm’s in 3rd and 4th (and 5th

) gears (were the car use to strugle). The car does have a noticeable loop at an idle (very cool sounding). Every once in a while the car does let out a backfire when you lug it down under 2,000 rpm. There is also a very little extra valvetrain noise compared to stock.

Overall, this was a great product for the money. It at least "feels" stronger. Comp Cams offers a great product and Summit offered great service.

Next up is a long tube header

03blackrt

BlackRoseRacing · Post by **BlackRoseRacing** » Wed Apr 26, 2006 8:05 pm

good write up....mmmm
comp 400 or crane 14....mmm

tamadrumr88 · Post by **tamadrumr88** » Wed Apr 26, 2006 10:18 pm

dang, 3hrs to install a cam!? it took me 6 hours to install my fasfabs longtube!

03blackrt · Post by **03blackrt** » Wed Apr 26, 2006 11:13 pm

BlackRoseRacing wrote:comp 400 or crane 14....mmm!

I chose the Comp 400 because it was specifically designed for the magnum motor, or so "they" say. But either is better then stock

tamadrumr88 wrote:dang, 3hrs to install a cam!? it took me 6 hours to install my fasfabs longtube!

It took about 3 hrs not including the several trips to the local parts store (to get stuff like assembly lube) and the local Chrysler garage (to get the puller for the crank pulley).

Maybe I should have also included the fact that I had a little help from my dad (a 30+ year Chrysler mechanic). He got some nice compensation for helping with the install, an '03 magnum camshaft for his '02 ES

I would gusse that it would have taken me, working alone, 4 hrs. It really isn't that bad of a job.

caustic neon · Post by **caustic neon** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 12:58 am

sweet now i cant wate to do mine

kirktalife · Post by **kirktalife** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 7:07 am

nice review, ya got me thinkin now- would you say its worth the time/money?

03blackrt · Post by **03blackrt** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 11:02 am

kirktalife wrote:would you say its worth the time/money?

well, it’s all right for the money. it has a lot of potential; potential being the key word. on a relatively stock car it’s alright; it may not produce any more hp, but it defiantly changed the power curve for the better. it should only get better with more mods such as a longtube, upped compression, etc… so if you plan on trying to get some power out of you motor, then yes it is worth it, but im no expert so take that advice for whatever its worth. i probley should have gotten a longtube first.

i also should note that it has increased noise during a cold start compared to stock, but it goes away very fast. and as a side note my highway (@70-75mph) mpg went from a solid 30mpg to 31.5mpg after the cam

. the in-town mpg went down from 25 to about 23-22. i don’t really know what that means?

i also will be going to the track (my first time

) sometime this spring/summer once I get a longtube. then I can post some 1/4 times to see if it was truly worth it.

quicksilvr · Post by **quicksilvr** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 11:58 am

03blackrt wrote:
kirktalife wrote:would you say its worth the time/money?
well, it’s all right for the money. it has a lot of potential; potential being the key word. on a relatively stock car it’s alright; it may not produce any more hp, but it defiantly changed the power curve for the better. it should only get better with more mods such as a longtube, upped compression, etc… so if you plan on trying to get some power out of you motor, then yes it is worth it, but im no expert so take that advice for whatever its worth. i probley should have gotten a longtube first.

i also should note that it has increased noise during a cold start compared to stock, but it goes away very fast. and as a side note my highway (@70-75mph) mpg went from a solid 30mpg to 31.5mpg after the cam . the in-town mpg went down from 25 to about 23-22. i don’t really know what that means?

i also will be going to the track (my first time ) sometime this spring/summer once I get a longtube. then I can post some 1/4 times to see if it was truly worth it.

Your mpg going down in town is most likely from the computer dumping in too much fuel at idle, overcompensating for the extra airflow. My mpg did the same thing when I installed my Comp 200. Went up on the highway, and down in town.

I'm also impressed with your install time. Getting that engine mount plate removed was a serious pain for me and my dad. Did you have a trick you'd care to share?

03blackrt · Post by **03blackrt** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 12:36 pm

quicksilvr wrote: I'm also impressed with your install time. Getting that engine mount plate removed was a serious pain for me and my dad. Did you have a trick you'd care to share?

