This thread is going to be dedicated to common upgrades, D.I.Y. upgrades, no-no’s, and other general CA18DET information. We are going to leave it open, not so much for discussion, but for you guys to add information to it. Lets try and keep questions out of here, and just add information. If you have a question, start a new thread asking specifically what you want to know! Thanks

1. Use CA18ET water pump only, or use both the CA18DE water pump AND CA18DE pulley. The DE pump will not properly center the stock pulley, and that's why people have their pumps busting and their fans flying off.

2. The stock O2 pipe will need to be replaced with an SR pipe if you want to use an SR downpipe. Or, you can cut, rotate, and re-weld one of the flanges.

3. DSM 450cc injectors are a PERFECT fit, with no machining required. To make them fit, you need to replace the manifold-side o-rings on the DSM injectors with the slightly smaller CA injector o-rings. Since they're smaller, they stretch a tiny bit more, and decrease their overall diameter to the correct size.

4. Turbo upgrade options: SR T25, T28 and beyond. Fitting an s13 SR20DET turbo is a bolt on affair! All that is required is you clock the compressor housing about 10 degrees (with a pair of snap ring pliers)! S14 and S15 turbos are similarly easy to install. I personally fit a gt28r (s14 turbo) with no problem under my stock manifold without even clocking it. with one turbo gasket. I know other people had problems (Tim), but I had none and it was an AWESOME turbo.

6. **UPDATE** I also installed a Pulsar GTiR turbo on a friend's CA18 without issues. I don't know what you guys were doing wrong, but all t2 flanged turbos should fit your manifold and o2 housing with proper clocking. ***

According to another thread (which I believe is WRONG) the Pulsar GTiR Turbo has a turbine-to-downpipe flange that is rotated slightly so that the downpipe seats a little too low and a little too far to the driver's side of the car. This makes it impossible to bolt one exhaust hanger properly, but you can bolt up one of the two bolts. The misplacement, which is about 1 inch out of place along the diagonal, causes the downpipe to vibrate against the frame rail. A grinder can alleviate this problem, so the turbo can still be a lower priced alternative to the S14 and S15 T28 units. It does flow slightly more than the latter two units, but there will be other expenses involved so if you are looking for something with easy fitment and less hassle, steer clear of this turbo.

7. The eBay ssautochrome t3/t4 t70 turbo kit for ca18det on US 240 will not fit (the one they sell for $500 range). Its not a T70, it is exact copy of T61. The turbo exhaust housing will hit on master cylinder by about 2inches. No matter what you do. It will hit. Think RHD if you’re set on using their t70 kit. Use a regular smaller t3 (instead of a t4 back housing) and the manifold itself should clear all right. I’ve also heard rumors that the manifold will crack in about month of hard driving, but they do offer a lifetime warrantee, and other members have had them honor the warrantee without problems. Another issue with this kit is that the wastegate springs are set to be 14psi not a 5psi like they said. They also claim that the wastegate is adjustable, but you can’t lower the boost below 14psi.

8. Be careful when purchasing the ssautochrome t28 manifold. Apparently they released a group of manifolds (the first ones of the newer “race” equal length design) that don’t fit right. The original non equal length ones are fine, and the newer race ones are fine, but people have had issues with some of the middle models. There’s no real way to tell which ones are good, and which are bad from what I know. Someone correct me if I’m wrong…

**UPDATE** New versions of the ssautochrome/ebay manifold appear to have the bugs worked out for the most part, and fit properly, and have decent durability as far as cracking goes. But its still a $100 ebay manifold. I would be cautious running one on a $1000 turbo :P A chunk of weld breaking could ruin your day!

This is some of the no-no's for the CA18DET:

1. Do not compare the CA18DET to the SR20DET because they are different engines with their own merits and flaws.

2. No 15psi sustained runs on stock fuel system to include ecu.

3. No boost above 10psi on stock intercooler. With the amount of heat soak that takes place in the stock intercooler, your intake temperatures will soar and you risk detonating your engine. (cont) NOTE for people asking about max boost on stock CA with stock fuel system Keep it around 12psi for max turbo and engine life. As long as your system is sealed from air leaks and associated dramas you will hear of on this forum, your car should perform as the engine did when it was in it's JDM host. Try anything more and you'll be doing some expensive repairs "Guaranteed"!

4. No screwing around with crank angle sensor without the proper timing equipment.

5. No rigging of harness just to hear the engine run. Do it right or pay someone to do it for you.

6. No larger injectors without first upgrading either the ecu or adding a device that allows for fuel adjustments.

This is just some of the no-no's that can be identified as there are clearly more.

Dee

It is best not to leave your air filter open to suck hot engine bay air in. A lot of people tend to rip off the airbox and put a cone filter or something similar on and just let it sit in their engine bay with no type of heat shielding to deflect hot air or ducting to help draw cold air in. this is more of a general "don't" rather than just strictly for the ca18

I always pull the cover off the coil valley and move the ignitor away from the turbo to combat heat.

use NGK BCPR7ES sparkplugs, cheap and proven in the UK to work well, just replace them every 3-5k miles

cambelt is the same part as 2.2 20v Audi which may be more commonly listed.

iliketocrash wrote:It is best not to leave your air filter open to suck hot engine bay air in. A lot of people tend to rip off the airbox and put a cone filter or something similar on and just let it sit in their engine bay with no type of heat shielding to deflect hot air or ducting to help draw cold air in. this is more of a general "don't" rather than just strictly for the ca18

so that cone air filter i have in my 240 currently... should i change it? I dont think im fully understanding . Where can i find heat shielding and how should i apply?

cone is fine. shielded cone is best. helps keep heat away from the intake air, but its not a HUGE deal. Most people just run a cone, and it doesn't pose any problems

Sean

Here's a vaccum diagram for all needed vaccum sources!



