FWD CA18DET Transmission Questions

[livelyjay]

Well I don't have the CA18DET transmission yet, but I get what you mean. How do you go about removing the guide pins?

Once I figure out how to pull the pins, I'll pull all the pins out and test fit them in the transmission. If they fit I'll put them back into the block. If not I'll do some work on the transmission to make them fit. I might need to widen the hole on the transmission a small bit because it looks like there's some slight damage where the pin would go, like scratches.

[livelyjay]

Merry Christmas everyone.

Ok, now I feel like a complete moron. Now that everyone left the house I went back out into the garage, grabbed the vise grips, and the guide pin pulled right out of the transmission. I test fitted it into the other hole I was having troubles with and there is a bur or something that prevents the pin from sliding in with ease. It does go in, but not very easily. I'm going to hit both the holes up with the Dremel to smooth them out and try installing the transmission again tomorrow. Hopefully I will have more luck.

One more question. I can shift both of the cable transmissions from the CA16DE without any issues when they are up on the work bench. The CA18DE doesn't seem to want to shift at all. Any thoughts?

[boost_boy]

Merry Christmas everyone.

Ok, now I feel like a complete moron. Now that everyone left the house I went back out into the garage, grabbed the vise grips, and the guide pin pulled right out of the transmission. I test fitted it into the other hole I was having troubles with and there is a bur or something that prevents the pin from sliding in with ease. It does go in, but not very easily. I'm going to hit both the holes up with the Dremel to smooth them out and try installing the transmission again tomorrow. Hopefully I will have more luck.

One more question. I can shift both of the cable transmissions from the CA16DE without any issues when they are up on the work bench. The CA18DE doesn't seem to want to shift at all. Any thoughts?

Merry Christmas to the gang as well ! As for being hard to shift, that's just the way it is. It's not really hard to shift, but because your not using the synchronization of the shift rails, it will appear to be difficult.

Dee

[livelyjay]

The transmission is now installed. Not fully installed yet, but it's mounted to the engine and the side mount is bolted into place and connected to the frame mount. I'll tackle the rest of the installation next weekend.

New axle seals installed

Release fork and bell housing cleaned up, new throwout bearing installed with new grease

Transmission mounted

[mazikowski]

Great work man, good to see you're documenting it well!

[livelyjay]

I've been writing up everything I've done in a text document on my laptop. There will be a full how-to posted eventually when I get done with it. Only problem is I didn't take pictures of the uninstall, but oh well.

[livelyjay]

Can't forget props to Dee and others on here for all the help as well.

Now, on to the remote clutch reservoir. I'm trying to find one using car-part.com from a 240SX since I can't find anything at the parts stores. If I can't find anything, I'm thinking about going with a motorcycle remote reservoir since I can get them for about $15 shipped new. What size is necessary? They come in 15, 30, and 45ml.

[boost_boy]

Can't forget props to Dee and others on here for all the help as well.

Now, on to the remote clutch reservoir. I'm trying to find one using car-part.com from a 240SX since I can't find anything at the parts stores. If I can't find anything, I'm thinking about going with a motorcycle remote reservoir since I can get them for about $15 shipped new. What size is necessary? They come in 15, 30, and 45ml.

You can't get one through the nissan dealer?

Dee

[livelyjay]

Nissan dealer by where I work sucks and besides, they require a VIN number for everything, which mine won't work because I have an '87 VIN and none of the cars for sale online (cars.com, autotrader, etc) have 5 speeds with VINs listed. I contacted some yards that are "close" that have clutch master cylinders listed for the 240SX, but haven't heard anything yet. I'll try calling the other one closer to where I live, and if all else fails, I'll contact BuyNissanParts.com since they helped me with the release fork dust boot.

[boost_boy]

If not, I'll scrounge around in the garage to see if I have an extra one for you.

Dee

[livelyjay]

Cool, thanks Dee. I'll let you know. Those Brembo ones online are 30cc, which is just over 1 fluid oz. To me that seems like enough since the clutch line isn't very long and the throwout bearing doesn't move a considerable amount. If they are large enough for a motorcycle brake master cylinder it should be enough for a clutch master cylinder.

[livelyjay]

The speedometer cable appears to be a few centimeters too shortI'll check to see if they have the same cross reference. It might be the case that the engine/trans are just sagged in the rear a bit.

Had to remove brace from CA16DE rear trans mount to intake manifold to make room for CA18DE trans mount.The picture of the mount is below. Is this a problem? Do I need the bracket from the CA18DE? If so should I just try and fab one?

Did I wire the starter correctly?

Where does the negative wire for the battery go?

Sensor on right side of CA16DE trans doesn't exist on CA18DEThere is a connector on the wiring harness that used to connect to a sensor on the CA16DE transmission by the right side axle. This sensor does not exist on the CA18DE trans. Is this going to be a problem?

Sensor on left side of trans doesn't match upThe sensor on the left side of the CA18DE trans has a female connector when the CA16DE one had a male connector, so the new one can't hook up to the CA16DE engine harness. What do I do?

[boost_boy]

The speedometer cable appears to be a few centimeters too shortI'll check to see if they have the same cross reference. It might be the case that the engine/trans are just sagged in the rear a bit.