No trick, I must just be a fast worker. Had all the right tools and followed the repair manual. Worked from 9am to 1pm (took about an hour to eat some lunch and get a few parts.

Geef · Post by **Geef** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 1:06 pm

request for audio clips ?

03blackrt · Post by **03blackrt** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 2:07 pm

Ill see what i can do for a sound clip this weekend. the sound isn't any louder then stock, it just has a nice loop to it at an idle

marakka · Post by **marakka** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 4:14 pm

Additional parts required for install? Also you say this was designed for a magnum motor. Would it work in a SOHC non magnum?

03blackrt · Post by **03blackrt** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 5:21 pm

marakka wrote:Additional parts required for install? Also you say this was designed for a magnum motor. Would it work in a SOHC non magnum?

no additional parts required if it is a magnum motor. direct swap. if it is not a magnum motor you must get magnum valve springs or better. it will physically fit in the standard SOHC. however, Comp Cams says it was design for the higher flowing magnum head, r/t PCM, etc...

01rtgurl · Post by **01rtgurl** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 5:25 pm

marakka wrote:Additional parts required for install? Also you say this was designed for a magnum motor. Would it work in a SOHC non magnum?

Agreed on the additional parts request. Your cam should be on the way, marakka

satrnbmb · Post by **satrnbmb** » Mon May 01, 2006 11:11 am

quicksilvr wrote:Your mpg going down in town is most likely from the computer dumping in too much fuel at idle, overcompensating for the extra airflow. My mpg did the same thing when I installed my Comp 200. Went up on the highway, and down in town.

I'm also impressed with your install time. Getting that engine mount plate removed was a serious pain for me and my dad. Did you have a trick you'd care to share?

I found that mount plate to be the biggest PITA when I did my headswap (and crane 14 install). I'm referring to the 3 REALLY long bolts that hold it on. We had to tip the motor way up and way down in order to get them out. If anyone has any tips on this I'd love to hear them. I'm also getting a little lower MPG in town on my Crane 14. I still get 30MPG or so on the highway with it though. I have a SMT6 on the car, but I never got around to pulling out fuel during part throttle driving.

03blackrt · Post by **03blackrt** » Mon May 01, 2006 12:43 pm

Another side note. Magnum valvesprings must oriented correctly if you are installing them.

satrnbmb · Post by **satrnbmb** » Tue May 02, 2006 9:00 am

03blackrt wrote:Another side note. Magnum valvesprings must oriented correctly if you are installing them.

Yeah that's what my head looked like when I pulled it. Luckily, the Crane springs I installed were uniform from one end to the other.

stdlystdmufn · Post by **stdlystdmufn** » Fri Feb 19, 2010 3:45 am

i just installed this and a highly ported head, and as soon as my GI bill (youre tax dollars) come in i will get the second dyno to show my power increase.

2001rt32 · Post by **2001rt32** » Fri Feb 19, 2010 11:24 am

i put the 400 in my 02 r/t and wow did it wake the car up, it was totally different!

Neon4Life · Post by **Neon4Life** » Fri Feb 19, 2010 12:48 pm

^^ man im going to have to get this comp 400 cam because all i read is good reviews on it.

stdlystdmufn · Post by **stdlystdmufn** » Fri Feb 19, 2010 5:29 pm

i love mine and my pcm hasn't even finished tuning the fuel maps for it yet!

BlackRoseRacing · Post by **BlackRoseRacing** » Fri Feb 19, 2010 7:16 pm

crane 14 for me on E85 took about 2 weeks of daily driving for the pcm to actually dial in...

Jerome Adams · Post by **Jerome Adams** » Mon Jul 11, 2011 7:38 pm

just did mine this weekend...still tackling bugs. Got an timing error code, I don't think my friend transferred the magnet from the old cam to the new one (he mainly works on V8s and his sprint car). He also forgot the cam seal so we went back and put that back in last night. First time everything took 12 hours (head swap, comp 400 cam, R/T intake, new water pump, belts, etc). The next nite we had the cam seal in and it running in about 3 hours (things went a lot smoother the 2nd night cuz we knew what we were doing, and stuff wasn't super tight yet (UDP pulley)

Post by **occasional demons** » Mon Jul 11, 2011 7:55 pm

Without the cam magnet, you would get the P0340 code. If the 400 was used, and it has an '02 - older magnet, you would get a CEL. If it was a tooth or two off, you should have something in this flavor... P0016, P1345 Crankshaft Position (CKP)-Camshaft Position (CMP) Correlation

Jerome Adams · Post by **Jerome Adams** » Wed Jul 13, 2011 9:17 pm

got the code to go away by playing with the adjustable timing gear...not sure what it really is set at, but the computer is happy and so am I...for now.

