PlusarNx's ca18det '87 Pulsar Nx thread / Bee*R chipped ECU

Discuss topics related to the CA18DE and CA18DET series engines.
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PlusarNx
Posts: 47
Joined: Sat Apr 21, 2012 12:50 pm
Car: 200SX '98
Pulsar '87
Location: Montreal, QC

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Hi guys,

I am newly registered, although I read for several years now.

I'm currently doing a ca18det swap in my '87 pulsar SE.

I just bought an CA18DET ECU in order to install a Nistune board in it. I noticed the Bee * R sticker on the ECU. So I asked the seller if the ECU was chipped, he told me not to his knowledge.

Upon arriving home and opening the ECU, I managed to find a Bee*R EPROM and a note.


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It seems that the ECU was chipped at a moment in his life, not sold like this. The terminals of the EPROM are not bonded in epoxy.


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Have you ever seen this kind of chip? I searched, but I have not been able to find specifications on the net. Obviously I am not able to read the note in Japanese.

Does this kind of ECU has some value? I hesitate to resell it as is and find me another ECU or simply remove the EPROM.

Thanks guys!
Last edited by PlusarNx on Tue Sep 18, 2012 6:03 pm, edited 2 times in total.


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PlusarNx
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Car: 200SX '98
Pulsar '87
Location: Montreal, QC

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After some research, the only thing I can see, it's only the rev-limiter. But why do do it with an eprom instead of the normal Bee*r unit, I dont know. :confused:

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themadscientist
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It says" Bee*R Sugoi Computer"

Sugoi is like "cool." so apparently your computer is more stylish than others. I've seen boards like that in old tuned computers and anything CA18 is friggin old.

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PlusarNx
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Joined: Sat Apr 21, 2012 12:50 pm
Car: 200SX '98
Pulsar '87
Location: Montreal, QC

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Thank you for your help!

I think I'll just unsolder the chip and install the Nistune. I will keep the chip and possibly find me a eprom reader and look what is on it.

Liquid_Neon
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An '87 SE you say? pretty cool man, i have my 88 SE det swapped and driving. once i get some cash set aside i was gonna consider the nistune.

Minor thing i gotta ask, u got an 88 or 89 ca18de fwd transmission right? the ca16 is smaller and will have trouble with boost, from what i have heard from other 87 pulsar/exa owners.

I have had plenty of setbacks and head scratching getting my frankenstein running. good luck and keep posting!

also, pics!!

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PlusarNx
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Joined: Sat Apr 21, 2012 12:50 pm
Car: 200SX '98
Pulsar '87
Location: Montreal, QC

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Nice to see other Pulsar enthusiast!

For now i'm still running the ca16 transmission. I know it will eventually explodes. The only reason why I didn't swap yet is the lack of available parts. I'm still searching for a ca18 transmission.

Here are some pics.

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With her little sister.

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Are we allowed to make a built thread in this section, or it's only for technical question?

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mdb4879
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Joined: Sat Jul 02, 2011 9:36 am
Car: 1987 Nissan Pulsar SE (CA18DET)
1990 Nissan 240SX (KA24E)
1995 Acura Integra GSR

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I have an '87 Pulsar with the CA16DE transmission and I haven't had any troubles with it. From what I remember it's not that the whole transmission is weak, but instead the part on the fifth gear wear the shift collar engages it is too short (1mm i think) and over time the teeth get worn out and won't stay in gear anymore. There are a couple of revised fifth gear pop-out "kits" out there which replace the gear and shift collar with one that engages 2mm rather than 1mm and solves the pop-out issue. Other than that I think they're strong enough for what most of us Pulsar owners put them through (but then again I don't really drive mine too often and am not as rough with it as some others may be).

The CA18DE transmission is stonger, and so are the axles. The big plus is the addition of a VLSD over the open diff in the CA16 transmission and the fact that one can use a RWD CA18 clutch. If I remember right I think I heard the CA18 transmission is suppose to be good for around 350whp, then the diff is the weakness. boost_boy can probably enlighten us more on the FWD CA trannies if he pleases, and correct any mistakes which I probably made.

