Jun 11, 2004, 5:02 am · #1
Here it is fills up the bumper almost perfectly, in height and length, and it 2.5 inches thick.
Craig
18det S12 Swap Guide
Jun 11, 2004, 5:22 am · #2
what brand, whats the cfm\'s
Jun 11, 2004, 5:48 am · #3
Its just a Ford F350 Intercooler chopped into three peices, so that is 1/3 of the F350 IC. My brother used the same on his SR and my other 2 buddies also have them on there turbo honda\'s. Not very flashy but cheap and work well.
Jun 11, 2004, 5:58 am · #4
Same as this, puts it into better perspective.
[url]http://forums.beyond.ca/showthread.php?s=&threadid=13228[/a]
Or the last picture here, bit harder to see
[url]http://forums.beyond.ca/showthread.php?s=&threadid=18207[/a]
Jun 14, 2004, 4:30 pm · #5
Nice intercooler...I\'m doing something similar
Aug 22, 2006, 2:16 am · #6
Important notes about this thread:
1. The information in this thread may not apply to your year/engine S12. As such, it is recommended you use the information in this thread in conjuction with information provided in an S12 FSM/180SX FSM
2. This thread will be edited and updated from time to time with information regarding the wiring/components for different years/engine configs of S12s as they can be different. If you find something differnet in your swap from the information provided in this guide, please pm me, an mod, or chat me up on msn messenger, email addy is [email removed]
3. As always, the writer of this guide, and the club that is hosting it on the forum are not responsible for any loss of money, time, loved ones, or valuable limbs that may arise during the long arguious (sp?) battle that is the CA18DET/S12 Swap.
Table of Contents
Section 1: Tools recomended/needed for swap
Section 2: Removing your engines
Section 3: What to do once your engine is removed
Section 4: Wiring
Section 5: Install
Section 6: Misc. recommended components
Section 7: Helpful links with more information
Section 8: Current CA18DET facts and myths
Section 1 Recommended tools for swap
Welcome to the exciting world of the 18det/s12 swap. With you just starting out here is an brief list of tools/literature you will need to get going on your swap.
1. An socket set of some kind, doesnt matter which kind as long as its got like 10 mm all the way up to 22mm 23mm or so.
2. An set of open end wrenches, ranging in size as same as the sockets.
3. An set of ratcheting wrenches is recommended, but many times you can get away without.
4. An pipe that will fit over your ratchet handle that you can use as leverage for those more reluctant bolts.
5. Screw driver set with many different sets of bits.
6. Engine hoist, engine stand, jack, and jack stand.
7. S12 fsm for your appropriate year car, and 180SX fsm
8. An digital camera is nice if you run into any problems, or find out something that was originally said on the forum couldnt be done, to prove us wrong.
9. Torque Wrench.
Section 2: Engine Removal
1. Jack up car, drain rad fluid, oil, and transmission fluid.
2. Disconnect rad hoses, unbolt mount holding up driveline before transmission.
3. Set jack under tranny, raise tranny up an bit, then undo transmission mount bolts, slowly let transmission down.
4. lower car, disconnect engine harness, disconnect clutch slave, remove rad.
5. Find an place to hook engine hoist to engine, jack engine up slightly, unbolt engine mounts.
6. Meanuvre engine/transmission out of car and set in corner of shop.
Repeat process for front clip if you purchased front clip, if you have an motorset then dont worry about it.
Section 3: What to do once your engine is removed
You now have your stock engine/trans sitting in the corner of your shop and your ca18det sitting somewhere else in your shop...whats the next step? It depends on your scenario.
Scenario 1, You purchased an front clip, your CA18DET with C transmission are sitting on your shop floor.
First step, remove your 18det from its C transmission, and put your 18det on an engine stand. Next you need to replace the following, timing belt, head gasket, and water pump. Once that is done you need to take your engine off the engine stand, replace the clutch, then bolt it back up to your transmission. If you have some extra money, it is also recommended to replace the exhaust dumpipe at this time to as once the engine is in there is no real room to remove it and replace it...also you can get an larger one then stock.