Had to remove brace from CA16DE rear trans mount to intake manifold to make room for CA18DE trans mount.The picture of the mount is below. Is this a problem? Do I need the bracket from the CA18DE? If so should I just try and fab one?

Did I wire the starter correctly?

Where does the negative wire for the battery go?

Sensor on right side of CA16DE trans doesn't exist on CA18DEThere is a connector on the wiring harness that used to connect to a sensor on the CA16DE transmission by the right side axle. This sensor does not exist on the CA18DE trans. Is this going to be a problem?

Sensor on left side of trans doesn't match upThe sensor on the left side of the CA18DE trans has a female connector when the CA16DE one had a male connector, so the new one can't hook up to the CA16DE engine harness. What do I do?

You'll have to rewire it. You're also going to need to reference a manual for the pulsar cars in general. CHilton is your best bet as they have one that do both the pulsar and the sentra together. I used to know this by hard, but I don't do this everyday which means I eventually forget it. Make sure you use the CA18DE pulsar's lower mount (the one that goes underneath the car).

Dee

[livelyjay]

Dee, I get the subtle feeling you're being short and difficult so I can learn all this on my own, and it's working I have the true hard copy FSM for the 87 Pulsar, plus the digital supplemental manual for the CA18DE, plus a Chiltons or Haynes for the model year as well.

After some digging tonight, here's what I learned.1) No answer yet to the mount, but I think I'll just skip it for now. If anything I can cut off the spacer.2) That is the correct way to wire up the starter.3) The battery cable, although I couldn't find it in the manual, gets connects to the slave cylinder. Found this by looking at the pictures of the CA18DE trans when I first got it.4) The sensor that is missing from the CA18DE transmission is the neutral switch. I'm going to check out the manual tomorrow and see if there is any mention of it for the CA18DE. I wasn't able to find out the purpose of this sensor in the CA16DE manuals, nor did I find it in the circuit diagrams for the harness.5) The final sensor that's male on CA16DE and female on CA18DE is the reverse light switch. What I might do is swap out the sensors completely and see if it works, then I won't have to do any cutting. Otherwise I'll swap the plug.

[livelyjay]

Ok, so I decided what the hell, I'll check out the supplemental guide before I head to bed. The guide shows the CA18DE has a "Position" switch instead of a reverse switch and there is no neutral switch shown.

So, does this mean the "Position" switch acts like a reverse switch AND a neutral switch? What does the neutral switch on the CA16DE transmission actually do?

[livelyjay]

I also figured out that the speedometer cables are different between the 1987 and the 1988-1989 Pulsars. So I'll need to get a new one of those too. Suck. I knew I should have bought that 88 Pulsar off of eBay with the bad valve. Then I would have had everything I needed.

[livelyjay]

The shifter support rod appears to be different as well. I threw the rear transmission mount on this morning. The bolt on the bracket for the rod doesn't go all the way through. I can probably drill out that bolt and use the one from the CA16DE because the rod will fit, but it's a tight fit. Right now I am trying to hunt down a support rod, but it's not looking promising.

Also the bolt that I thought went through the rear support and the rear ear of the engine block appears to be too long. My only guess is it's because I don't have the correct support beam that goes from the rear mount to the intake manifold. I'll do some searching for pictures of the CA18DE engine to see if I'm right.

[livelyjay]

Some new information for anyone who's still following. The "Position Sensor" for the CA18DE transmission has four wires, so it likely does contain both the neutral and reverse switch. This is very good news. I found a picture of the brace that goes from the rear mount to the intake manifold on. This confirms my initial belief. So, I'm going to cut off the spacer on the CA16DE mount and try to use it. Should work unless the bends don't clear the new rear mount. I also found some pictures of an empty engine compartment for a US 1988 EXA with CA18DE. So now I understand how the clutch lines were laid out from the factory and what I can expect when I start running mine. I found a guy parting out a Sentra Spec-V, so I'll have a remote clutch reservoir on the way soon.

CA18DE brace from rear mount to intake manifold

Clutch flex line outlined in yellow

Clutch hard line outlined in green

[float_6969]

I'm still reading! Keep up the good work.

[livelyjay]

So last night I finally got around to some work, although not much of it. I got the bolt drilled out of the shifter support rod bracket. Tonight I'll spend a few minutes getting the other bolts into the rear transmission mount, get the shifter support rod and linkage bolted in, and hopefully have enough time to bolt in the rear frame mount. Then I can finally try and shift the damn transmission and see if the bastard works or not. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

[Liquid_Neon]

You know, i always knew the ca16 was smaller but ive never seen the 18 and 16 side by side! holy crap it looks barely fit to power a honda, man no wonder a ca16 doesnt take boost without slipping!

good job on all of this man, us fellow pulsar nx owners are cheering!

