CA18DET preservation society

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dori_wey

Member
right the CA18DET stage 3 300bhp its likely to be on the second set of shells, standard shell change 80000km, we all know this so then after that if you have a perfectly fine ca why whack a sr not only its a waste its a perfectly good engine they love life ? its becoming fashion breaking cars and wanging a sr in.
it be cool get a thread going for people who have,
cool engine bays
good tips on life spans ect
what people are doing with ca's summit new

and try and avoid CA slagging its all herd put it in the bin cadburys shells and such :smash:

what they like whats worth doing just your 10p on a ca get some good pics going as they tend to look notoriously shit ahah with out effort :thumbs:
 
For long CA18DET engine life, speak to Steve Carter. He got a good few years drifting the pants off his one.

All the rest you've answered your own questions really. You know, the bin it and get an SR etc., that sort of thing.
 
I've now had 2, my first S13 had done 110k and did me 2 years of competition at stage 3 plus 5 years of practicing, totally stock just with bolt on bits.

My second one is a totally standard car at the moment and has done 131k, and it runs as sweet as a nut. I love it. I currently find it more fun driving my totally standard S13 than I do my modded S15.
 
I would be interested in some tips and things to do to keep these engines in good working order.

Currently stage 3 on mine done one drift day and I'm sure I can hear a faint knock.

Do have the original engine in my shed with a good bottom end which can go back in but that's not the point.
 
! have a jdm ca18det stage 3 also its been that way for about 2 years + , andy-f have you never had problems? whats your 13 like now i knew the lad were your comp car went to that was a butiful car go 2 tone haha whats your new one like? i think there good engines, just got a bad rep cause people buy a budget 13 no or limited servicing and wonder why it dies after doubling the hp

Ive herd there's a few design issues in the bottom end oil starvation, crank vibrations from harmonic balance and spitting out thrust washers but i dont know how true any of these are ?
 
The only problems I've ever had with mine were coilpacks and service things, like hoses and gaskets. Towards the end of it's time with me, I believe the valve stem oil seals were starting to get tired as it would let out a very light blue smoke on overrun when cold.

I would say the best things you can do with CA's is make sure the cooling system is working well, use decent thick oil and run an oil cooler if you are doing serious drift work. Always warm up and cool down. Gauges to keep an eye on things are useful too.

Loved my old two tone. Bought another S13 as a toy but loving it so much driving around with it stock at the moment (it's hilariously good fun to drift) that I'm not sure if I'll actually end up doing anything to it... although I am somewhat tempted to paint the top half in the two-tone green as it's already grey underneath, haha.
 
Yea Ive had drama with the coil packs too but its not the end of the world just did my mani and turbo gaskets now need to do my elbow one fail, what oil cooler did you run that's some thing i must get, i use like 10-50 opie oil , yea too tones look the don so nice hah get it two tone back to the same as your old one ;) shouldn't of sold it :p hah was a beautiful car man
 
Im on my 3rd ca first 2 weren't good ones people forget they are 15 years old now and just need some love. Everyone was on my case about Sr.ing my s13 but i didnt want to g9 with the masses so i rebuilt one with arp rods acl bearings forge pistons reground crank and had everything balanced. Shes a sweet little engine now. Oil coolers and big rad are a must on any engine thats getting the crap rev'd out of it.
Glad to see an apprecation page rather than the usual "they're crap" pages
While i think about it i also ground and the lumps n bumps out of the block for better oil return and sorted the breather setup
 
Am on my second ca now first one was In good condition until It over het and split the block but that was my fault. It was sitting with 150k on it. My second ca is stage 3 and is running grate. As long as you keep good oil in it and flush out the water ones in a wile you shouldn't have any trouble. I love ma we e ca. I really wouldn't want too change it. The one thing that I don't like is the fact that its getting harder too get parts for them.
 
Im not sure what I can add to this really, Andy_F and Lez have got it covered. Gauges, rad, oil cooler and clean breathers are all essential if you want it to last. Ive found they like to run pretty hot when you give them a good pasting, particularly if youve bumped the power up. If you are going to spend a lot of time nailing it (track/drift days) get a decent oil cooler like the one Kam posted but going bigger on the oil rad wouldnt hurt though.

The breathers need to be clean and able to breathe as easily as possible. Thats all the pipes including the horrible bendy metal pipe that runs under the inlet manifold. Its a piece of shit thats notorious for clogging up. Also the strainer plates in the cam covers. Blocked breathers means the crank case gets pressurised because of the slight blowby that a high mileage turbo engine is going to have.
This prevents the oil thats been pumped up to the cams cant drain fast enough back to the sump, so it builds up to the point that it blows out through the cam breather pipes and spews oil out of the exhaust side cam breather. Fun.
Modify the cam breather pipes to flow better, vented to atmosphere and run a catch can. A lot of people block off the PCV valve (I have) but you dont really need to as its only open when theres a vacuum in the inlet plenum so if the engine doesnt breathe too heavily at idle it'll help scavenge breather fumes. And it'll be nicer for the planet.;)
 
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A pic of that breather Steve is on about;

CIMG2570.jpg


The metal one with the right angle.

Don't do the big ends and leave your cam covers like this;

CIMG2562Medium.jpg


It will start rattling very soon.

Finally, if you're doing the big ends put the rod caps back how and where they came out from. I've stripped 3 CAs this year that had had the big ends done and started rattling again, 2 had all four caps mixed up, the other only had 3.
 
Oh' another thing. If your coilpacks are missing the springs inside the red boots just buy a packet of "clicky" pens, double up the springs one inside the other and stretch them out so that there is some resistance when you push them back on. Also clean everything, coils, boots etc. with Isopropyl alcohol or something similar.
 
CA's FTW! (i used to sit on the CA-slaying bandwagon, i know) Its like any engine, look after it good and it will last. i blew 2 CA's in my life
1: took over a year of abuse without EVER lookign at it
2: put an uprated rad in, skidded at pod, blew a 20 year coolant hose and hydrolocked the engine

both times my fault for not looking after it.
I have a CA in my s13 now, and that gets HELL, oil press/oil temp gauges to keep an eye on it, but so far its perfect :D
 
cleanhandsjon said:
Oh' another thing. If your coilpacks are missing the springs inside the red boots just buy a packet of "clicky" pens, double up the springs one inside the other and stretch them out so that there is some resistance when you push them back on. Also clean everything, coils, boots etc. with Isopropyl alcohol or something similar.
Click to expand...

And early type coilpacks sometimes lose the carbon tip on the spring. Later ones dont have them anyway so just stretch the spring out.:)
 
good advice is flowing here :) like it that cam breather is shocking design ill have to look into that how do you go about modding it? and i never new cam covers strainers were an issue soothing else worth doing there ill defiantly have a look at those to, ca's are great engines like i said there just as good as an sr they both have there ups and downs and are now both showing there age GO CA !
 
Some amazing info here keep it coming guys :)

Is a baffled sump necessary? Could possibly be a good upgrade.

For next season I want to fit an oil cooler I have lying around, just need to source a thermostatic sandwich plate for the block and order up some extra braided lines and fittings. Already run 5w50 millers XFS.
 
Ive never scene a baffled sump for the ca would have to be a home made jobber but i dont think its an issue relu :) but more info would be good
 
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