Scenario 2, You purchased an motor set. First thing you need to do is put your 18det on an engine stand and replace everything that you would in scenario1. Normally with an engine set, they sell you the C transmission that came on the engine. If for some reason your engine is without the transmission just remove your stock transmission and mount it to your CA18DET.
Another thing to note is that on my engine my brackets where the same on my 18det as the ones on my 20e, which looked like this
Your brackets however may look like this, if they do, your stock ca brackets will mount to the block.
Also if you swap an S13 trans into an S12 MkII, it will bolt up to the S12's trans mount, but you will need the front half of an S13 drive shaft and bolt that up to the back half of the S12's. If you swap an S13 trans into an S12 MkI, you will need a custom trans mount. As for the driveshaft, I don't know, but the technique for the MkIIs might work. Or a custom 1 or 2 piece drive shaft may have to be purchased. (thanks to nemesis for mentioning this and needcafors13 for discovering this on his S12/KA drift car.)
Section 4: Wiring
Before I go head on into wiring, I think its important to point out the things needed to make everything work. These are things you should look for if you are buying an engine set, or front clip. If you end up having to buy an used harness because you couldnt get one with your engine you will want to ask about these also.
Now naturally the system isnt to much different from the stock system...you have the engine harness, the maf, and the ecu. But you also have an ignitor and an dropping resistor. The dropping resistor looks like this
It is the silver rectangle box on the left. (note, if your harness did not come with an dropping resistor you can use an dsm dropping resistor(1st gen dsm...IE 90 Eagle talon or eclipse), the write up for that is in the myth section.) And here is an pic of an ignitor, it is the silver box with ribbed protrusions on the outside of it above the engine mount 
(pic courtesy of umaii naa).
As for harness routing, this is how I have done it on my 85 lhd usdm s12.
I pretty much routed it thru the same way the 20e harness runs. There is an plastic elbow piece inside the 18det harness tho that I removed by untaping the harness, removing it, then retaping the harness. This allowed me to gain an couple of inches on my harness. Now for the fun part...the wiring.
Here are some relays wiring diagrams, The KA/s12 wiring schematic and SR/S13 wiring schematic are less important, but are a good reference, and also are nice to have if you have a friend who might want you to help them with a swap.
Another important thing to remember, that isnt always shown in the wiring diagrams is that you should have a fuse and a fusible link inbettween each relay and its power source. A lot of people right now are just using fuses, and no fusible links and are getting away ok with it, however the fusible link is a good safety precaution to keep your ecu from getting fried.
The below is previous wiring info, and should only be used in comparison with the relay diagrams, follow the diagrams tho, if the below doesnt match them, follow the diagrams instead.
Yellow/red wire on the s12 harness goes to the black and red wire on the 18det harness, this is for the fuel pump relay
blue/red wire on the s12 harness goes to the reb and black wire on the 18det harness, this is ecu relay
black/red wire on the s12 harness goes to the red wire on the 18det harness, this is ecu back up power
blue wire on the s12 harness goes to the black/blue/red wire on the 18det harness, this is the main ignition power
green/black wire on the s12 harness goes to the black white wire on the 18det harness, this the ecu power
black/yellow wire on the CA18det harness, which is the idle air valve power, along with the o2 sensor which is the brown wire, both go to any 12 volt switched source.
The neutral switch on the CA which is green/orange goes to the neutral switch on the s12 harness which is also green/orange
For more clarification on the wiring, you should look at the ka/s12 swap and the s13/sr swap. The KA/S12 swap looks like this:
and the s13/sr swap looks like this:
ECU & Dash wiring
The colors on the wires that run from the ECU up into the dash matched up perfectly on both the SR ECU harness and the KA dash harness:
Back to Top
Wire Color
Use
Yellow / Red stripe
Tachometer signal
Yellow / Green stripe
Speedometer signal
Orange
Ignition start
Black (may be more than one ground)
Ground
Blue / Green stripe
AC signal
Blue / Black stripe
Water temp signal
On the mk2 s12 there is i believe 2 or 3 white plugs underneath the dash that you need to splice into certain wires into the ecu, but those wires are previously mentioned in the write up. In the mk1 there is one or 2 plugs that you need to splice wires off of. As of right now I am a little unsure on both mk1 and mk2 plug counts. I havent started on my wiring yet, but as you can see I have almost all of the info. If you have done either swaps, please post up pics and or info for your model/year/engine of s12.