[livelyjay]

Well, this totally sucks and what I was afraid of. Transmission is in, all mounts and such are in. The transmission will not shift. It's in first gear and appears to be frozen in place. Could I be missing something? Is there a check valve or something in the transmission that could be causing it to stick? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

[boost_boy]

Well, this totally sucks and what I was afraid of. Transmission is in, all mounts and such are in. The transmission will not shift. It's in first gear and appears to be frozen in place. Could I be missing something? Is there a check valve or something in the transmission that could be causing it to stick? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Sorry to hear that man. Are you using the CA18DE's shift rails? You can release the shifter rod from the transmission and take a hammer to the shifter. It should go in and out with no problem. I'm very surprised you didn't check this operation bfore you put this puppy in. Unfortunately, there's no check valve on these . It either works or somthing's wrong with it. If you were close, I could help a little more by opening it up to see wihat's the issue. Try the hammer thing first (Trust me on this).

Dee

[livelyjay]

By shift rails do you mean the linkage and support rod (the two bars connected to the shifter)? If that is what you mean, then no, I am using the CA16DE shift rails. They installed pretty much right up with the CA18DE transmission, so I figured they would work. I explained when I first got the transmission that I was concerned because I couldn't manually move the selector on the transmission by hand like I could with the CA16DE trans.

What do you mean take a hammer to the shifter? Like, go into the car and hit the shifter with a hammer? Or something else?

If all else fails, I'll pull the transmission off tomorrow and crack it open. It's getting faster now that I know what's going on under there. The shop I took it to before I did anything said it looked ok, but my guess is they didn't do anything more than just take a quick look. If I can't find anything glaringly wrong I'll take it to a different shop and see if they can figure it out.

[boost_boy]

By shift rails do you mean the linkage and support rod (the two bars connected to the shifter)? If that is what you mean, then no, I am using the CA16DE shift rails. They installed pretty much right up with the CA18DE transmission, so I figured they would work. I explained when I first got the transmission that I was concerned because I couldn't manually move the selector on the transmission by hand like I could with the CA16DE trans.

What do you mean take a hammer to the shifter? Like, go into the car and hit the shifter with a hammer? Or something else?

If all else fails, I'll pull the transmission off tomorrow and crack it open. It's getting faster now that I know what's going on under there. The shop I took it to before I did anything said it looked ok, but my guess is they didn't do anything more than just take a quick look. If I can't find anything glaringly wrong I'll take it to a different shop and see if they can figure it out.

I should've said smack the selector with a hammer. It is highly unlikely something is broken inside that transmission, but the hammer thing should help you get it unstuck.

Dee

[livelyjay]

I'll disconnect the shift rails and try smacking the selector with a hammer. Any other tips? I'm getting a little discouraged, mostly because I have work for my other car piling up because shops suck. I'm going to buy my own 12 ton press so I can do my own wheel bearings from now on because I am sick of shops charging me $250 a pop and they go bad just when they are out of warranty, plus I have to buy a new control arm because the shop conveniently forgot to put the dust boot back onto the ball joint, so it's rusting now.

I'll try smacking the selector around with a hammer tonight. Any suggestions into technique? Thankfully it's stuck in 1st gear, so I just need to smack it in the direction of the transmission itself.

[boost_boy]

I'll disconnect the shift rails and try smacking the selector with a hammer. Any other tips? I'm getting a little discouraged, mostly because I have work for my other car piling up because shops suck. I'm going to buy my own 12 ton press so I can do my own wheel bearings from now on because I am sick of shops charging me $250 a pop and they go bad just when they are out of warranty, plus I have to buy a new control arm because the shop conveniently forgot to put the dust boot back onto the ball joint, so it's rusting now.

I'll try smacking the selector around with a hammer tonight. Any suggestions into technique? Thankfully it's stuck in 1st gear, so I just need to smack it in the direction of the transmission itself.

I concur that wheel bearings are expensive. I just got through doing the fronts on my Maxima and it still costs even with me dong my own labor and using machine shops for pressing on th bearings. I would sriously just give the selector a whack. It's probably just frozen because it's been sitting for so long. And besides, most of you guys live where it snows at, so those vehicles will more than likely see rust in its lifetime. Anyways, let us know how the smack-down or smack-in goes .

Dee

[livelyjay]

My Pulsar is from North Carolina, so it's never seen salty roads, and never will. I don't count my own labor as a cost into the equation because I enjoy doing this kind of work.

Shop cost for parts and labor is: $482 plus tax for control arm and wheel bearingMy cost for parts, tools, and misc items is: $437 for a new OEM Mazda parts for each part I am touching, 12 ton press, 3/4" socket set to use with press (and axle nut), shipped to my door. So I save $50 this time around and next time I have to do a wheel bearing I save $200.

Any ways, crossing my fingers that the hammer can persuade the selector to break free.

[livelyjay]

Well, I might have some good news. Pulled the transmission off in one hour, so I'm getting faster at it. Hit the selector with a hammer and it knocked loose, ever so slightly. I could wiggle it from side to side just a bit. So, I cracked open the case and took a look inside. It appears that it's just very gummed up on the inside. I can't get it to shift into any gears. Here are some pictures. I'll be calling the transmission shop tomorrow to see if I can bring it in and have them clean it up and figure out if it needs anything to be fixed.

[boost_boy]

That thing probably never had it gear changed and possibly came out of a flooded vehicle from hurricane Katrina or something. Never seen a transmission so nasty in my life.

Dee