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mdb4879
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Car: 1987 Nissan Pulsar SE (CA18DET)
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I noticed you still have power steering. How's the torque steer compared to without p/s? (if you've ever driven it without it) And any chance you were able to keep a/c as well?

Liquid_Neon
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I still have my power steering too, never need to remove it on the fwd setup. it is safely tucked towards the firewall. I would be super, super amazed for any fwd to be able to keep his A/C without some really tight fitting shields or else you would melt stuff.
As it is my dump pipe comes within 2 or 3 inches of my alt, and it is repositioned to take advantage of the space the a/c would have been in.

I gotta say i hardly ever notice torque steer, equal length drive shafts are a big helper. I had mor etorque steer from my buick fwd cars then my turbo pulsar :P

Also another point about the ca16 transmission is that everything is smaller on it, clutch surface and flywheel too. I have seen people back on the exa boards that a boosted ca16 fwd will slip, but then again a crappy autozone clutch will slip under boost even in a ca18 (that was my old problem). I got a spec stage 2, 6-puck and other then it being a little rough and chattery taking off it holds the power and drives great.

Also, nice pics! I used to own a black XE pulsar.. then a blue Xe... and then finally my red SE... yeah I've owned 3 of them suckers!

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PlusarNx
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Pulsar '87
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I didn't had the chance to drive it a lot since the swap, I can't answer you right now for the feeling with the power steering.
Thansk for the tip about de ca16 pop-out. I'll know pretty quickly. I currently have a Centerforce clutch installed, I will let you know if it slips or not.

livelyjay
Posts: 303
Joined: Thu May 27, 2004 5:05 am
Car: 1987 Nissan Pulsar (CA18DET)
2003 Mazdaspeed Protege
2007 Toyota Matrix
Location: Rochester, NY

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There are a few other vehicles you can source the transmission from. Dee (boost_boy) has the list memorized as was stated before, and I've talked with him a number of times, and here's what I remember.
1. 86-89 Stanza, FWD, MT (not sure what axles would work)
2. 88/89 Pulsar SE, FWD, MT ('88+ axles work)
3. 90-92 Stanza, has an option for LSD (not sure what axles would work)
4. Older Maxima, FWD, MT, some has LSD (custom axles needed according to boost_boy)
If you go to this site (http://www.drivetrain.com/parts_catalog ... tml#PULSAR), the transmission code for the Pulsar is RS5F50C, the one for the older Maxima is RS5F50A. Again, the tricky part is the axles.

The one transmission that I got from an '88 Pulsar did not come with a VLSD and I'm pretty sure none of them did here in the US. I do have a JDM CA18DE FWD transmission sitting in my garage that I just got from a place up in Toronto, but I haven't broken it open yet to check the diff. My guess is it doesn't have a VLSD either. You could always go with a Phantom Grip if you really need an LSD.

Since you're an '87 and thinking about converting to the trans setup from the '88+ Pulsar SE you'll need new axles, a new carrier bracket (the one on the rear of the engine that holds the intermediate shaft) for the passenger side axle, shift linkage, clutch pedal, clutch master cylinder, and the transmission mounts (drivers side and rear). I have a write-up for the conversion on the exa forums if you're interested.

* Side note: There's a Stanza transmission with VLSD really close to where I live, 20 miles away. It would be nice if I could just drive up there with my axles and see if they fit. I used to own an '88 XE, black, with manual transmission and my friend owned a Champagne '87 XE and I now own an '87 SE with the transmission conversion already done and boost_boy should be shipping my CA18DET engine within a few weeks.

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PlusarNx
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Joined: Sat Apr 21, 2012 12:50 pm
Car: 200SX '98
Pulsar '87
Location: Montreal, QC

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Wow thanks for the info, i'm really enjoying this place!

I will check for sure the conversion write-up on exaclub. If you go see this stanza's transmission, let me aware of the results.

I'm ready to do my ecu swap, I just have to find a ca18det ecu connector.