If your car started with an mechanical speedometer, your speedo cable will connect right up to the 180sx C transmission, I belive that if you have an digital dash, it doesnt use an mechanical speed sending unit in the transmission so you will need to try to come up with an solution to that. Your stock tachometer tho will not work with the 18det as it sends the signal back off the coilpack differently then the 20e or 18et does from its normal coil. An solution for this is to use 4 IN4004 diodes connected to the coil side of the ignitor, then join them together to the 4 on the tacho side, and join the wire going to the tacho making sure the arrows on the diodes are pointing towards the tachometer and away from the coil.
Section 5: Install
The installation of the engine should be pretty straight forward from here. Put the engine/trans back into the bay and install everything back up in the reverse order from how you removed it. There are some components that you will need, and some that are recommended which I will cover in the next section. It is recommended to install your engine, then do the wiring first tho so you dont end up taking to much distance out of the 18det harness. But once the engine is installed and the wiring is done, only thing left to do is have the exhaust made up by an local shop, and pick up a couple components to make the car run a bit better.
Section 6: Recommended Components
Stock the 180SX came with an smic (side mount intercooler), now this is better then having no intercooler, but it is an good idea to upgrade to an fmic, especially if you install an boost controller and start running higher boost then stock. And if you only bought an motorset...you will prolly not even have the smic. An BOV (blow off valve) is also an good thing to have. Along with an oil cooler, and an oil catch can. It is possible to also use either the 180sx rad, or the 20e rad, here are some pics of my 180sx rad install:
It is also recommended to pick up an aftermarket oil temp gauge, and boost gauge.
Section 7: Helpful links with more information
These are all on www.nicoclub.com in the CA section stickied by one of our own club s12 members who happens to be an moderator on nicoclub.com, needcafors13
CA18DET Engine Facts
http://forums.nicoclub.com/zerothread?id=114950
FAQ's, Common upgrades, D.I.Y. upgrades, no-no's, etc…
http://forums.nicoclub.com/zerothread?id=114953
Part Numbers / Crossover Parts between USDM and JDM CA18's
http://forums.nicoclub.com/zerothread?id=114952
CA18DET Wiring Information and FSM
http://forums.nicoclub.com/zerothread?id=114956
Catch Can Installation Info:
http://forums.nicoclub.com/zerothread?id=13750
Other links tho to look at for more information regarding variations in european and australian engines would be http://www.sxoc.com and the australian s12 site.
Section 8: Current CA18DET Myths:
There are a couple of myths floating around this forum and others about certain things regarding the 18det.
One of them is that an dropping resistor from an 1st generation dsm (IE eagle talon, or eclipse, awd turbo.) will work with the 18det harness. As of yet, no one has given me anymore solid info...IE the part number for an dsm dropping resistor, and wether or not it has to be wired up any differently, or if it will plug right into the harness.
[Edit] This myth has been resolved, an big thanks goes out to MasterZenki off of nico for doing an quick write up on how to make the dsm dropping resistor work with the ca18det harness...and here it is.
So if for some reason your harness didnt come without an dropping resistor this will work for you.
Another myth, that was floating around, but has been proved wrong is that the mk2 rsx in japan didnt come with an CA18DET. However, it did come with an 18det, and also the s12 in japan was built into the early 90s. The s12 18det differs from the 180sx 18det in that its throttle body goes over the valve cover like the 18et. The engine also has 8 intake runners and came non intercooled. The engine used one coil pack to power all 4 plugs instead of individual coil packs.
Another myth that was going around on this forum was that the 18det wouldnt bolt up to the B transmission. Despite many australian members claiming that it bolted up fine. I myself didnt know for sure...and knowing what I know about the car I thought it possible that the B tranny in australia might of been different then the usdm or canadian, but my b tranny bolted up to my block without issue.
