buying ca18det, what to look for?

[Indecisive]

sorry if this is in the wrong place, or it's been covered, but I've been searching for a while now on nico and google and can't find any sort of guide or anything.

Basically, I'm buying my first motorset, and it's going to be from a local company. I'm hoping to get some insights from people on what to look for when I go down there.

They've agreed to do compression tests on the engines in front of me so I can see the numbers myself. I'm shooting for something in the 160psi across all cylinders range.

Other than things like broken parts, missing parts, sensors, checking the turbo, checking for leaks and checking the harness for shorts/being complete(I found images of what a full harness is supposed to have on it, and will be bringing that with me), what else should I be looking for that may be a general buying tip, or something specific to the ca18det?

Thanks in advance.

[CA18DETswap]

Hey, if you're not getting the front clip make sure that the dropping resistor is included, and in my experience I bought the front clip and the plug for it was clipped off of the harness. Is your swap coming with the side mount and everything? That's just a plus of the front clip, it comes with everything and mine was $2000 shipped.

[c-rad]

160psi? On a cold engine? I highly doubt you will find that. A CA with a fresh rebuild and warmed up to operating temp barely makes more than that.

[Indecisive]

ca18detswap: It's a motorset and doesn't come with the SMIC, which isn't a problem since I've already got a front mount, and it brings down the cost quite a bit.

Do you have a picture of the dropping resistor? I konw it's location on the harness, but I don't know what it actually looks like and can't find pictures.

Thanks for reminding me about the dropping resistor.

c-rad: really? I thought stock compression is 170psi.

So what's a good cold compression ratio I should be looking at?

Thanks for the input guys. Hope I can get more info before I head in.

[c-rad]

c-rad: really? I thought stock compression is 170psi.

So what's a good cold compression ratio I should be looking at?

171 psi on a fresh rebuild is standard compression. Expect at least 10 points off that if the motor is cold. And I would take another 10psi off for the age of the motor. I would look around 150 cold for a good motor. 142 is the service limit so if you see anything around that number or lower, I would pass on it. Also pass if there is a 14psi or greater variance between any of the cylinders.

[Indecisive]

171 psi on a fresh rebuild is standard compression. Expect at least 10 points off that if the motor is cold. And I would take another 10psi off for the age of the motor. I would look around 150 cold for a good motor. 142 is the service limit so if you see anything around that number or lower, I would pass on it. Also pass if there is a 14psi or greater variance between any of the cylinders.

Thanks for clearing that up for me.

Any other major issues, or minor issues to look for?