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I heard the J30 maxima connector will fit, but i'm pretty sure, the un-used pins are not the same on both. Is it possible to add a wire with a crimper in the ECU connector?

livelyjay
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Car: 1987 Nissan Pulsar (CA18DET)
2003 Mazdaspeed Protege
2007 Toyota Matrix
Location: Rochester, NY

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There's an HKS harness on eBay you could grab and just chop off the end you don't need.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/HKS-F-con-Harne ... 500wt_1413

livelyjay
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Joined: Thu May 27, 2004 5:05 am
Car: 1987 Nissan Pulsar (CA18DET)
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Scratch that, that harness might not work. Better ask the seller if you're interested.

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PlusarNx
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Ebay link is blocked : "access to this particular item has been blocked due to legal restrictions in some countries"

Anyway, I spotted some conversion harness (CA18 to SR20) in ebay. In last option, I can buy one of these, at 160$.... :(

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/AEM-ECU-Extensio ... 2a191d7e5d

livelyjay
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You should be able to find something on this forum, like someone getting rid of a full CA18DET harness. On eBay, I saw that AEM patch harness, but that is kind of pricey. The link that I posted was an HKS patch harness that goes between the HKS computer and the CA18DET harness, which would not work because you need the male end of the CA18DET harness. If you type this into eBay, that might be what you are looking for: "CA18DET WIRE HARNES FROM S13 1991 EURO SPEC".

livelyjay
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Here's the link to my build thread on the EXA forum. You can link to the specific pages from the first post.
http://www.nissanexa.com/showthread.php ... ild-Thread

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PlusarNx
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Joined: Sat Apr 21, 2012 12:50 pm
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Pulsar '87
Location: Montreal, QC

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Ok I changed my languages setting in Firefox and i can now see it. Like you said, I think this is the female plug of the ca18 and the male is for the F-con.

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PlusarNx
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Pulsar '87
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livelyjay wrote:Here's the link to my build thread on the EXA forum. You can link to the specific pages from the first post.
http://www.nissanexa.com/showthread.php ... ild-Thread
I started to read it last week-end. :rotfl

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mdb4879
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Joined: Sat Jul 02, 2011 9:36 am
Car: 1987 Nissan Pulsar SE (CA18DET)
1990 Nissan 240SX (KA24E)
1995 Acura Integra GSR

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Oh, I had always assumed all the '88 Pulsars had VLSDs in them. I guess we learn something new every day. Glad to know about the Phantom Grip now. Thanks

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PlusarNx
Posts: 47
Joined: Sat Apr 21, 2012 12:50 pm
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Pulsar '87
Location: Montreal, QC

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livelyjay wrote:There's an HKS harness on eBay you could grab and just chop off the end you don't need.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/HKS-F-con-Harne ... 500wt_1413
Finally I bought it. It will do the job, one of the plugs is a stock male ca18det ecu connector. Btw the vendor is a pretty nice guy. He got me a nice HKS twin temperature intercooler gauge for cheap.

livelyjay
Posts: 303
Joined: Thu May 27, 2004 5:05 am
Car: 1987 Nissan Pulsar (CA18DET)
2003 Mazdaspeed Protege
2007 Toyota Matrix
Location: Rochester, NY

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According to boost_boy, the Stanza with LSD will not work because it's basically the same transmission as the Maxima with LSD, so you'd need custom axles. I'm still not sure about the non-LSD Stanza transmission. Not sure how close this is, but this salvage yard has one: http://www.hamelpieces.com/. It doesn't look like they have the car though since they don't list any of my common cross reference pieces (door, fender, etc).

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PlusarNx
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Joined: Sat Apr 21, 2012 12:50 pm
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Pulsar '87
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Thanks for the info! Man you rock, you find part for men! That's not that far, maybe 1.5hour of driving. I will try to take a look.

I ordered tha last parts I needed to finish the swap. I'm currently looking for a rear disc brake conversion. My drums are deads and i must do something. We have what we call the NissanFest here on the june 9, I try to get my car running for it!

livelyjay
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Joined: Thu May 27, 2004 5:05 am
Car: 1987 Nissan Pulsar (CA18DET)
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Just remember that if you do the conversion you need all the stuff I mentioned before.

