FWD CA18DET Transmission Questions

[livelyjay]

Following parts have been ordered:

CA18DE:TransmissionFlywheelPedalsClutch master cylinderClutch slave cylinderClutch lineAxles

[float_6969]

Nice! Pics are a must. What are the chances of you doing a writeup for us on this?

[livelyjay]

A write up on what in particular? transmission tear down, cable to hydro conversion, .... ? I'm pretty good as far as writing up instructions and taking pictures. Hopefully the Canon doesn't act up while I'm doing this so I can get each step documented.

I'm going to be doing a bunch of things at the same time (yeah, I know, usually a terrible idea). But, I get bored when a single project takes more than a month. So, I'll spend a weekend or two getting the transmission off. Then another two week tearing apart the interior and installing sound deadening. Then back to the transmission, then over to the power windows/locks. But, I guess we'll see how this progresses. I'm crossing my fingers that the transmission is fine, otherwise I can kiss another $400-$500 goodbye for the rebuild.

[livelyjay]

HELP. I need some help identifying what just arrived from the salvage yard.

The boot for the shift linkage rod into the transmission looks bad. Does it matter? Can I just swap between transmissions?

I'll figure out which pedal is which when I get around to the install. I am guessing the mount just to the right of the pedals is the transmission mount? Are all the others engine mounts (that's what it looks like to me)?

This is just a grounding wire right?

What is this connector for? It doesn't appear to be on the other transmission.

[mazikowski]

Quote »I'll figure out which pedal is which when I get around to the install. I am guessing the mount just to the right of the pedals is the transmission mount? Are all the others engine mounts (that's what it looks like to me)?[/quote]I think the pedal with the studs is the clutch pedal, the other is the brake pedal. (not 100% sure) The mount on the brake pads is the frame half of the transmission mount. The one directly below it (heavy iron bit) is for the front stabilizer (dog bone) mount. The big one right of that is the engine half of the rear mount. The one to the right of the pedal (without the rubber exhaust hanger) is the engine half of the transmission mount. The one to the right of that (with the rubber hanger) is the chassis half of the rear mount.

I hope that made sense...

Quote »This is just a grounding wire right?[/quote]Yes.

Quote »What is this connector for? It doesn't appear to be on the other transmission. [/quote]Possibly reverse lights or clutch safety switch?

[livelyjay]

Dee was right, at least about the passenger side axle. New ones aren't the same, not even remotely close. The one they sent looks like it could be for a friggen truck or SUV, it's over an inch thick in the middle. Driver's side might be the same, but I'm going to send both back and call every salvage yard I can to find them ... after I hear back from the transmission shop about the trans inspection.

I'll do a write up on the conversion, but I'll keep the whole thing to myself initially. It'll be tracked with pictures and updates on NissanEXA.com, then I'll do a true, clean writeup and post here.

[float_6969]

Awesome, thanks.

[s13redmon]

you can probably buy a rebuild kit for the transmission if it needs it, its really not nearly as hard to rebuild one as it seems, as long as you have access to a press. i did it in my class at tech and it was a piece of cake, you just have to pay really close attention to how all that s**t is in there, and even take pics if you've never done it before. its actually really fun, no sarcasm intended lol

[livelyjay]

Thanks for the heads up. I don't have a press and I don't think investing in one would be a wise expenditure right now. I'm still waiting to hear from the trans shop, but they were cracking it open today around noon ET. I also have some sources for reconditioned used axles. There's two places that want $120 shipped for both, so I'm just waiting to hear that the trans is usable before I commit to buying.

[livelyjay]

Does anyone know the size of the stock hydraulic transmission hard line? The line that goes from the clutch master cylinder to the rubber line?

[livelyjay]

Trans shop says the transmission is good to go, other than the axle seals, which I already have replacements. Now comes the question of mounting the trans to the CA16DE engine.

CA16DE trans bolts right to the engine, with the bolts going through the bell housing into the engine block. The CA18DE bell housing is bigger, and there's a gusset plate thingy, and there aren't similar bolt holes through the housing. So, how does this thing bolt up?

[boost_boy]

You need to get the CA18's engine plate or you're in for a headache. No riggin allowed for the CA16's plate as it is pointless and you will hate yourself for attempting such a feat.

