Does anyone know if this can be done? Or if it has been done? I tried searching quite a bit and came up empty handed. But I do know that the F23A1 cam is slightly more aggressive than the F22B1 and before I go dumping a ton of money into cams, springs, retainers, etc.. I'd like to find out if this swap is possible? It'd surely help me carry the torque a bit further, rather than dropping off of a cliff after it peaks.

 

It will drop right in.

It may have a slightly more aggressive profile, but it's still a profile that was designed for an economy VTEC engine. Not sure if it will get you as far as a regrind would get ya. If you have one and just want to drop it in. I say go for it. On the other side, I have put level 2 cams in 3 of my last 4 cars and never looked back. A camshaft is the heart of the engine, if you get the right one you won't be disappointed. Well worth the money.

I was looking to put a set in my new Ridgeline J35Z5. Unfortunately, as it sits right now a set of level 2's is roughly $1100, not that worth it.

 

Lol! I hear that... $1100 is a good bit pricey. Now when you say Level 2's are we talking about the standard (all motor) level 2 bisi cam or the 2.3 or 2.4? I only ask because there's a pretty significant price difference between them and I'm quite sure the standard Level 2 would give me huge improvements over the stock cam, even though it claims to be an "All Motor" cam. Also the Level 1.2 "turbo" cam is the same price as the "all motor" level 2, yet the lift and duration are both lower on the 1.2? I feel like the level 2 "all motor" would be the best bang-for-the-buck even though it'll be in a turbo application.... but maybe I'm wrong? Also Ghost, when you've used those Level 2's did you upgrade the entire valvetrain? Or just the spring's + retainers?... or maybe no upgrade at all?

Lastly do you think the F23a1 cam would make enough of a difference that I'd need to completely re-tune the fuel maps or just a few small adjustments? Thx man!

 

Mine have all been naturally aspirated. You have to watch out for overlap (duration) when you are looking at the differences between NA and boosted camshaft profiles. As far as I know, you do not want overlap on a boosted build. Where as overlap on an NA build is the key to exhaust scavenging for extra HP.

I have always replaced my valve springs, retainers and locks when doing a camshaft upgrade. If anything, just for peace of mind! Even if your lift ends up lower than OEM, I would at least replace the springs with new OEM.

I would imagine that the F23 camshaft upgrade would be well within the boundaries of your current tune. In saying that, if you are looking to get the most out of any camshaft upgrade. A little bit of data logging and tuning would be optimal.

 

Awesome... Thanks you as always Ghost

 

I know it's been a while, but did you happen to try this? If so, what kind of results did you see? I ask because I am getting ready to hit the jy for a head, and if the swap works/is better I'll do it there on the jy head and bring it home.. Thanks.

 

No unfortunately I never tried it but would love to see if there's any improvements? Maybe the next time I'm planning to retune I'll drop one in and see what happens?

 

It works!! Just did the swap from f22b1 to F23A1 cam and it was a simple plug and play. I didn't notice a ton of difference, but I am un-tuned, so I probably won't see much gain regardless. It does seem to spin harder in first now. Jumps rite on the limiter, where as before it didn't. But the butt Dyno isn't quite sure if it's very much improvement anywhere else. Gunna hit the track next time I'm off early on a Wednesday to see if the cam/manifold swap did much for an un-tuned relic...

 

hey how’s that motor doing ? I’m looking do do the same and let it get used to it and attach my boost

 

It ran fine. I swapped to a delta 272/bisi springs, locks, and retainers about 6 months after i did the f23a cam. Never got it tuned with the f23a cam, so no real numbers. It's a cheap easy swap if you're looking to do a moderate upgrade. Pick-n-pull charged me 80 bux for a complete b1 head. I just swapped the f23a cam before I checked out.

 

Does anyone have the specs on the F23A camshaft? I'm not all that sure that it is much of an upgrade to the F22B1 camshaft. I would avoid the ULEV F23A for sure.

Switching to the F23A intake manifold would probably net a bigger difference.

But without the F23A camshaft specs I'm not 100%, I have the B1 specs.

 

I pulled a complete F23A head and intake from a pick-and-pull but I have never used it. It just seemed like too little gain for the effort involved. But the head and valves were in such good shape that a mechanic said there was really no need to rework them. I also had a different mechanic swear that the F22B1 and the F23A heads would not interchange. Other than the small holes above the intake ports I could not find any difference.

 

Even thought the 94-97 F22B1 cylinder head has a casting # of P0A-6 and the 98-02 F23A1 is PAA-6, they are pretty much identical in every aspect except maybe the combustion chamber size. If you look at the part numbers for them they use a lot of the same parts. intake and exhaust rockers, and retainers, the springs and camshaft are really the only parts that are numbered different. That being said, they can be swapped over. However, that doesn't mean that an F23 cam and spring swap will allow for any better performance in a B1 head.

As far as the holes above the intake ports - those holes are for the fuel injector air control system (FIA), if I remember correctly there was a version of the F22B1 head that had them as well. I don't think that the earlier 94-95 F22B1 had them. They are 100% interchangeable with slight mods regarding the FIA and 2wire/3wire IACV need to be addressed.

Do you still have the F23?, are you able to measure the lobes on the F23 camshaft?

 

I still have the cam but I don't nave a way to measure it except a micrometer to measure the lobes. But that would say nothing about the cam profile. I bought an adapter to use the 2-wire IACV, but it would change the angle of the mounting and a complete delete seems easier.

 

That is all that I am looking for is the lobe heights.

I think that Any difference in duration would be negligible between these two non-performance based fuel economy cams anyway. What I am wondering is if the Secondary lobes are shorter than the Primary as they are in the F22B1? When these cams are out of VTEC the primary lobe opens one intake valve while the Secondary lobe only slightly opens the second valve. It really only opens it enough to keep fuel from pooling behind it. If the F23 cam is designed the same, I would doubt that there would be any real power improvement using an F23 cam in an F22B1 head.

 

Okay thanks,! I have one to swap in !