FWD CA18DET Transmission Questions

[livelyjay]

The good thing is the gears turn The transmission came out of a car in Illinois and has been sitting for a pretty long time according to the yard I bought it from. I thought about cleaning it up myself, but I think I'm just going to take it to a shop and have them deal with it. I spent good money on it and it looks like it will work, so I don't want to muck anything up. I'll let you guys know how it turns out.

The stock speedometer cable might fit. Forgot to mention when I got the rear mount put in place it raised the trans a bit and the cable was long enough to reach. Not sure if it will work though.

One thing I haven't quite figured out yet, is how do you fill this thing with gear oil? It's pretty straightforward on the CA16DE trans, but I can't find a fill plug on this thing. Should I use a synthetic like RedLine or just some regular stuff from AutoZone?

[float_6969]

I've got redline in mine and it's good stuff.

[livelyjay]

The transmission shop seems less than enthusiastic about cleaning and checking out a transmission for me. Nevertheless, I'm going to clean some of it up tonight and see if I can make some progress, put it back together, and drop it off tomorrow.

[boost_boy]

The good thing is the gears turn The transmission came out of a car in Illinois and has been sitting for a pretty long time according to the yard I bought it from. I thought about cleaning it up myself, but I think I'm just going to take it to a shop and have them deal with it. I spent good money on it and it looks like it will work, so I don't want to muck anything up. I'll let you guys know how it turns out.

The stock speedometer cable might fit. Forgot to mention when I got the rear mount put in place it raised the trans a bit and the cable was long enough to reach. Not sure if it will work though.

One thing I haven't quite figured out yet, is how do you fill this thing with gear oil? It's pretty straightforward on the CA16DE trans, but I can't find a fill plug on this thing. Should I use a synthetic like RedLine or just some regular stuff from AutoZone?

You fill the transmission by removing the bolt closest to the bellhousing, but located on the gearbox casing in the front of the transmission to the left of where the transmission mount bolts-up at. I hope you put gear oil in yourtranny when you installed or you were going to have a rough time with it. Actually, doesn't look like anything was wrong with your transmission besides the fact that it was nasty. You could actually clean it up, but it's your choice what you do with it.

Dee

[livelyjay]

Thought that bolt might be the place, but I wasn't sure.

I blasted the transmission with WD40 and carb cleaner when I got home from work. That cut through some of the nasty stuff and I was able to clean it up quite a bit. Sorry, forgot to snap a picture before I put the case back on. With some slight hammer persuasion I was able to get the forks moving and select gears. I think you're right Dee, the forks just feel like they are gummed up and can't move up and down. I did notice that a check ball is missing from one of the shift forks (the first bolts you remove before removing the cover). No idea where it is and I'd rather not find out later on that it fell into the transmission. I'm going to have the shop tear it down and clean it up. Hopefully they can get it selecting gears smoothly without having to repair anything, and replace the check ball. They said they can't get to it till early next week so there's going to be a nice waiting period until I find anything out.

Side note, my 12 ton press has been ordered and should be here next week. Hooray for doing my own wheel bearings.

[float_6969]

G/L w/the trans shop. Most of the ones around here take FOREVER to get work done when you bring it in to them.

[livelyjay]

If forever is a week or two or even three, that's fine with me. I have a wheel bearing, control arm, front brakes, and transmission fluid change to do on the daily driver, so there is plenty to keep me busy.

[livelyjay]

Shop told me to call back on Wednesday, so now I play the waiting game. With all my messing around I might have messed up one of the axle seals, so I'll buy another one.

So, while I/we wait .... do you think the CA16DE speedometer cable will work with the CA18DE transmission? The part numbers are different. The length appears to be fine after I installed the rear mount and it raised everything into the correct position. I'll be ecstatic if it does work, because that saves $45.

Is there anything I should check with the axles?

[boost_boy]

Shop told me to call back on Wednesday, so now I play the waiting game. With all my messing around I might have messed up one of the axle seals, so I'll buy another one.

