CA18DET FWD Swap Build Thread

[float_6969]

I'm confused. Are you using a CA18DET ECU and the stock KN13 harness? I could go back and read everything, but I'm in a hurry this morning, LOL.

[livelyjay]

Correct. CA18DET ECU and KN13 engine harness from CA16DE engine.

[livelyjay]

As far as I can tell, the wiring and plumbing in the engine compartment are done. Since no one answered my question about the TPS wiring, I just followed the Excel pinout that's posted on the EXA site. I had to swap the solenoid I originally installed on the firewall because it was the wrong one. Now the true power valve solenoid is attached.

The middle wire of the idle switch (Gray/Blue) was moved to the Light-Green/Red wire on the CA18DET TPS.
I attached the PRVR Solenoid signal wire (pin #19, Green) to the Light-Green/Black wire on the CA18DET TPS.
I attached the EGR Solenoid signal wire (pin #4, Gray/Blue) to the Black wire on the CA18DET TPS.
* I soldered the TPS wires in line with the solenoid signal wires, so if I ever go back to the CA16DE engine, the solenoid plugs are still in tact and I can just snip the TPS wire.
* I marked which wires I used for the TPS on my spreadsheet so I know what to hook up where on the CA18DET ECU plug.

I then had to rework some of my loom so the wires would reach where they needed to and not be too ugly or messy. I left the other two solenoid plugs as is and just zip-tied them out of the way. The new MAF was installed and I put the battery and tray along with the air box back in just so I can get my bearings for the install. The battery will be going into the trunk later on and the air box will be removed for a cone filter and possibly a cold air box.

I'll order the new radiator and the hose for the other side this week sometime. I'll also start working on the ECU side of the harness as well as the throttle cable bracket. I should be done with the ECU plug by the end of next weekend and maybe be ready for a start up attempt.

Engine bay as it sits now. I'll paint the MAF and cam covers later

[float_6969]

looking good!

[livelyjay]

With the exception of the blue MAF, the purple valve covers, the chewed up timing cover, and the non-painted manifold right?

It's going to be pretty damn hot today and tomorrow, so I might not get much work done at the beginning of the week.

[boost_boy]

Just need to add some yellow and a tint of orange and gay power to the third power . Actually, it's pretty cool to see that puppy in your car. I put some love into the building of that motor and gave it a kiss before it left my garage.

[livelyjay]

Got a problem guys. The new radiator showed up and it's slightly different than OEM. First the hose inlet/outlet are smaller, but the manufacturer provided rubber adapters.

More importantly, there is no threaded hole for the temperature sensor. The OEM radiator, on the right in the picture below, has a plugged inlet, a plugged outlet, and a sensor. The new radiator, on the same side, has a plugged inlet and a plugged outlet. Those fittings don't line up with the OEM radiator. The new radiator, on the left side in the picture, has an opening that's got a plastic bung plugging it up, but it doesn't appear to be big enough to fit the temp sensor.

Any ideas? FYI, this radiator was purchased through the Vista Pro website.

Old radiator


New radiator

[livelyjay]

The a** hats didn't realize there was a 1.6 DOHC engine for the Pulsar, so their cross reference is wrong, even though the picture on the web site matches OEM. I'm going to grab a Spectra off of eBay once I get my refund. At least they handled that professionally, I got an RMA and FedEx prepaid label already.

[float_6969]

That sucks. Sorry man. Kinda hard to blame them though. It was only the one year for the CA16, right?

[livelyjay]

The only people to blame are Nissan, for doing all kinds of retarded things in the 80s. One car with four different engines in a three year span, on a platform that only lasted four years? Throttle body fuel injection ... really?

This kind of stuff happens though on cars that are rare and ancient. Hell, they don't even have to be ancient. Try finding a radiator or AC condenser that's the right size for the Mazdaspeed Protege

[Liquid_Neon]

Yeah... my '88 doesnt have that sensor in it. silly ca16 1987's!

[livelyjay]

Does anyone know what that sensor actually is?

[livelyjay]

Nevermind. According to the FSM for the engine, the harness plugs at that location are for the radiator fan and the thermo switch. The thermo switch appears to send the temperature signal to the gauge cluster and has nothing to do with the ECU, which would get signal from the temp sensor in the thermostat housing right?

[leadpaw]

Yep the two prong temp sensor off of the thermostat housing is for the ecu. The single prong temp sensor on the thermostat housing is for the temp gauge only.

[livelyjay]

Thanks for the information. After looking at all the diagrams I thought that's what it was for, but it's nice to get a confirmation. I'll be sending the radiator back today and I'm going to contact Spectra to make sure they have the correct radiator.

My heat shrink tubing arrived today, so I might be able to get this car running this weekend (I'll use my old radiator until the new one comes in). What is the recommended weight for engine oil?

