i own a 1986 200sx with a ca18det. i just got the car going the other day after buying it from the person who had originally installed the engine in the car and was fed up with the clutch not releasing after having removed the engine and trans on two different occasions. turns out, that because he was running an sr20 flywheel with an act 6 puck clutch, the flywheel just diddnt have the proper clearance from the clutch to completely disengage. being a pipefitter i speak in inches, not thou, so i declined having the flywheel machoined down because i knew if i had to remove the engine for the third time, i would lose it. i installed the ca18det flywheel with a new clutch and she worked! it took two times to get it but i did. haha.
anyways. so im pretty stoked on this car actually running after figuring out the CAS was keeping the car from having any ignition. it was running a bit rich, but nothing too terrible. i wanted to drive this thing as id had it for 2 months already. so i went for a drive with my misses. the engine got a bit hot, even though the coolant was full and my 2x 12" e-fans were on every minute. i had stopped at a store, and as soon as i parked, my fuel pump fuse blew. no biggie, right?
i reinstalled the fuse, and it started to rain. noticing now that i have no wipers i figure since the car is full of parts still lets see what we have. i got out my multimeter and started troubleshooting. when the rain slowed, i quit my trouble shooting and got back in to head home. having only driven it for about 45 kms like a granny i figured id put her into boost. *sigh*. as i slowed from my pull, the car started to sound terrible. so i pulled it into a parking lot and decided to check things out. the first plug i removed was broken on top where it connects to the coil wire. i figured, sweet! this must be my issue. i called my ever so reliable father inlaw and asked him to grab me a set of plugs and swing by, which he did. i replaced all of the plugs, and went to start it. starts really terribly, and still sounds like hell.
so i brought the car to somewhere close, my parents place, and started looking around. i removed the plugs, counting from the front of the car plugs 1,2, and 4 were dry, and black. plug 3 was wet and black. i replaced plug 3 with a clean plug, started the car, pulled the plug, it was clean, but wet. so i figure, no spark. i replaced the coil pack, started the car, same thing. grasping at straws and having another coil harness available i installed it. same thing, runs like crap. plug 3 still wet, but with some oil from fuel wash. i checked the ecu and its telling me all systems are a-okay. i read around that its a possible bad ignitor, and one from a 1.6, 1.8L pulsar or q45 will be the same. aside from that, do you guys have any suggestions for things i can check out? any help is apprecieated.
the CA18DET is running stock boost, has a large FMIC and i mean large, a boost controller, stock injectors, and because i had no idea what would be available at my local parts store for plugs im running what came out which are champion plugs. the oil looks clean aswell.
here is a photo, just to keep people interested. haha