So, while I/we wait .... do you think the CA16DE speedometer cable will work with the CA18DE transmission? The part numbers are different. The length appears to be fine after I installed the rear mount and it raised everything into the correct position. I'll be ecstatic if it does work, because that saves $45.

Is there anything I should check with the axles?

Cable will work just fine (no need to change it). You have an aspirated engine, so no need to check anything engine related except for the rear main seal.

Dee

[livelyjay]

My new toy is pictured below. Parts for the other car get in tomorrow and I have to wait till Wednesday for the second set of press plates and the 3/4" socket set.

I cleaned up my work area in that picture too. I found the check ball for the transmission. I figured it might have fallen out of the case when I set it down on top of the transmission parts box. Sure enough when I went through the box the ball was sitting in the bottom. At least that tells me if/when someone took it apart, they likely put it back together correctly.

12 Ton Press

[livelyjay]

Called the transmission shop. They'll be cracking the transmission open Friday and cleaning it up. Ugghh, the wait continues, but that's ok since this weekend is wheel bearing, control arm, and brakes on the other car.

[livelyjay]

The waiting continues. Trans shop said to call on Tuesday.

Side note, just traded in the wife's POS Ford Contour and bought a Toyota Matrix. Thank god now I only have two cars to work on instead of three.

[turboN13]

I am using the CA16DE shift rails.

This will be the problem.

The 31a/v selector and stabilizer rods over here are different to the 50 series ones. Similar and will mate up to the box, but you won't get gears.

The first time I done the conversion, I modified the selector trying to get it right and couldn't. Online resources didn't exist back then.

I changed over to the factory 50 series selctor and stabilizer and the box was working fine.

This is my current one [IMG][/IMG]

[livelyjay]

I'll wait for Dee to chime in about the rails. If anything I'll try them out, and if they don't work, I'll try and find some from the CA18DE.

Trans shop called yesterday. They said the transmission will shift now, but they said the carrier bearings are on their way out. I figured they would say something like that. No way in hell am I paying them to do it though since I've already dropped a decent amount of change on this. I found another transmission, and it's likely still on the car since they tested it, that I'll buy if this one goes bad. I should have it back this week, and once my cold goes away, it will be back on the car for a shift test with the CA16DE rails.

[boost_boy]

I'll wait for Dee to chime in about the rails. If anything I'll try them out, and if they don't work, I'll try and find some from the CA18DE.

Trans shop called yesterday. They said the transmission will shift now, but they said the carrier bearings are on their way out. I figured they would say something like that. No way in hell am I paying them to do it though since I've already dropped a decent amount of change on this. I found another transmission, and it's likely still on the car since they tested it, that I'll buy if this one goes bad. I should have it back this week, and once my cold goes away, it will be back on the car for a shift test with the CA16DE rails.

I would've used the CA18DE shift rails like I stated earlier in this thread. When it comes to MMs and transmissions, it turns out to mean a lot. You should've used everything that was designed to accompany the CA18's transmission. And if they say the carrier bearing was going, qhy don't they repair it as it is not that expensive.

Dee

[livelyjay]

If the CA16DE rails won't work then I will try and find a CA18DE set. I would have requested them from the yard where I got the transmission had I known they were different. The yard cut the stabilizer rod with a torch when they removed the transmission, so that source is out.

The shop told me four more hours of labor to replace the carrier bearings. Maybe they meant all the bearings? I'm not going to spend another $500 on this thing right now when I still don't know if it's going to work, especially if the shift linkage won't work and I have to find a CA18DE linkage.

[livelyjay]

Transmission is now in the trunk of my car. Guy said the selector rod was bent and was hitting the case. I did notice that it had a slight upward angle to it. They cleaned it up and even spray painted it for me. I wonder if the spray paint was counted in the 4 labor hours they charged me. I'll target the weekend of the 20th to get this thing installed and see if the CA16DE rails will work. Hopefully everything will work out and I can get a few months of driving this thing in the summer with the new transmission.

I contacted a large number of salvage yards about the shift rails, but since salvage yards aren't the most tech savy, I'll probably have to make a lot of phone calls if the CA16DE rails don't work.