Now I just waiting for the computer to adapt so I can FEEL THE POWAH!

Then I can wire up the butterflies for a little more kick

farmboy · Post by **farmboy** » Wed Jul 13, 2011 10:09 pm

I just sold a comp 400 to a 2gn member. Replaced it with a crane 007. Still haven't got it running right after 4 months. Just pulled the head to find that my valve seals were fried and leaking oil into the cylinders causing high temps and misfires leading to pig rich conditions etc. Megasquirt is currently being installed and she'll be coming back to my Friday night. Saturday is the Canadian neon nationals (neoncanada event) and myself and the guy building and installing the megasquirt plan on doing a lot of pulls at the track to tune it properly.

Jerome Adams · Post by **Jerome Adams** » Sun Jul 17, 2011 11:07 pm

here is a 0-60 run I did just for giggles before I put the cam, mag head, and mag intake in ... crappy launch but this video is for comparison, not to brag how fast my car isn't

http://s249.photobucket.com/albums/gg23 ... G_0717.mp4

here is a run after the comp 400, mag head (slight P&P) and mag intake (slight P&P and butterflies not wired up yet). It starts to run downhill slightly at about the 1-2 shift point

http://s249.photobucket.com/albums/gg23 ... G_0797.mp4

here is another one...this one is relatively flat

http://s249.photobucket.com/albums/gg23 ... G_0798.mp4

This is about a week after the install and the comp has had a good 1000 miles to adapt (ran up to Wisconsin and back). The car feels very weak below 3K RPM and I am having to relearn to drive. I have to rev higher and slip the clutch more to take off and it climbs to redline a bit faster, but it seems to fall further out of the powerband on the shifts...to sum it up, it feels like turbo lag with out the turbo power. I am wondering if the engine is okay or if something might be off (another reason for these vids and ya'lls expert advice) or if I am just expecting too much...

NOTE: The "before run" was about 60°F and dry compared to the "after runs" when it was 90°F and humid as hell.

ZeroChad · Post by **ZeroChad** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 12:41 am

I do remember losing some low end when i had the 400 in. It could have been a placebo effect compared to the gains up top though. IIRC I was pulling more vacuum at idle with that cam. tend to install more than one mod at a time so I can't speak just for the cam alone. I think a lot of it has to do with the stock ecu. When I went over to megasquirt, I picked up a lot of torque in the lower rpms.

Jerome Adams · Post by **Jerome Adams** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 1:00 am

Yeah, I hate going off the butt dyno. Last time I had my car on the rollers was at least 2 years ago in Mississippi...now I am up in Nebraska so it will be a different dyno at different elevation... plus the only Mustang Dyno in the area advertises that it is tuned to output Dynojet numbers to easily compare to others...only problem is I have mustang dyno charts with mustang dyno numbers. I could use the dyno to dial in the adjustable cam gear a bit, but not have a good before and after comparison.

I am also worried something is dorked, might do a compression check, maybe replace the plugs, I don't know...was hoping for more with the head and the cam.

Getting the intake wired up should help, unless I go lean up top and go BOOM!

Oh well, it is an adventure

vntned · Post by **vntned** » Mon Jul 18, 2011 6:55 pm

I just got my Comp400 put in my '03 R/T yesterday. (along with new timing belt, tensioner, water pump and MPx UDP)

So far Ive got 75 or so miles on it. Ive got a lot more valvetrain noise for one. Secondly it does seem to take a little more to get off the line than before, less torquey. Also, it does seem to drop lower in the RPM range than before between shifts. Mainly 1st-2nd gear. Seems to drop to almost 4400rpm when before itd put me at 4900rpm or so.

It sounds incredible when the secondaries open up through my AEM cai as well. As far as power gain goes it does feel a bit punchier above 5500rpm so far.

However Ive still gotta put some miles on it before I pass my final judgement...