If you're running the stock turbo, run the wastegate from the nipple on the turbo itself. If not, get a nipple put on your hotpipe, or run a T from your BOV line.

i'd leave the buttterfly vacuum disconnected and just connect the fpr to the plenum, this will leave the butterflys open permanently. I do this all the time in the UK

having them correctly connected makes a difference as long as your ECU is JDM and controls them, or your standalone can. Ask Float.

Here, let's get a more accurate (less ghetto) vacuum piping reference on there:



I made it a while back; I just revised it to be more applicable for "global" use by adding some more information.

im reeeaaalllllly sorry if im sidetracking thinkgs but.... your diagram says don't tee off the line to the BOV but sean says to tee it off if you don't have a nipple on your turbo for the wastegate

NeedCAforS13 wrote:If you're running the stock turbo, run the wastegate from the nipple on the turbo itself. If not, get a nipple put on your hotpipe, or run a T from your BOV line.

Cause I did what he said, to get my sr t25 wastegate to workI Just need some clarification

either will "work"

but its better to have them with thier own vac sources.

Not sure if this is well known, But if you use a plate type SR20 clutch like the ORC, os giken ect. There is no problems with the starter. It fits perfectly.




Modified by Woods Crasher at 9:34 PM 11/20/2007

ilovecoupes wrote:im reeeaaalllllly sorry if im sidetracking thinkgs but.... your diagram says don't tee off the line to the BOV

but sean says to tee it off if you don't have a nipple on your turbo for the wastegate

Cause I did what he said, to get my sr t25 wastegate to workI Just need some clarification

It'll "work" (like the ghetto way of hooking up the butterfly's), but boost will build MUCH slower and the potential for boost spiking is increased. Ask rico05. Also, the BOV will work better with its own dedicated source. An easy way to set the wastegate actuator up the "right" way is to weld a bung to your hot pipe or drill and tap the compressor outlet elbow for a fitting. The aftermarket even sells sells a "tap" that splices into the silicon coupler for the vacuum source, making it a relatively easy install, especially if you don't have access to a welder or a drill.

Where do you put the boost contrller then?? And another question the stock turbo has the nipple on the compressor housing and the on right off of the wastegate which one am i supposed to use??

Boost controller goes between the vacuum source for the actuator and the actuator itself, like it always has.

The wastegate actuator needs a vacuum source to function. The stock T25 on the CA18DET has a nipple on the compressor housing to provide this source. Run a line from the nipple to the wastegate actuator and you should be fine. This is the line mentioned above where the boost controller would splice into.

whata bout if u have a t28 and it doesnt have the nipple on the turbo..where would the boost gauge go?

a t28 or a t25g will not have nipples, only the t25 ca stock turbo has one, altho you can see there is a circle of metal where the nipple WOULD be, you can drill it and tap it out and put a nipple on it.

your boost gauge can go to any vacuum source, doesnt really matter.

stock flywheel sr20

so....from wut ive gathered.....will an entire SR exhause system work with the CA....mainly will the manifold bolt up to the CA??

No. No SR manifolds will bolt up to a CA. Just buy CA manifolds. Simple.

^^^thanx man....i have the stock one...but it looks like its been to hell and back and i dont feel like putting it on my CLEAN motor....im gonna buy a new one period....as for all the vacuum lines.....all this info. has definatly answered pretty much ALL of my questions.....all i have to do now is go to one of the MILLION junkyards around here and pull some of the vacuum lines......one more thing.....HOW THE HELL do i download pics. so that i can put them up in my own post??

I use photobucket.com You can upload your pics and store them online. Copy and paste the img code when you post.

bias wrote:I use photobucket.com You can upload your pics and store them online. Copy and paste the img code when you post.

ahha....alrighty then.....im gonna go and make a photobucket account and start a new thread today with a BUNCH of pictures......hopefully...

okay...so i made a photobucket account, loaded all my pictures onto it....now, does anyone knoe where i should post my project....im gonna post eveything im unsure of wut it is and hopefully you guys can help me figure it out.....it would be much appreciated

Just start a new post.

To get a proper boost reference, I bought a brass nipple from work (Advance Auto). One side is a 1/8" NPT thread, the other is a 1/4" hose nipple. I just drilled and tapped into the compressor outlet and ran the line to my MBC, then to the w/g. Boost (1bar) is almost instant anywhere above 3000RPM.

Long time no response! hahaSo is my little story. I love ca18det and I buy a silvia with a ca18det jdm. If I see what people say I just can buy a elbow of a sr20det and fit right bolt-on and buy a downpipe of a sr20det? And ANY PEOPLE know if the flywheel and clutch and pressure plate will fit of a sr20det!? I have a sr20det flywheel (15lbs) The stock one is 20lbs and exedy clutch and pressure plate... It will fit on a ca!? And whats the stock weight of the flywheel? I check a lot on website and its just hardcore jdm companies who do flywheel... Thanks again! Ca18 ftw haha

Please search before asking these questions, they have all been asked and answered before.