Dee

[livelyjay]

You'll have to forgive me, as I have never really done anything transmission related before, which is one reason I am taking my time with this one. If you look behind the CA18DE trans in the picture below, there is a plate sitting behind it. Is that the plate you are talking about?

[boost_boy]

You'll have to forgive me, as I have never really done anything transmission related before, which is one reason I am taking my time with this one. If you look behind the CA18DE trans in the picture below, there is a plate sitting behind it. Is that the plate you are talking about?

Si papi! That's the one and you will need it. If you don't have the correct size bolts for the CA transmission, this will probe to be very costly in the long run. There will be a very long bolt in the back on the engine/transmission bracket and a long one on the front midway down the front side of the bellhousing. You'll need the correct lengths and thread pitch. And lastly, the worst one of them all, the middle bolt that fastens the transmission mount to the gearbox. Go too short of a bolt and you'll strip the threads and you'll be screwed. Get the wrong bolt pattern and you'll be screwed as well. If you don't have these bolts handy, you may want to go to your nissan dealer.

Dee

[livelyjay]

Thanks Dee. I always assumed the transmission was just bolted right to the engine itself. So what you're telling me, is that the mounting plate gets bolted to the transmission in a few places using shorter bolts and then the trans + mounting plate get attached to the engine in a few places? Therefore the total weight of the transmission is distributed through a few bolts on the engine and the trans/frame mount?

That brake pad box shown in an earlier picture is filled with bolts. I'll empty the box onto the workbench, spread them out, and take a picture. Then you guys can tell me if I'm missing anything.

Also, does anyone have a parts manual (with part numbers) for the CA18DE engine and trans?

[livelyjay]

Anyone know of a reputable Nissan parts dealer? Only ask because I'm retarded and I ordered the flex hose for the clutch line and forgot about the hard line, so I could have saved on shipping ordering together, and people have stated on the nissanforum that BuyNissanParts.com and all their mirror sites have jacked up prices.

[livelyjay]

Axles came in today, they look to be correct since they have the intermediate shaft and they are thicker than the CA16DE axles.



A shot of the bolts and the trans mount plate. What's the solid metal disc upper left on the notebook?

Picture of the bolts. Let's see if I can guess them right* Upper right = flywheel* Center = Trans to engine bolts* Bottom = I haven't a clue

[livelyjay]

I ordered an OEM clutch because I got it new for $60 shipped. I can then determine if the transmission swap works before committing the money for the engine swap. Also it enables me to drive the car around while getting the engine itself ready. Once the clutch gets here I'll start getting everything ready to pull the current transmission out.

So, any help on the bolt identification? I figured the 7 bolts are for the transmission mounting, not sure where each goes but that should be easy enough to figure out when I get it next to the engine. The trans itself if looks like there are supposed to be 8 bolts however, and I only have 7.

[boost_boy]

I ordered an OEM clutch because I got it new for $60 shipped. I can then determine if the transmission swap works before committing the money for the engine swap. Also it enables me to drive the car around while getting the engine itself ready. Once the clutch gets here I'll start getting everything ready to pull the current transmission out.

So, any help on the bolt identification? I figured the 7 bolts are for the transmission mounting, not sure where each goes but that should be easy enough to figure out when I get it next to the engine. The trans itself if looks like there are supposed to be 8 bolts however, and I only have 7.

Where's the CA18's starter because you are definitely going to need it. As for the bolts I'll try:

Of the longer bolts, the first one on the left is the bolt that goes throught the upper part of the transmission/engine bracket which is used to fasten all of that stuff together.

The 2nd long bolt is for the radiator side of the bellhousing in the middle.

The 3rd bolt is for the transmission mount. It is the one the secures the mount to the gearbox, not the rubber mount.

The 4th bolt is for the starter and this bolt is the only starter bolt that bolts from the surface of the bellhousing.

The 5th and 6th bolts are use to secure the top of the bellhousing to the engine block.

The 7th bolt is the lower starter bolt which is fastened from the backside of the starter.

Some bolts are missing, so I can't really help you on the rest as I don't want you to fault me if you screw-up something. The three little 12mm bolts on the bottom left are 3 of 6 of the pressure plate to flywheel bolts. You already know which ones are flywheel bolts. The oem clutch is worthless my friend. It will burn-out quickly and dropping the transmission is not fun. I can drop them in less an hour and I've done this more times than you probably have years on this earth, but still it's no fun. Hope this helps.......

