Hi everyone!
As like many others ive been creeping this site for a long time for info, pics, inspiration, and ways to empty my wallet

ive finally got something cool in my car so i figured id start a build thread.

Got the 240 back in January of 2015
320,000kms on the clock
Dual cam KA
lowering springs and toiko adjustable struts
VLSD
Injen CAI

Picked up some XXR002 16 X 8 0et
Threw on my
Raceland coilovers
Isis GT Cat Back
Isis Short Shifter V2
Isis Tension rods and RUCA's
Dropped the subframe and re-did bushings w/ Energy Suspension S14's poly.
Found a R32 GT-R seat
Nardi Rep wheel and CS short hub/QR

This Is how she sits now







This is the CA18 i got for it




It was sold as-
T25 from an SR20
XSPower Tubular manifold
Braided lines for turbo
sr20 igtiter
NEW-
water pump/oil pump
timing belt kit
top end rebuild (not sure how in depth that went, but cyl head looks very new)
and mostly what comes with a motor set
basically looked liked someone just rebuilt this, as the cylinder walls had fresh honing/cross-hatcing

I ended up purchasing-
APEX'i ACV-R
Wiring specialties CA18 to S13 swap harness and coil pack harness (great guys to deal with)
XSpower CA18 FMIC kit-ended up getting a SR20 kit with 2 cold pipes, 1xS13, 1XS14, and no brackets for the core (issues with customer service)
Isis FPR + rail adpater
Autometer -Wideband, Water temp, Oil pressure, and Boost
Turbo elbow and 3" DP
samco rad hoses

This is how it started









I really wished that i took more pics of the actual mechanical parts of the swap, but was just too excited and i have a white phone sooo didnt wanna get it all grimey

In she Goes



We re and re'd the engines over a friday to sunday after work kinda deal.
things ceased on sunday when i tried fitting the FMIC piping,




as i said earlier couldnt get the cold piping lined up for the life of me (found out it was sr piping) .
hot side was not too bad, got it all to fit atleast.
over next week or so i got luck and found someone locally with ca18 stock IC piping and was able to make what i had work.

This is what i came out with-


At this time i am using a used EMUSA intercooler core and the brackets that came with it,
since i dont have brackets yet for my XSpower core.

Hahaha Now ti tried to start the car and crank crank crank crank crank crank crank crank.....
MF'er
tested for spark and had good spark
but found that no injectors were firing and no fuel on plugs...
The sad sick feeling after weeks of planning that you find out about the DROPPING RESISTOR...
I should have read the instructions from Wiring Specs.

So 3 weeks later i get a Brand new dropping resistor from Japan thru my local nissan dealer
i plugged it in, hopped in the car and hit the ignition....crank crank crank crank crank crank ...AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!
A couple of days go by and i realize that i can now feel and hear that the injectors are clicking after fixing some ground around the chassis area
so that promted me to remove the CAS just for poops and laughs
and look what i find!



Mother Freaking !@#%&!$#^@&#%^*#$^*&#^&%^#(&#%^& !!!!
Another sick feeling like being kick in the jewels when u see 1/2 moon missing out of the cam gear
Now, the weird thing is =


The CAS is good???? what???
So i throw everything back together and align the CAS and the cam best as possible to the 1/2 moon
And i fire it up for more Poops and laughs ... adn the Runs!!!1
for 3 secs at 450 rpm, but she runs!!
after playing with the timing and babying the throttle i got her warmed up and get her running well enough to build boost in neuteral
and have good A/F ratio's, oil pressure and water temps

But she still doenst want to idle
I have to Tee my cold start vavle off with intake manifold and intercooler cold pipe.

Following day i moved my car out of the shop and .... GREAT pool of fresh clear oil.
upon inspection my oil pump is leaking! WHY is a better question, its missing 3 oil pump bolts!
so either i was so ignorant that i didnt realize there was 4 oil pump bolts missing, or they rattled out while setting timing.
and i never found any bolts anywhere that would fit in the ca18 bolck
After hours of searching NICO ive fuond that the bolts is a M7 X 1.0 ? so i am on the search of those now

So that where im at with her now.
its been a hell of a journey and its not over yet

I Still need to get the front bumper on and signals wired back up
Decide on BOV location and recirc or not
Find a Exhst Cam-used or tomei Poncam if she hold up for that long
Try to find a power steering tensioner bracket for the Ca
Finish Tee=ing off my cold start/air regulator
Then when i get it all running and idling normally and get rid of this freaking oi lleak, I'll wire up the AVC-R
I plan to get around 220 to 240hp to the wheels with my set up.