If you have an myth, send me an pm and I will add it to this post.
1. The information in this thread may not apply to your year/engine S12. As such, it is recommended you use the information in this thread in conjuction with information provided in an S12 FSM/180SX FSM
2. This thread will be edited and updated from time to time with information regarding the wiring/components for different years/engine configs of S12s as they can be different. If you find something differnet in your swap from the information provided in this guide, please pm me, an mod, or chat me up on msn messenger, email addy is [email removed]
3. As always, the writer of this guide, and the club that is hosting it on the forum are not responsible for any loss of money, time, loved ones, or valuable limbs that may arise during the long arguious (sp?) battle that is the CA18DET/S12 Swap.
Table of Contents
Section 1: Tools recomended/needed for swap
Section 2: Removing your engines
Section 3: What to do once your engine is removed
Section 4: Wiring
Section 5: Install
Section 6: Misc. recommended components
Section 7: Helpful links with more information
Section 8: Current CA18DET facts and myths
Section 1 Recommended tools for swap
Welcome to the exciting world of the 18det/s12 swap. With you just starting out here is an brief list of tools/literature you will need to get going on your swap.
1. An socket set of some kind, doesnt matter which kind as long as its got like 10 mm all the way up to 22mm 23mm or so.
2. An set of open end wrenches, ranging in size as same as the sockets.
3. An set of ratcheting wrenches is recommended, but many times you can get away without.
4. An pipe that will fit over your ratchet handle that you can use as leverage for those more reluctant bolts.
5. Screw driver set with many different sets of bits.
6. Engine hoist, engine stand, jack, and jack stand.
7. S12 fsm for your appropriate year car, and 180SX fsm
8. An digital camera is nice if you run into any problems, or find out something that was originally said on the forum couldnt be done, to prove us wrong.
9. Torque Wrench.
Section 2: Engine Removal
1. Jack up car, drain rad fluid, oil, and transmission fluid.
2. Disconnect rad hoses, unbolt mount holding up driveline before transmission.
3. Set jack under tranny, raise tranny up an bit, then undo transmission mount bolts, slowly let transmission down.
4. lower car, disconnect engine harness, disconnect clutch slave, remove rad.
5. Find an place to hook engine hoist to engine, jack engine up slightly, unbolt engine mounts.
6. Meanuvre engine/transmission out of car and set in corner of shop.
Repeat process for front clip if you purchased front clip, if you have an motorset then dont worry about it.
Section 3: What to do once your engine is removed
You now have your stock engine/trans sitting in the corner of your shop and your ca18det sitting somewhere else in your shop...whats the next step? It depends on your scenario.
Scenario 1, You purchased an front clip, your CA18DET with C transmission are sitting on your shop floor.
First step, remove your 18det from its C transmission, and put your 18det on an engine stand. Next you need to replace the following, timing belt, head gasket, and water pump. Once that is done you need to take your engine off the engine stand, replace the clutch, then bolt it back up to your transmission. If you have some extra money, it is also recommended to replace the exhaust dumpipe at this time to as once the engine is in there is no real room to remove it and replace it...also you can get an larger one then stock.
Scenario 2, You purchased an motor set. First thing you need to do is put your 18det on an engine stand and replace everything that you would in scenario1. Normally with an engine set, they sell you the C transmission that came on the engine. If for some reason your engine is without the transmission just remove your stock transmission and mount it to your CA18DET.
Another thing to note is that on my engine my brackets where the same on my 18det as the ones on my 20e, which looked like this
Your brackets however may look like this, if they do, your stock ca brackets will mount to the block.
Also if you swap an S13 trans into an S12 MkII, it will bolt up to the S12's trans mount, but you will need the front half of an S13 drive shaft and bolt that up to the back half of the S12's. If you swap an S13 trans into an S12 MkI, you will need a custom trans mount. As for the driveshaft, I don't know, but the technique for the MkIIs might work. Or a custom 1 or 2 piece drive shaft may have to be purchased. (thanks to nemesis for mentioning this and needcafors13 for discovering this on his S12/KA drift car.)