For the rear conversion, you can head over to the SR20 forums and find them there or find a nice donor car. Most people do the full conversion to the 1991-1993 Nissan NX2000. In order to make the conversion "easier", you'll need to have some brackets custom made at a machine shop. I used to have the pictures of the brackets front and center, but I can't find them on my laptop right now. I'll check my collection when I get home and see if I can find them.

livelyjay
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Joined: Thu May 27, 2004 5:05 am
Car: 1987 Nissan Pulsar (CA18DET)
2003 Mazdaspeed Protege
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http://forum.nissanexa.com/showthread.p ... conversion

Pictures of the bracket and the spacer can be found near the end of that thread.

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PlusarNx
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Pulsar '87
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One of my friend from Virgina offers me his B13 se-r rear disc brake swap. Correct me if i'm wrong,I think both NX2K and se-r used AD7HA for the rear brakes? Do I need the bracket if I decide to swap everything? I heard maybe the sway bar will not fit.

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In the "worst" case, I all ready located a set of bracket and spacer near me.

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PlusarNx
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Pulsar '87
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Well, just 4 months since my last Post. I edited this thread title, since I think I’m gonna use it as a build thread from now.

I will try to summarize the best I can the work I did in the last weeks. Don't hesitate to comments if you see that I'm doing something wrong. I learned a lot from my mistakes in the past, and I'm still learning everyday. :gapteeth:

BTW i like to take picture so be prepared to have a wideload of picture in this thread. :rotfl

First thing I did after my last post is to buy an AEM UEGO wideband.

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So I decided that I'll finally use my "stock" Bee*R ecu to start the engine. When everything will be rolling good, I would put back the Z32 maf and 450cc and with a bit of luck (ok money...) a Nistune board.

I also ordered some goodies. Aside from the wideband, for obvious reasons, for future additions to the car I would try to do it in a "Period correct" spirit. ie I want to upgrade it as much as possible according to the age of the car. As someone else would have done it in the '80s and '90s. Will see.

I found an ECU harness adapter that was on an HKS F-Con. One of the plugs is the male ecu connector. I'll cut it and use it to convert my Pulsar's harness.

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Then, fumbling a bit, I came across a wonderful old school HKS boost gauge. I thought it would go pretty well in a car from the '80s. And it's a lot nicer than my old Autometer...

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Having chatted with the guy who sold me the harness of the F-con, he said: Hey I have a gauge in the same kind, so I told him shoot me that! So here I am now with a twin intercooler temperature gauge!

It's a gauge which gives the temperature at the inlet and outlet of the intercooler. So we can know the effectiveness of said intercooler. Information needed? not really. Gauge adds 9000 points of jdm hotness? Hell yes! ok ok maybe not. :rotfl

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It uses two thermocouples type "J". I found two for a really good price.

Finally, I got a triple gauge pod that goes into the DIN radio hole. I will not touch or modify the dash. I don't want to cut or make a hole in a 25 years old and dried out dash. I tried to remove a corner this weekend, but he seemed so fragile and it will crack. In short, it’s a good compromise.

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After that, I received a set of stock ca18det from beans33, here on nico. They look a bit dirty, but they are straight out from a running engine, and beans33 give me a sell it for a good price. Thanks again Mate!

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After, I identified the wires of the ca18det connector. No need to say, it is better to double check and identify properly.

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Now it's time to solder the ca18det connector to the pulsar harness. Here, check three time, solder once.

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After, I received my rear disc brakes. This box was full of win, here is what I found in it.

A set of rear sentra se-r caliper.

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Reinforced arms with urethane bushings.

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Hubs, disc and hand brake cable.

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Stainless steel braided brake line.

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After this, I had problems with my fuel pump relay / wiring. I finally fixed it after 2 weeks-and also found out that my fuel pump was also dead. So I bought a brand new Walbro 255lph fuel pump.

