CA18DET info

[Brett_J]

So what goes wrong with them, mates buying one for his project car and any info on what to look for on them and tips.

Cheers
Brett

[Lonewolf]

general lack of maintenance by previous owners.
headgaskets are apparently also a weakness.

[PAGZ]

plus side to them i heard they have pretty mean cams, why didnt he just go for the sr?

[Smoked]

gday
one of the main problems is that CA18DET engines are quite old and therefor turbos are at quite at end of lifespan. Additionally cars from 89 and 90 suffer from badly designed turbo oil feed pipe that becomes blocked and results even quicker turbo death. Worn turbo leaks oil into intake and with bad engine oiling soon bearings and crankshaft need replacing

There is also a common tendency for the CA18 engines to leak oil from the cam cover gaskets (rocker covers). But it is easy to stop, the cover retaining screws (large philips heads) just work loose over time and also below the back of each cover there is a half round grommet from where the cam bearings were bored from the back. The cover gasket may need a bit of silicon gasket compound over this grommet as it seems to leak there also even with the cam covers done up tight.

the crank-angle sensor drive has a drive key that can wear to the point that full advance can still leave the cam timing retarded, losing about 50% or more of its power. The only solution is to replace the cas and the cams with better items

The CA18 has its fair share of coil-related ignition problem due to their exposure to heat, moisture and vibration plus their age. A coil problem can be felt as a cold-engine misfire or a misfire on boost for one cylinder. A telltale sign for the coil problem will have ?tracking? marks on its underside where the spark has been jumping through to the side of the plug hole.

the oil feed line to the turbocharger on the CA runs very close to the exhaust manifold and being small in diameter, the oil gets very hot and result in oil cooking and block failure of the feed line. Hence, whilst getting a new turbo upgrade on the CA, a good mechanic will cleans this line before replacing a turbo

good upgrade = T28 turbo from an s14..or a bb t28 from an s15 if you have money to play with.

i was gonna give u the site but this info is from alot of different sites so it was easier just to put it all there. i was once going to put a ca18 into a 85 bluebird,, they bolt straight in even to the stock gearbox ;)