Hey all i am setting this post up as a place where we can all exchange information for those of us with CA18's either DE or DET.

Feel free to post what you know, as you never know when it could be helpfull for other members.

As the post grows please continue to search through as many things will be scattered thoughout.

Maybe other engine threads will be started also.

Heres some stuff i know about CA's n then ill write specific area mods, tips or problems

*Alot of $ were spent by Nissan during development to get the right combination and the SR20 was made because of the high productioin cost of the CA18
*Either CA18DE (nonturbo) or CA18DET (turbo)
*Early Silvia/180SX
*All 180SX are Turbo version only
*Cast Iron Block
*5 2bolt mains
*Cast strenghening girdle around mains to prevent twist
*(DET) Oil Squirters are located below cylinders to cool the pistons
*Valves are directly activated from the camshaft unlike SR20 which uses rocker Arms
(DET) T25
Direct fire coil packs located over cylinders in head

***Parts***
Luckily many parts are avalible from the australian delivered nissans which had the FWD CA18DE
*Gaskets
*Therostat
*Water pump
*(note flywheel is different number of bolts so not compatible)
*Aparently the ecu can be used also but minus some of the important sensors that the DET has

Silvia/180SX parts are genrally easily avalible from most import part suppliers (Getting them to seperate them off their complete engines is sometimes harder)

***INLET***
*2 pieces (Upper and Lower)
*Jap spec have Inlet Butterflys which open during light throttle
*Kiwi spec have no butterflys and a slightly different head
These are seen to be a waste of time and many have removed them completely as their more restriction being there. i think the Kiwi ones just go into the head as four ports while the Jap model heads have 8 ports into the head.
FWD uses Jap Inlet but main throttle body is on the oposite side of the manifold
Sensors and valves on Manifolds are:
*AAC valve
*FICD Solenoid
*Air regulator
*Thermostat on lower manifold
*2 coolant tems sensors on lower section behind thermostat

***HEAD***
*The heads are generally ok and if you plan to get it ported go for around 50lb of air flow
*Hydrolic lifters
*If you rev your engine above 8k go with solid lifters cause the hydrolic ones stick and can cause valve or piston damage... if you get solid lifters you must also use a solid camshaft
*Ajustable cam gears are avalible
*Coil packs often fail due to the high heat in the head so swap to a remote setup and run the spark under the cover with short leads
*Get head match ported with your exhaust so you dont lose any kw due to bad airflow
*DET injectors are 370cc there are many types that can be used, they are top feed so the GTiR pulsar ones which are 440cc can be used but not Silvia series as they are side feed
*Stock head Gaskets are brittle crap and many CA's are scrapped due to head problems... alot of the time its just a head gasket, geez i wouldnt even throw out a a12 with a stuffed gasket they aint that hard to change
* Go with a aftermarket one like copper or multi layer steel, there are also Felpro composite ones which are rated at (3bar)
If you got the head off always use new head bolts from Nissan, as far as i know ARP ones arnt avalible but i heard u can use RB ARP bolts???
For a High performance engine things to look at also are springs, retainers and valve guides

***Block***
*Standard pistons dont like high boost
*Detonation will destroy your pistons and this will intern ruin your bores and crank, if it plays up tow it... dont hope it will make it home as it may but your wallet will end up empty
*Can be Stroked there are heaps of kits out from major japanese supplyiers like Tomeii or HKS, ive heard of one 2.1 litres but i dont think you would go any bigger due to the sleave thickness
*Forged pistons are suggested
*Rods if prepped are good for 8000rpm
*Forged are avalible so depending on budget
*Crank apparently can handle 95000rpm if prepped

***WATER & OIL PUMPS***
Apparently CA's suffer from cavitation which is bubbles in the fluids which isnt good cooling wise, im still trying to suss this out so ill let u know when i know

***Throttle Body***
XF falcon will not fit without mods
theres others like the Nissan Q45 but i dunno bout getting them on there if you go bigger check the manifolds to see if you need to port them out


***TURBO***
*CA18DET is T25, SR20DET is T25G larger housings both internal wastegate
*Many bolt on from same series like T28BB
*Maybe VG30 with modified manifold cause the stud pattern is different
*Stock is water and oil cooled
*Stock manifold is ok but there are many aftermarket ones avalible

my fingers r sore so ill post more later

Hmmm, sounds worthy...
STICKY?D!

_________________
Classic Auto Fabrications:
http://www.ozdat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=31659

http://www.lescollinsracing.com/

A few details,

Block with Arias pistons,




"Kiwi"(?) and Euro head,

_________________

Thanks for the pics Johan...