[float_6969]

I don't know what the weather is like there right now, but i'd say 10w-40 should be fine for where you're at.

[livelyjay]

Soldering commences. Not sure how much I can get done tonight because my house AC unit crapped out. The new capacitor should be here today and while that won't take long to swap out, not sure if there are going to be other problems. Plus I have ice hockey at 8pm. In the last picture you can kind of see how I'm doing this. Following the pin-out guide from the EXA site and working my way down the CA16DE ECU plugs. In hindsight, I would suggest moving down the CA18DET ECU plug as that would lead to a much cleaner group of wires and it would be easier to keep them the same length. Mine is going to be a little messy when I'm done but I'll clean it up with loom.


One thing I noticed, on the CA18DET ECU pin "#16 - B/Y - ECCS Relay" is missing. Is this going to be a problem?


Soldering station setup



About halfway done

[livelyjay]

There are two wire colors on the CA18DET plug that did not match the guide so could someone clarify for me?
Pin #16 is listed as being Black/Yellow, on my connector it is Red/Black. This is listed as the ECCS relay for CA18DET, EFI relay for CA16DE.
Pin #11 is listed as being Red/Black, on my connector it is Red/Blue. This is listed as coil #4.
So if my ECCS relay or Coil#4 don't work I know exactly where to look for the problem but can anyone clarify this?

I have decided to go with a water/air intercooler setup instead of air/air. Why? I can run more direct piping for the air, so better throttle response. Also during auto-cross I can toss ice into the water to drop the intake temperatures even more. It's also not done very often and I like to be different. I mean I am modding an EXA so I already like to be different

[livelyjay]

Finished soldering the wires and did something stupid and wrapped everything up nice and pretty. So if there are any problems I'll have to tear it all apart. Oh well. The new radiator is in and full of coolant. During lunch today I'll buy oil and transmission fluid. Tonight I will attempt to start this thing up. The air intake system is of course not built, but right now I just want to make sure I can start her up.

[livelyjay]

The engine cranks, but it doesn't turn over. My #1 guess would be the fuel pump because I don't hear the tell tale hum of the pump when I turn the ignition key to the accessory position. Any suggestions or should I just follow the FSM troubleshooting flow chart?

[float_6969]

I'd start with the basics. Check fuses and grounds. Then see if you've got power at the pump. If not, you likely have a wiring issue.

[livelyjay]

I'll check the fuel pump fuse to make sure it didn't blow, but the easiest way is to unhook the fuel feed, turn the car on, and see if fuel comes out. If not, then I'll start at the pump and move my way forward until I find the wiring/fuse/relay problem.


BTW, I'm supposed to run premium fuel with this engine right?

[mdb4879]

I'm sure I may get corrected on this, but IMO if you live in a cooler area, have a decent intercooling setup, and are running stock 7 psi boost you could probably get away with regular old 87 octane. Just listen for pinging and retard the timing a bit if you do. I've never actually run 87 in my car though. It can get pretty warm down here and I think I'm running closer to 10-12 psi. Plus that actually isn't the biggest reason I run 93. IMO with how high gas prices are and extra 20 or 30 cents per gallon for premium really isn't that much more to pay anymore, especially in a toy. So I just fill up with premium and would recommend the same.

[livelyjay]

I was just making sure, not arguing which way I should go. I figured since it was a boosted engine it would require premium. Right now there's roughly 1/2 gallon of regular left in the tank.

[Liquid_Neon]

U mean you didnt use high octane on you de?? man, i always did :P I tweaked the timeing and drove it like a butthead and sometimes i would get noises from 87. This is all years ago mind you, when i was paying 2-somthing max. So when i did the det swap i didnt have to worry.

[livelyjay]

Transmission switch figured out and my reverse lights are now working correctly. Simple fact that I didn't really look closely at the CA18DE supplement guide way back when I did the transmission swap.

Fuel pump is definitely not working as I disconnected the feed line and nothing came out. Not even a hint of fuel. I'll start troubleshooting when I get back from Vermont on Sunday using the FSM flow chart when I narrow down which one to follow.

Anyone know a good way to check for spark so I can make sure that's working?

[leadpaw]

you can just take the coil pack out with the sparkplug in it and ground the plug, or you can take a sparkplug wire from another car shove the coil end into the coil pack and the sparkplug end on the spark plug, then hook an inductive timing light to the stolen wire and watch for it. Be sure to ground the coil also.

[livelyjay]

You can ground the plug by wrapping a jump wire from the negative terminal around the threads right?

[leadpaw]

yep! its not that high of an amperage so the wire doesnt have to be massive.

[float_6969]

I use one of these

No more risk of getting shocked