Dee

[livelyjay]

Thanks for the help Dee. I know the OEM clutch is junk and will burn out when I install the DET motor. I only bought it because it was cheap and I plan on doing the trans swap first to make sure I can actually do it. If I can't, then I scrap the DET engine swap plans because hell, if I can't handle a trans swap there's no way I can handle and engine swap.

Never thought about the starter and no one mentioned it, so I'll buy one now. Re-manufactured one is on closeout online for $50 shipped.

I'm also due to put in a fastener order. I like going stainless steel because of how bad road salt is for the cars around here, but it doesn't match up to the strength of grade 10.9 metric bolts. Stainless is rated around 100kpsi tensile and around 60kpsi yield strenght while Grade 10.9 is around 150kpsi tensile 130kpsi yield. I'll double check the size and thread pitch of the bolts I have and just order a handful of each size.

[livelyjay]

The sound deadening is now installed in the rear and I just threw the internal panels and such back there to get them out of the way. I'll start the transmission uninstall this week and hopefully have the thing off by the weekend.

[livelyjay]

[livelyjay]

The transmission is now out of the car. Overall it took me four hours to do including the work I already posted.

[livelyjay]

Nissan has discontinued the stock hard line for the clutch, so I am definitely stuck making it myself. I also typed up the first half of the DIY, although I didn't take any pictures. I'll take pictures of the rest of the way and include those and do what I can picture wise for the first half.

If I had to do it all over again I would have just bought this for the clutch line and called it a day: http://www.summitracing.com/pa...large

Any ways, flywheel and clutch will be coming off this weekend, and I'll try to get the pedal out as well, and get as much back on as I can.

[livelyjay]

Clutch pedal is installed as is the clutch master cylinder. I have a feeling you might be able to get away with using the CA16DE clutch pedal if you drill a hole in it to attach the master cylinder piston rod to, but I can't verify that now that the pedals have been swapped.

Left is CA16DE pedal, right is CA18DE pedal

Tight fit on the clutch master cylinder, but it's installed now

[Fleemer]

weird, my clutch pedal assembly didn't have a clutch switch

i think my car is the only 5 speed that won't start unless its in neutral :P

(auto P or N switch lol, apparently the gear sensor has the same trigger for neutral :P)

[livelyjay]

I looked through some posts on the SR20 forum as well as Dee's post about his history. I noticed that the clutch master cylinders appear to all have remote reservoirs. Do I need one as well?

[boost_boy]

I looked through some posts on the SR20 forum as well as Dee's post about his history. I noticed that the clutch master cylinders appear to all have remote reservoirs. Do I need one as well?

Oh yes you do. It connects to the inlet where the red nipple cover is at.

Dee

[livelyjay]

Thanks Dee. After posting that I did a little more searching and thinking about it and came to that conclusion as well. I found a Brembo remote reservoir on eBay for $15 shipped so I might go with that if I can't fond something cheap at the parts store.

New question. I installed the new axle seals, release fork dust cover, cleaned and greased the fork and input shaft and starting putting the transmission into place. I got it seated on the flywheel, but ran into a problem. There are guide pins on the front and back mounting points on the CA16DE engine. The front one did not seat into the CA18DE trans, and the trans itself has a guide pin on the back side, so the two guide pins hit each other. What do I do? Does this mean the engine and trans are not compatible? Should I cut off the guide pins and try again? Should I give up on the conversion for now until I get the CA18DET engine?

[boost_boy]

Thanks Dee. After posting that I did a little more searching and thinking about it and came to that conclusion as well. I found a Brembo remote reservoir on eBay for $15 shipped so I might go with that if I can't fond something cheap at the parts store.

New question. I installed the new axle seals, release fork dust cover, cleaned and greased the fork and input shaft and starting putting the transmission into place. I got it seated on the flywheel, but ran into a problem. There are guide pins on the front and back mounting points on the CA16DE engine. The front one did not seat into the CA18DE trans, and the trans itself has a guide pin on the back side, so the two guide pins hit each other. What do I do? Does this mean the engine and trans are not compatible? Should I cut off the guide pins and try again? Should I give up on the conversion for now until I get the CA18DET engine?

Take the guide pins out of the CA18DET's transmission and replace the other ones with these. The CA16's should fit as well, but you have to do away with one set of them. It's best to have the pins already in their places on the ears of the block and not the transmission or you'll be having a lot of fun

Dee