Ive been trying to get pics of these heads from a NZ forum but with no hope... i was unaware that the Euro ones were the same as we only get the Jap models here.

If my cameras workin ill take some pics of the Jap head and manifold when i get a chance, from what i can see your ports are the same width but the Jap models have a divider inbetween each port and the injector sits over the non restricted port... once again thanks i had only heard of these differences on the NZ forum and was awaiting conformation.

We have a valve that sits on the back of the lower manifold and this is what opens the butterflys. It opens them up when vacum pressure increases.

Some more stuff:
*Alternator- Mitsubishi Type A2T14694
*Bore - 83mm
*Stroke- 83.6mm
*Compression (9.5 DE) (8.5 DET)
*Timming (15*DE) (10*DET)
*Idle Speed (800rpm DE) (750rpm DET)
*Oil Filter - Z145A

*Major Bottom End Problem*
Theres these little wedges in the crank that seal up factory oil passages during milling, they have a habbit of falling out which causes starvation of oil to the main bearings, if you remove your sump they u may find them in there and theres a few ways of going about fixing it, one is to find the hole and drive the suckers back in but this is only a temporary fix i am looking at a way to grub screw them in and then get it peened over ive heard of this workin

This starts with a knock during any time running hot or cold, under load or not... and is usually misdiagnosed as being a head problem

***Do not let this go on for to long or your engine will not be salvageble with major crank and block damage...

I took some pics of my inlet tonight but i gotta set the other computer up cause this aint got usb on this

While looking i noticed some stuff

There are actually 8 seperate ports into the Jap head the injector ports are the outter 2 and the inner 2. the lower part of the manifold what has the butterflys is made up of 2 parts separate down the centre, its got some sort of spring thing in the centre and the shaft for the butterflys holdin it together, the centre hole for the nut is still in the Euro spot but
its half on one half on the other ill try to get these pics up...

The un-injected inlet to my head which has the butterfly covering it, is totally seperate flow straight to that valve. This i think would have to mean while closed off at low rpm those valves are still opening due to the camshaft but no air is actually entering that part of the head...

Would this make it a temporary 12 valve?

I see that removing the butterflys completey will increase the airflow as it will have 8 valves supplying air. The removal of the butterfly's shaft n flaps would clean the airflow up cause they just sit there in the way.

This leads to another thing... with the shaft out there will be holes in both the left and right sides of the lower manifold i could plug the exterior ones but im clueless bout the inner ones.

can all those valve etc be removed from the side of the plenum. i'm got an after market ecu?

yep, i have a standard ca18det with a custom plenum, only running a CAS, AFM and temp sender, runs fine (computer over compensates on fule though, but this is because of the standard computer. After market ECU would be fine.

ta flyby.
also water pumps are compatible, however if i go to repco for example, and ask for a ca18 water pump, they will have a listing for the fwd version more than likely, can it be used? otherwise i also read nissan parts;

Water pump 21010-V5528 (CA18) until 8/90
Water pump 21010-V5529 (CA18) from 8/90

will do. how do i know what date my engine comes under?

cheers

tommo

Would anybody have a pic of the manifold where the plenum bolts to it?
(in Johann's 3rd pic, the other side)
Sorry for the confussion if there is any...
Cheers,

_________________
Dan.
Official organisor of Thursday nite pizza.

Does anyone know how to set the timing on a ca18 properly?? I have tried the method in the s13 manual but it is a bit strange and i don't seem to be doing it right...
Has anyone had some luck setting the timing themselves?? what method did you use?
Also, 15 degrees is standard.. is it dangerous to advance it by a few degrees?
Thanks,
Mark

_________________
1975 Datsun 180b - EFI turbo L20b Sold

crank to top dead centre and line up the cam gears to the marks on the cover, its pretty straight forward.


i doubt you would get any performance gains changing the timing there, you can advance your ignition via the CAS or you can use adjustable cam gears to adjust one cam at a time, this will see some gains.

this is a bloody good read :)

nice work

DATWILLDECM8



:D

Thanks theres still so much i dont know bout them, i just wanted to get some of this stuff in all my folders posted so we could all share our knowledge

Sorry i been lazy lately ive been getitng some stuff done around home

Im almost certain the water pump will fit... perhaps get the shop to compare both to your old one? its certainly better than nissan dealer priced ones

Ive heard that the starters and alternators are differnet between FWD and RWD

Sorry ment to post this...Hope this helps Dan

Simon