Does anyone's CA18 powered car function??

[sjbsuperman1425]

there are absolutely NO reputable shops around where I live..I dont wanna sound like I have a big head/ego or anything, but I wouldn't trust ANYBODY around here to work on my car and I think I do MUCH BETTER work than most around here. I just talked with a guy at a local shop that thought using a ruler and a feeler gauge on a head/block to check for flatness was a "slick secret" so to speak... Michigan is a place where people thing American Cars and Foreign Cars are totally different, like an a** and a mouth..The Detroit area i think has a few good ones though. There is Street Legal Customs on Woodward Ave. in Birmingham, MI 48009 (Detroit area) and they did some work on a 600whp Supra i believe.

But as for CA's, they are rare in these parts. I have the only running one in the state from what I know..So i'll FOR SURE help you as much as possible!

[CA18DETBoss]

I'm new on the forum but my CA runs great. It's in a 1990 240sx hatchback. Just finished it a couple weeks ago after picking up the car that had the motor in it. I took the motor and engine harness out of that car and scrapped that shell. (the wiring under the dash was all hacked up and it didn't have a title) So I bought an automatic shell from a buddy and did the 5-speed swap and painted the engine bay. While the motor was out I took the time to pull it apart and clean things up and rebuild it. Painted the valve covers and the timing belt covers to make it look good. I also got a front mount and full apexi exhaust walbro fuel pump and an auto meter boost gauge. Took me about 3 months to do everything after work and on the weekends. I built my car for drifting and so far it has been excellent. Tein coilovers, welded diff, and a nice e-brake. It didn't take me anytime at all to get used to the new power since there's almost no turbo lag. As of right now I'm not sure how much power I have because I'm waiting to tune until I get Nistune and a few other goodies.

[r34 gtr]

CA18DETBoss,

Welcome to the forum!

Your car sounds awesome and I think you ought to post up some pictures. By the sound of it, you did it right!

[progman]

My car in not currently running but it did run before I decided to upgrade my turbo about 2 months ago. I was just about to take it in to get tuned but then I decided to swap turbos first since I wanted to do it down the road anyways. Right now I'm waiting for my new dump/down pipe and I'll be putting it back together and taking it to get tuned finally. I can't wait to see how much power it makes. Future plans for this motor depending on how I like the power band are to wither swap it to my drift/track car or leave it where it is for a fun weekend/mess around in car.

[CA18DETBoss]

Here's the pics.
I have the drift spares on so it doesn't look as good as it could.
I'd post the pics of it with 18's but it doesn't look that good when it's missing the bumper lol

[busteds13]

Mine works, but she can be tempermental.
stuff gets old, and she requires time off in those cases, but recentley never more than a half month.
apparentley my firewall is chomping its way through my harness, i was dropping an injector-to-ECU connection daily. Now ive got jumper cables fixing it, bright red ones, that sneak out the Pass door and through the hood, to the injectors.

So i guess my car is one of those duct-tape, barley running jobs, sorta. well. shes an old lady, they develop issues at well over the 300k mark...

Im currentley in MI, and i agree that letting any of these dolts touch your car is a bad idea.

I wouldent trust street legal either, they mainly mess with screbarus, and werent very helpfull when i swung by a few years ago.

also theres another guy on here from MI, close to the D i think its hmgbobby

[s13redmon]

Mine has always run. Since the first time I turned it over it has always fired right up, first try every time and I floor it at least once daily. The only trouble I have had with it is the mystery oil leak that it has had since day one, from somewhere near the turbo manifold. I just try to keep a watch on the oil level and still change the oil every 3000 miles. But it is an awesome little engine and I love it, so to show the love I'm slapping on a gt28r, external wastegate and some fuel parts, gonna go the e-mance tune and safc route, so I'll let everyone know about the tune once its done, power, afr's and whatnot.

[float_6969]

Holy crap s13redmon, when did they start making S13 Hover Car conversions? Where did you get that? How much was it? Does it always have to have the hood open when it's in hover mode?

[sjbsuperman1425]

Holy crap s13redmon, when did they start making S13 Hover Car conversions? Where did you get that? How much was it? Does it always have to have the hood open when it's in hover mode?

Ryan..you have MUCH to learn yet still

[Shogun]

I have had mine for more than 12 years now and it has been working very well from first on.

It has been tuned in steps. It had 300-350 HP when I put it in the garage and started to modify it heavily. No problems at all.

Now I do some serious tuning. More abut that in the link in my signature.

[ser20det]

I look at your build thread on zilvia !!! really impressive.

You are actually making 700hp ?

I have had mine for more than 12 years now and it has been working very well from first on.

It has been tuned in steps. It had 300-350 HP when I put it in the garage and started to modify it heavily. No problems at all.

Now I do some serious tuning. More abut that in the link in my signature.

[r34 gtr]

You guys are making me really jealous. Just so you know.

[Ron240sx]

So my 240sx needs the alternator so i can get it running again. yet no ones gotten back to me on having one. i had my ca running for a couple weeks then all the sudden died due to the alternator. thinking that the ca18de on pulsar would cross over i regrettably gave them my core. ive learned from that and still am. im looking for a ca18 alternator or at least the face from one. Will the belt pulley not line up right with the belt on the ka24de? i guess id think there fairly similar. just asking why swap the ca face onto it. plus i need one too. thanks for helping

[r34 gtr]

Do you have your old alternator? If so, take it to get re-wound at an alternator repair shop. Thats what I did, $80 and it was back on my car the same day.

