Through some research ive found that my 85 sentra Diesel b11 shares an almost identical block to the Ca engines, both being C series engines. My diesel engine gave up because of a bad oil pump so i decided to try to put a U12 ca18de in it.






CD17 diesel vs CA18det

Helpful critique n stuff welcome.

Cool!
Do you know if the CA18DET head will fit a CD(20) block?

No the blocks have different heights which may throw off cam timing. There is also an extra oil drain/vent. (upper left of the block in my picture)

Is that a 2L diesel? I thought those were a 1.7L (CD17)

EDITYea, that's a CD17. I always thought it would be fun to get my hands on one of those and turbo it, LOL!

Man if i could only get my hands on a fresh Cd17 i would totally turbo it! But the ca18 was easy to get, cheap, and seemingly easy to wire.

And NOW I see that you said it was a CD17 below the pic. Sorry, LOL.

float_6969 wrote:And NOW I see that you said it was a CD17 below the pic. Sorry, LOL.

Lol.. no problemo

Stroke's right, bore's wrong. The cylinder spacing is the same but the idea of punching the cylinders up 3mm gives me pause. The head bolts are likely an M12 which requires machining the head to clear the RB26DETT head bolts. The SOHC timing belt has the tensioner in the wrong position, but if you.... Perhaps I have said too much.

Check the crank's counterweights would ya?

heres a pic of the cd17 bottom if you want it.


What would you guys recommend on fuel pump pressure and volume for the 18de?

I already checked Mike. I knew it wasn't what you were looking for.

Stock CA18DE fuel pressure is approx 37psi with the engine off and the fuel pump running. I have a writeup in the FAQ on how to set your fuel pressure the right way.

Volume can be pretty small. The DE doesn't make a crazy amount of power.

They were talking about using the CA18DET head on the CD17 block, which won't work because of the extra oil drain.

Project was a success. Runs like beast xD.

Looks great. Cripes, that's a manly battery!

themadscientist wrote:Looks great. Cripes, that's a manly battery!

yeah.. it still has the diesel battery . Gonna correct that later lol

Why, ain't nothing wrong with using a battery with some nuts. I hate listening to the cheap guys jump into their race car and hear the low-cost tiny battery they bought try to spin their engine.

well 5 years later the ca18de did many trackdays and autox events and covered more than 90k miles. Then I thought time to turn it up a bit.
out she came.


O baby


Installed and whole car rewired


do some mad laps at laguna seca

Did you add a turbo to the DE, or swap out for a DET?

swapped out to det.

How do you like the turbo life? Have you had to change your driving style significantly to accommodate the power curve of your new powerplant? I've never driven anything hard other than turbo cars, so I couldn't comment on an experience like that.

Yeah its a totally different experience. Torque steer is pretty pronounced now so I have to prepare for that during corner exit. Furthermore I now have a T25G on it that spools slightly later, so I have to also plan for that or end up unsettling the car when the turbo picks up. Its alot easier to control lift throttle oversteer now which B11 sentras are bad for, you just basically floor it and it smashes the rear wheels into the ground to regain grip. Overall yes the driving strategy from DE to DET is very different. From just pinning it all the time to threading a needle.