My future goals-
Bigger injectors (GT-R maybe?)
Full Tune
Possibly Z32 maf if i can afford it before the tune
aluminum rad and e-fans if req.
Catch can set up
t28bb and external wastegate (or something bigger/better =D)
tomei poncams

Thanks for taking the time to look at my build !!
and thank you NiCO for ALL the INFO!!!
im trying to firgure out how to upload vids onto youtube properly so i can get them on here.

You have a good start going there. Keep at it, you'll get there!

Thanks float!

The beginning always sucks. Keep at it!

Hahaha no kidding Izento! thanks man!

so ive tried everywhich way to post the youtube video on here but i can figure out why the HTML isnt working





let me know if it works

Very nice, I like the headers.

You have to use the actual URL, not the link given when you click share.

Hey guys.
I got the car running today and droveit for the first time with the CA. Super stoked!
Runs good but seems to have an afr inconsistency.
Sometimes to rich,sometimes too lean--as per wideband.
I'm gonna try getting a new fuel pressure gauge tmr cause the one i got with the fpr is leaking,then reset fuel pressure.

More concerning thing is that I'm having blue/white smoke in off throttle situations, or after doing a hard pulls in 2-3gear.
No smoke at idle or nueteral revs.
I haven't had a chance to pull the plugs or anything yet.
-I'm guessing either pcv system/i need catch can
-i hope someone broke this motor in before i got it, and properly


One question i have for anyone with a tubular manifold is-does it get freaking hot under your hood?
I can smell a burning metal smell.
I think it's the fact that i have a brand new turbo eldow and dp that have hands prints=oil on them.
But i thought they would have burnt off by now?
I will have to gety a heat sheild and maybe header wrap

I'll post pics later

Glad you got it running!

The lean/rich thing, does it do it when you're cruising along at low loads? If so, that's completely normal. The ECU is in closed loop and the AFR's cycle back and forth like that with all engines with a narrowband O2 sensor.

Off throttle smoke is usually from oil being pulled into the intake via the PCV valve through the intake side valve cover. This is most commonly caused by worn rings causing excessive blowby. You said the top end was rebuilt, but have you checked the compression? There's a procedure laid out in the FSM.

Yes, tubular manifolds get RIDICULOUSLY hot. They also make the turbo spool slower and you don't gain any power from them unless you're running a REALLY big turbo. Don't use header wrap on that manifold. It will make it crack. It also causes them to rust out really bad. Honestly, if I were you, I'd try and find a stock manifold and heat shield. They're quieter, less heat, spool faster, and last longer.

Hello Gents!

Sorry its been so long since a reply.
i have figured out my smoking on off-throttle situations!
instead of Tee-ing off my PCV, Intake breather, and Exhaust breather.
Intake Vavle Cover Breather --> PCV
Exhaust Valve Cover Breather --> Suction/Intake Tube

And Voila no more smoke! i was so Stoked.

I did a compression test as per you rec, Float.
I was glas to see about 145 across the board thank goodness...

i also picked up an autometer fuel pressure gauge since the one that came with my ISIS FPR was leaking out the back.
Reset Fuel pressure to 36 psi KOEO/relay jumped

I ALSO Realized that i pooped all over my knock sensor rewire (some how got damaged d engine during install?)
i had to wire one in from the harness that i got with the motor and at the time i did not remove all the shielded wire from the actual knock sensor signal wire
once i got the fixed up , i set base timing to 15* .

She starts to spool around 3,000rpm and hit 7psi around 3800-4000rp
AFR around 12-13.5 upto 3,000 and it gets really rich afer 3,800 -full boost and onwards about 10.0-11.8
But Holy cow does she pull! Excited for when i get the AVC-R on here!
Ive been taking it easy on her since theres a new clutch
and im unsure of how much the motor was broken in previous to my ownership

I am on the hunt for a stock/cast manifold, thanks for the heads up on the header wrap float!.
Since we've had an unusually hot summer on Vancouver Island this year ive been freaking out about over heating,
and my under hood temps!
Heat sheild for the manifold and hsheilding/box for air intake filter-once i find a hard suction pipe








Plugs right before i re-routed my breather hoses.

