I’ve come to the conclusion that the Nismo mounts that everyone swaps into their 240’s are not only over-rated but a waste of money. One of the main reasons people swapping in the CA18DET have a hard time locating a front strut tower bar that clears the intake manifold is due to the...
The turbo found on the SR20DET motor is an upgrade that virtually every CA18DET owner has run at one point or another. Where the CA18DET T25 turbo is good to about 12psi and looses boost towards redline, the SR20DET T25 can run around 14psi and will hold steady till redline with the .80 exhaust...
Like most Nissan motors, the CA18DET has a maze of vacuum lines that quickly become confusing to those unfamiliar with the motor. The following is a quick guide of what needs to be hooked up and where in order to get your CA18DET up running. Upper Intake Manifold (rear) Read below for the...
Installing a lightweight single piece driveshaft on the 240sx offers a few benefits over the factory 2 piece unit. First, your driveshaft is considered a rotating mass and as such, any weight saved on your driveshaft translates into a quicker, freer revving motor. This effect is similar to...
Background Even with the abundance of OEM parts available for the CA18DET, there seems to be a very striking lack of affordable lightweight flywheels. Clutchmasters and Spec make several clutch kits for this motor but for the time being there really isn’t a true, US market, bolt in...
Part 1 of the CA18DET swap guide deals with removing the factory engine from your 240sx but before getting started I will cover a little background information regarding the CA18DET motor and engine swaps in general. But first and foremost, if you do not have the Factory Service Manual (FSM) I urge...
Some of us get lucky, we import a motor from Japan, swap it into our car and drive off into hybrid heaven. But sometimes things just don’t seem right and unmistakably, as I pile the miles on my latest CA18DET, it has started to feel off. The smoke the car leaves behind after trips to redline...
The Walbro 255lph fuel pump is a must for any heavily modified and/or swapped 240sx. They are inexpensive, reliable and flow more than enough fuel to satisfy the thirsts of even heavily boosted motors. Note: These procedures should be performed in a well ventilated area away from open ignition...
The CA18DET motor comes from the factory running 7psi of boost and sporting a small, inefficient side-mounted intercooler that becomes relatively useless at boost pressures above 10psi. Since project CA18DET will see two iterations, one sporting a t25 at 12psi and then a ball-bearing t28 at 14psi...
The KA24DE motor found in the US market 240sx is not the most powerful motor in the Nissan parts bin, however, with a few bolt-ons this motor can really come alive in its Naturally Aspirated form. One such bolt-on is the DC 4 into 1 header that yields a claimed 12hp over the stock header. Set up As...
Performing a compression test on a running motor can give you a wealth of knowledge about the engine. For instance, numbers too low may indicate a bad head gasket, likewise a large variance in numbers can help you isolate problems down to the cylinder. Most importantly, compression testing is...
Although I have seen people do this procedure using just a tire jack, I generally think that is a bad idea. To replace your shocks, do it the right way and put your car on a lift or place your car on jack stands. Furthermore, all 4 wheels will be removed during this install so go ahead and loosen...