Section 4: Wiring
Before I go head on into wiring, I think its important to point out the things needed to make everything work. These are things you should look for if you are buying an engine set, or front clip. If you end up having to buy an used harness because you couldnt get one with your engine you will want to ask about these also.
Now naturally the system isnt to much different from the stock system...you have the engine harness, the maf, and the ecu. But you also have an ignitor and an dropping resistor. The dropping resistor looks like this
It is the silver rectangle box on the left. (note, if your harness did not come with an dropping resistor you can use an dsm dropping resistor(1st gen dsm...IE 90 Eagle talon or eclipse), the write up for that is in the myth section.) And here is an pic of an ignitor, it is the silver box with ribbed protrusions on the outside of it above the engine mount (pic courtesy of umaii naa). As for harness routing, this is how I have done it on my 85 lhd usdm s12.
I pretty much routed it thru the same way the 20e harness runs. There is an plastic elbow piece inside the 18det harness tho that I removed by untaping the harness, removing it, then retaping the harness. This allowed me to gain an couple of inches on my harness. Now for the fun part...the wiring.
Here are some relays wiring diagrams, The KA/s12 wiring schematic and SR/S13 wiring schematic are less important, but are a good reference, and also are nice to have if you have a friend who might want you to help them with a swap.
Another important thing to remember, that isnt always shown in the wiring diagrams is that you should have a fuse and a fusible link inbettween each relay and its power source. A lot of people right now are just using fuses, and no fusible links and are getting away ok with it, however the fusible link is a good safety precaution to keep your ecu from getting fried.
The below is previous wiring info, and should only be used in comparison with the relay diagrams, follow the diagrams tho, if the below doesnt match them, follow the diagrams instead.
Yellow/red wire on the s12 harness goes to the black and red wire on the 18det harness, this is for the fuel pump relay
blue/red wire on the s12 harness goes to the reb and black wire on the 18det harness, this is ecu relay
black/red wire on the s12 harness goes to the red wire on the 18det harness, this is ecu back up power
blue wire on the s12 harness goes to the black/blue/red wire on the 18det harness, this is the main ignition power
green/black wire on the s12 harness goes to the black white wire on the 18det harness, this the ecu power
black/yellow wire on the CA18det harness, which is the idle air valve power, along with the o2 sensor which is the brown wire, both go to any 12 volt switched source.
The neutral switch on the CA which is green/orange goes to the neutral switch on the s12 harness which is also green/orange
For more clarification on the wiring, you should look at the ka/s12 swap and the s13/sr swap. The KA/S12 swap looks like this:
and the s13/sr swap looks like this:
ECU & Dash wiring
The colors on the wires that run from the ECU up into the dash matched up perfectly on both the SR ECU harness and the KA dash harness:
Back to Top
Wire Color
Use
Yellow / Red stripe
Tachometer signal
Yellow / Green stripe
Speedometer signal
Orange
Ignition start
Black (may be more than one ground)
Ground
Blue / Green stripe
AC signal
Blue / Black stripe
Water temp signal
On the mk2 s12 there is i believe 2 or 3 white plugs underneath the dash that you need to splice into certain wires into the ecu, but those wires are previously mentioned in the write up. In the mk1 there is one or 2 plugs that you need to splice wires off of. As of right now I am a little unsure on both mk1 and mk2 plug counts. I havent started on my wiring yet, but as you can see I have almost all of the info. If you have done either swaps, please post up pics and or info for your model/year/engine of s12.
If your car started with an mechanical speedometer, your speedo cable will connect right up to the 180sx C transmission, I belive that if you have an digital dash, it doesnt use an mechanical speed sending unit in the transmission so you will need to try to come up with an solution to that. Your stock tachometer tho will not work with the 18det as it sends the signal back off the coilpack differently then the 20e or 18et does from its normal coil. An solution for this is to use 4 IN4004 diodes connected to the coil side of the ignitor, then join them together to the 4 on the tacho side, and join the wire going to the tacho making sure the arrows on the diodes are pointing towards the tachometer and away from the coil.