Oh ya.. Guess what!
Prev owner removed butteryfly secondaries!
Totally reveals how gutless the 1.8 is in the bottom end =(
Not complaining about the butterflies but about people who dont understand how physics work.

145psi is LOW compression. When you did the test, did you hold the throttle all the way open and do it when the engine was warm and make sure you had ALL of the plugs removed and have a battery charger set to full charge on the battery? If you missed any of that, you'll get artificially low or varying numbers. If your compression is really 145psi, you'd be burning oil like mad.... Unless they re-ringed the bottom end and ran larger than standard ring gaps, which would lower compression a bit, but not by that much.

Also, the heater hose you used for the PCV system won't last long. The oil and other nasty gasses eat it up.

Other than that, it sounds like you're rocking and rolling!

I've yet to find a hard suction pipe, but I hope you have better luck finding one.

Wow its been a long time since ive updated....

yes i missed all of that on the cop test float,
but havet done another cause its been running so well!

I have not had to do much to the CA
-Tee'd off the intake/air reg/to intercooler cold piping (didnt help cold starts what so ever-i guess air reg is pooched)
-New O2 sensor
-Installed AVC-R boost set to 10 psi (running into rich issues-upto 10.2 afr going into 6-10 psi, 50%+ throttle )
-Adjusted TPS via AVC-R voltage

This CA is just a little power house tho!
'
i have noticed a slight vibartion issue, almost like a harmonic imbalance in the drive train around 4k 1st gear?
my guess is the driveshaft being the car has 334,xxx kms lol

I recently pulled fault codes from the ECU a few days ago and got a code 13.
i replaced the CTS with a Beckarnley component crossed via ca18de nissan pulsar.

Today I again pulled the codes and got code 13!
After research i checked around the wiring and noticed the there was some bare metal exposed on the wriing loom about 1/2"
up the black wire on the CTS, i electrical taped and plugged back in.
Went to ECU and set mode IV, post checking codes via mode III, to clear ECU codes.
Still Code 13!

I have yet to check resistance via multi-meter on CTS.
Im guessing that code 13 is cuasing my RICH/OVERFUELING issue under boost, and not helping my starting issue.
if CTS check out to spec in FSM (20*C - 2500ohms and 80*C - 300ohms) should i try an OEM nissan CTS?

ill try adn take a video of my avcr and wideband while overfueling, probably easier.


I will be leaving the heater hoses on for the mean time untli i can find a catch can set up and metal suction tube


thank goodness for the CA18DET enthusiast page on FB i have a PS tension bracket sourced in aussieland, just gotta get it to canada

And s couple pics form a criuse



So.....what are peoples thoughts on piggy back or stand alone? its gonna be a daily too...

The persistent code 13 is likely a wiring issue (The wiring harness is almost 30 years old now) or less likely, an ECU issue. Are you SURE you have the CTS and Air Regulator plugs in the right place? For whatever stupid reason, Nissan decided that having those be the same plug, and have them in the same area so that you could mix them up was a good idea. I haven't had a stock harness in over 10 years, but IIRC, the CTS plug is red, and the Air Regulator plug is black.

Ok so i did some digging yesterday and decided to open up my ecu...i thought maybe someone might have put a chip in it and its running rich with my set up...i know weird but for s*** and giggles why not.

this is what i came up with....









Pretty cool huh?

so on the bottom of it says ETS...engine temp sensor? im guessing this is the source of my woes?
ive sourced a ecu already so im gonna try that in a couple of days.

Talking to people around here most are suggesting Nistune set up and a safc.
only think i dont like about that is the unavailability of using MAP and IAT sensors, but i guess i dont need anything crazy for and stock ca18 with a t25g for a daily?
Is a stand alone overkill?
anyways many moons away from now though.

Yea, that's a cooked ECU. That sucks, sorry man.

Nistune is all you need. SAFC is redundant with Nistune as the Nistune gives you full control over all of the engine parameters.

i like how your car sits..chuki,16's,ca18,front lip