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Also got a free MBC from a buddy at work. Well if it's free, it's better than nothing I guess.

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After that I got everything i needed to try a first start. And it started on the first try, not bad.
Sorry for the bad camera, HD videos are coming after.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrzIGJ4ZThI[/youtube]

After that the engine started to run on 3 cylinders, after some research i found it was one of the injector connector that was badly connected. Also found a dead AAC valve, the engine was always stalling. I found and installed a good one last week and the idle was better.

by the time i got my rear disc bracket conversion and spacer, oh yeah! :mike

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After this I know I had to install my wideband and to time the engine properly for further test.
I opted for the AEM No-Weld O2 mount, pretty easy to install without the hassle of welding.

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Then I set the timing. I had already tried it before, but I cannot see the marks on the pulley. So as being under the car for the wideband I put a bit of paint on the marks and sandpaper the pulley. Now I was able to see something from the top of the engine.

After reading some threads here I decided to set the timing @ at 10°for now. The idle became softer. I have re-ajusted the idle screw because the engine was stalling. But short after I think I found the source of my relatively poor idle.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0maAvop ... 0maAvopNEA[/youtube]

After reading other threads here, I saw that many people seem to have problems with walbro fuel pump and stock FPR.
So I found a pretty decent deal fon a nismo type A FPR and a B&M pressure gauge.

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By the same time I discovered a leaking gas feeding line, So I decided to change the line and install the FPR and pressure gauge in the same time. It's here i'm now.

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Any comment welcome. :)

livelyjay
Posts: 303
Joined: Thu May 27, 2004 5:05 am
Car: 1987 Nissan Pulsar (CA18DET)
2003 Mazdaspeed Protege
2007 Toyota Matrix
Location: Rochester, NY

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Not sure how I missed out on this thread before. Nice work and keep it up.

What's with your exhaust system, it looks all droopy?
Did you have the rear disk brake brackets and spacers custom made? If so, can you contact the shop and have them do another run?
What problems do people have with the OEM FPR? I switched to the Walbro 255 so I'd like to know what problems might crop up so I can budget for a replacement.

It looks like you're running a little rich too. At idle you should be at stoich, which if I remember correctly is around 14.2 AFR.

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PlusarNx
Posts: 47
Joined: Sat Apr 21, 2012 12:50 pm
Car: 200SX '98
Pulsar '87
Location: Montreal, QC

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livelyjay wrote:What's with your exhaust system, it looks all droopy?
I just unhooked it, to install the O2 probe.
livelyjay wrote:Did you have the rear disk brake brackets and spacers custom made? If so, can you contact the shop and have them do another run?
They were made long years ago, for one of my friend. But any shop with a CNC can do it. You can find the blueprint of the bracket easily on the interwebz.
livelyjay wrote:What problems do people have with the OEM FPR? I switched to the Walbro 255 so I'd like to know what problems might crop up so I can budget for a replacement.

It looks like you're running a little rich too. At idle you should be at stoich, which if I remember correctly is around 14.2 AFR.
In fact this is the problem, from what I read in threads here, it might happen in some case that the stock FPR can't handle the new flow / pressure from the walbro. So your fuel rail is over pressurized. More pressure = more fuel from your injectors, which mean rich idle. With the nismo fpr and the gauge, I will be able to drop the pressure back to 36.6psi, in the fuel rail. I hope this solve my problem. Probably some can confirm this.

The "perfect" AFR is 14.7. Can't wait to see it by myself. :rotflmao

livelyjay
Posts: 303
Joined: Thu May 27, 2004 5:05 am
Car: 1987 Nissan Pulsar (CA18DET)
2003 Mazdaspeed Protege
2007 Toyota Matrix
Location: Rochester, NY

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I'll have to keep a close eye on the AFR then when I get everything installed. The NISMO FPR isn't required is it? They are pretty expensive compared to other brands like Aeromotive and AEM and with the fuel rail adapter should work just as well.

I have the blueprints for the rear conversion parts, I'm just not in a rush to get it done.


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