Presently have Nissan CA18DET that has never run properly. I don't know why. I bought a new (very expensive) ECU and new factory loom (needs trimming) for it, and the guy that is supposed to be helping me is stalling. And the car is sitting 200 miles away. He doesn't seem to be able to get it going either because he claims he doesn't have the time. The original advantage in going to him was his access to a rolling road/Dyno. There are none in my area.

I would like to give it a go by myself OR ditch the whole complicated mess and go NON TURBO. Yes it probably means going from 200 + HP to less than 170 HP but presently I have ZERO HP because the thing doesn't, and probably won't work.

I want a car to drive. I want to redo some dash wiring too. I'm tired of having a vehicle that doesn't work properly.

I have so much money into this it is truly scary ($35,000 Cdn = 21,942 Sterling). I have nothing to show for it other than three autoslalom competitions.

What would you do? Besides moving on and buying a Porsche.

I believe GraemeMK has this engine in his MK.

I think he also helped Jasper out with loom plans etc.

Maybe he can help you.

Best of luck with it!

Cheers,
James

The answer is in your question so to speak.
You have an engine that's never run so you bought an ECU which can't be fitted???
What was the base problem?
Was the ECU implicated as the original problem?
Would a stock ECU run the engine?
Have you checked, Fuel, spark, timing, compression, etc.
Start with the basics first then move on to the more complex issues.
If the engine was built as a turbo (not just a turbo bolted on to a standard engine) the base compression ratio will be low so you would have an asthmatic low powered engine if you just took the turbo off.

Hi,

I think GaremeMK's is the CA18ET from memory which is the single cam version and not particularly similar.

TurboBen (again from memory) is a bit of a CA18DET wizard.

Rich a couple of thoughts, is yours US spec or JDM? It could be a problem with the secondary butterflies in the lower inlet manifold if it's JDM.

Probably worth getting one of the ECU's that has the light on the back (they aren't too expensive) and running the diagnostic mode on it to help indicate what might be the problem. Other than that I guess the usual suspects would be dodgy injectors, boostleak, or a leak from a signal line somewhere?

HTH,
Tom

Thanks for the replies!

It is indeed JDM, which nobody knows anything about around here - I discovered after purchasing it.

When diagnostics were run on the ECU prior to getting the new AEM, they were not showing anything in particular, but were all over the place apparently. This was done at a garage. I didn't see what they did. I thought a brand new unit might just cure the problem.

Known issues: the Cam Angle Sensor was dodgy apparently. This was replaced.

My plan is not to take the turbo off, but get a new engine and try to sell this one - "Hey, wanna buy an engine. No it doesn't work very well actually...".

I am not comfortable with engine internals and won't be doing anything in that area myself.

The engine options are limited here in NA though, which is why I went with this. When I started, MX5 donors were expensive, and this is the only viable donor for NA. Tearing apart a donor is not in the cards!

So my car has been sitting in Montreal for 3 months, with new wiring laying out on it and nothing hooked up.

The usual suspects have been ruled out: compression, fuel, spark, etc. It is either a timing issue or internal problem. I'm just not sure whether tearing it down and rebuilding the problem area is an option, or just moving on. Problem is, I don't know what I'm doing!!

I've gone as far as I can with my knowledge and don't really know where to go from here.

[Edited on 13/12/10 by RK]

[Edited on 13/12/10 by RK]

Would a Rover V8 fit into a book chassis?

Update: my friend doing the wiring mods has indicated that if it doesn't do 260 at the wheels, on the dyno, that he would then consider giving my car back to me and we would put another engine in.

I've never had a car kidnapped before!