/jack

My car does not run yet. Sorry.

[boost_boy]

So my 240sx needs the alternator so i can get it running again. yet no ones gotten back to me on having one. i had my ca running for a couple weeks then all the sudden died due to the alternator. thinking that the ca18de on pulsar would cross over i regrettably gave them my core. ive learned from that and still am. im looking for a ca18 alternator or at least the face from one. Will the belt pulley not line up right with the belt on the ka24de? i guess id think there fairly similar. just asking why swap the ca face onto it. plus i need one too. thanks for helping

I figured you got that taken care of already. That's about what they cost (give or take $10-15) to get done. If you can't get it done, I'll at least swap one of mine out for yours plus at least the repair bill less the commute and time. I'm here to help, but refused to be screwed again by another member for trying to be helpful, so I have to be a little firm about parts swapping and money. Not your fault, but I'm simply saying this for anyone that needs particularly "my help".

[fabio240]

I have a couple of them if you want Ill sell you one you can email me at fabio240@yahoo.com

[Ron240sx]

asides from the alternator i got my nismo transmission mount ordered from frsport. i just used the ka that i orginally had but i dont think it hold the transmission stable enough. when i drove it around on some turns or bumps it was as if i could hear the transmission moving. has anyone tested this trans mount yet?

[Ron240sx]

I have a couple of them if you want Ill sell you one you can email me at fabio240@yahoo.com

still waiting on that response for that alternator. i need one and am ready to buy it. get at me on that one.

[fabio240]

yeah Im still here I get on the forums a couple times a day I havent recieved an email.

[aaronscomp]

Well my ca18det ran great the first night it was running. Then about 2hrs after it was running it started knocking it had worn bearings. So i put new bearings in it with a freshly turned crank and a new oil pump. Ever since then it has been nothing but problems lots of oil in the ic pipes, throttle body, sputtering and popping till its warm. Sometimes it pops before it hits boost then it takes off. I just installed a new turbo and few other things so we will see if she runs better tonight but it idles great.

[Sideways s12]

My ca when I bought it was running , running on three cyls but running and it felt ok on three cyls lol so I know on all four its gonna be a beast especially with all the stuff I have planned not to mention I have a buddy helping me that is pretty knowledgeable about these motors he's got one that If I'm not mistaken is just under or just over 300 which isn't bad and in a stripped out s12 that thing moves

[chausaster]

Well I just got my megasquirted CA18 to start up and idle. If anyone knows megasquirt I had to jump the required fuel from 6.0 to 12.0 just to burn out the extremely old fuel thats in there. After that new fuel and some tuning. G\L to everyone thats having issues!

[ser20det]

Well I just got my megasquirted CA18 to start up and idle. If anyone knows megasquirt I had to jump the required fuel from 6.0 to 12.0 just to burn out the extremely old fuel thats in there. After that new fuel and some tuning. G\L to everyone thats having issues!

hey it is ur car on ur sig ? u got the aero bumper ! pretty lucky man as they sell for over 500-600$ in jdm shop !

i know that! i got one on my silvia

[ILOVESILVIA(S13)]

My CA18det runs like a dream. Rebuilt 1000k ago rebuilt bottom end, rebuilt head, new gaskets, hoses, everything. I cannot complain, but I guess I did the right thing by rebuilding it once I got it.

[DALAZ_68]

i broke an exhaust stud on the head...F this!...it going to the mechanic to get its s*** finished...

[ILOVESILVIA(S13)]

Damn...Sorry to hear that man. Things like that make me want to punch a baby.

[ragenasian]

i broke an exhaust stud on the head...F this!...it going to the mechanic to get its s*** finished...

Just did the same thing snapped pretty easy actually. Guess I will just get another head, probably cheaper than taking it to these German shops

[DALAZ_68]

ILVOESILVIA(13) - i almost punch my godson...it was close...


ragenasian - i was thinking about the whole swapping heads since there are 2 CA's near me ATM...but i said F that...im just gonna send it to my mech buddy...have him pull the motor, and do all the work to the motor:

-Inj upgrade
-TB port
-Butterfly delete
-cooling line simplification
-Turbo swap
-Intercooler pipping
-Recirc BOV install
-flywheel/clutch install

and a few other tib bits that it needs done...its gonna cost me about a month of savings...but im done tryin to play know-it-all and just let someone who has ALL the tools and know-how do it...

so pretty much ill be exhausting all my bolt on upgrades minus Int and exh custom mani's, which for the power im looking for (200-230) its not neccessary...

[zero_gripS13]

my s*** start up everytime runs great. no reall issue.. has 500 miles on it 2 drift events a night of drag racing..

but its not daily driven so i guess i got it ez. i did do full rebuild. hoping for 150k 3 years no issues whichever come first.

[Ca_Silvia]

So much disapointment in this thread.

I just got back from a 1600km trip which included a 2 day drift event. It was a ballsy move to drive the car there, track it for 2 days straight and then drive home. She made it with out 1 single problem. This was by far the hardest/longest trip i have ever done with the car in 4 years of owning it.