[livelyjay]

I found a yard that has the complete car. What else do I need besides the shift linkage?

Edit: I'll see if they have the remote clutch fluid reservoir too.
Modified by livelyjay at 4:04 PM 2/11/2010

[turboN13]

Stabilizer which runs parallel to the selector.

I have used the entire gear stick assembly in mine, I can't comment on that as your car may use the same one from factory.

[livelyjay]

Pretty much goes without saying. When I speak of the shift linkage I refer to the selector and the support rod. Guy said they have both so I'm not worried about it. So I'm going to add the remote reservoir to the list. Anything else? Dee?

[livelyjay]

The transmission is back in the car. You guys were right. The OEM linkage does not work. It feels like it wants to, but there's just something off with the geometry. I'll be calling the yard Monday morning and ordering the shift rails and the remote reservoir. If nothing else goes wrong, this car might be back on the road in less than a month. Not crossing my fingers though, something else is bound to go wrong. Not to mention I still need to investigate the position switch and figure out how to wire it to the OEM harness.

[livelyjay]

Shift rails and remote reservoir ordered. Now another waiting game. It would be awesome if they got here before this weekend, but I doubt it.

[livelyjay]

The salvage yard did a good thing, and a bad thing. Good thing is they sent the rails, they are in my garage, and they just left the shifter and everything installed. Bad thing is they sent me the slave cylinder instead of the remote clutch fluid reservoir. I might just end up ordering one from the Nissan dealership for a Spec-V or something.

Now, what's the process for uninstalling the shifter? Do I do it from the inside of the car, or the outside?

[boost_boy]

The salvage yard did a good thing, and a bad thing. Good thing is they sent the rails, they are in my garage, and they just left the shifter and everything installed. Bad thing is they sent me the slave cylinder instead of the remote clutch fluid reservoir. I might just end up ordering one from the Nissan dealership for a Spec-V or something.

Now, what's the process for uninstalling the shifter? Do I do it from the inside of the car, or the outside?

Sorry dude, you'll have to take off the heat shields to get to the 4 nuts that secure the shifter to the chasis and its all done from underneath the car.

Dee

[livelyjay]

Thanks for the quick input Dee. Don't be sorry, that's actually what I was hoping for. My catalytic converter is brand new and I had the shop install it (I have no torch and bolts were rusted big time) with my supplied stainless steel bolts, nuts, and lock washers. It won't be tough to pull that down and get to the shifter. I'm tackling that this weekend, so I will keep everyone posted.

[livelyjay]

Linkage was installed this weekend and it was successful. I can shift between gears now. I didn't play with it too much because there's no gear oil in the trans yet, but I can get it to move between 3rd and 4th and side to side. I didn't have time to get everything put back together, but it's coming together nicely. Now I just need a remote reservoir and I'll be all set with parts.

[livelyjay]

Well, I am getting closer. Got the linkage installed and started putting everything back together when I ran into probably the final road block. Pictures below. The intermediate shaft support is not the same between CA16DE and CA18DE, so the CA18DE passenger side axle is kind of just hanging out. So, what out of the following options should I do?1) Make some shims and braces and hook the axle to the existing bracket2) Shim and move the existing bracket into the correct position3) Find a CA18DE block somewhere and get the bracket off of it

CA18 linkage on left/below, CA16 linkage on the right/top

Hydraulic hard line I made for clutch system. Next time I am just going to use a full stainless line

Here's what I am talking about. The axle is fully installed with the hub, control arm, etc.

[turboN13]

Option 3

[float_6969]

Option 3. I'll bet if you buy Dee some cookies, he'd probably cough one up out of his deep abyss he calls a garage.

[livelyjay]

Figured you guys were going to say that. I just emailed every salvage yard that has a block for sale listed on car-part.com to see if they can sell me the bracket. I'll keep my fingers crossed that Dee has one that he can part with for some cash as well. Be nicer to send someone who's been very helpful the green rather than a yard.