Section 5: Install
The installation of the engine should be pretty straight forward from here. Put the engine/trans back into the bay and install everything back up in the reverse order from how you removed it. There are some components that you will need, and some that are recommended which I will cover in the next section. It is recommended to install your engine, then do the wiring first tho so you dont end up taking to much distance out of the 18det harness. But once the engine is installed and the wiring is done, only thing left to do is have the exhaust made up by an local shop, and pick up a couple components to make the car run a bit better.
Section 6: Recommended Components
Stock the 180SX came with an smic (side mount intercooler), now this is better then having no intercooler, but it is an good idea to upgrade to an fmic, especially if you install an boost controller and start running higher boost then stock. And if you only bought an motorset...you will prolly not even have the smic. An BOV (blow off valve) is also an good thing to have. Along with an oil cooler, and an oil catch can. It is possible to also use either the 180sx rad, or the 20e rad, here are some pics of my 180sx rad install:
It is also recommended to pick up an aftermarket oil temp gauge, and boost gauge.
Section 7: Helpful links with more information
These are all on www.nicoclub.com in the CA section stickied by one of our own club s12 members who happens to be an moderator on nicoclub.com, needcafors13
CA18DET Engine Facts
http://forums.nicoclub.com/zerothread?id=114950
FAQ's, Common upgrades, D.I.Y. upgrades, no-no's, etc…
http://forums.nicoclub.com/zerothread?id=114953
Part Numbers / Crossover Parts between USDM and JDM CA18's
http://forums.nicoclub.com/zerothread?id=114952
CA18DET Wiring Information and FSM
http://forums.nicoclub.com/zerothread?id=114956
Catch Can Installation Info:
http://forums.nicoclub.com/zerothread?id=13750
Other links tho to look at for more information regarding variations in european and australian engines would be http://www.sxoc.com and the australian s12 site.
Section 8: Current CA18DET Myths:
There are a couple of myths floating around this forum and others about certain things regarding the 18det.
One of them is that an dropping resistor from an 1st generation dsm (IE eagle talon, or eclipse, awd turbo.) will work with the 18det harness. As of yet, no one has given me anymore solid info...IE the part number for an dsm dropping resistor, and wether or not it has to be wired up any differently, or if it will plug right into the harness.
[Edit] This myth has been resolved, an big thanks goes out to MasterZenki off of nico for doing an quick write up on how to make the dsm dropping resistor work with the ca18det harness...and here it is.
So if for some reason your harness didnt come without an dropping resistor this will work for you.
Another myth, that was floating around, but has been proved wrong is that the mk2 rsx in japan didnt come with an CA18DET. However, it did come with an 18det, and also the s12 in japan was built into the early 90s. The s12 18det differs from the 180sx 18det in that its throttle body goes over the valve cover like the 18et. The engine also has 8 intake runners and came non intercooled. The engine used one coil pack to power all 4 plugs instead of individual coil packs.
Another myth that was going around on this forum was that the 18det wouldnt bolt up to the B transmission. Despite many australian members claiming that it bolted up fine. I myself didnt know for sure...and knowing what I know about the car I thought it possible that the B tranny in australia might of been different then the usdm or canadian, but my b tranny bolted up to my block without issue.
If you have an myth, send me an pm and I will add it to this post.
Aug 22, 2006, 2:37 am · #7
nice
Aug 22, 2006, 2:42 am · #8
seriously...i have been meaning to do this for months and it took me like an good 2 hours to make that post going thru all the info I had and trying to put it out in an logical order....
Aug 22, 2006, 3:01 am · #9
looks real good man, good job! my 18det mounts were differnt as you stated.
Aug 22, 2006, 8:27 am · #10
Dude.........this is fantastic! Finally a COMPLETE install guide!!
One question......will the det "c" tranny not work in the s12? Is it longer than the "b" or "c" ca18et/ca20 tranny or something?
Aug 22, 2006, 2:18 pm · #11
Acording to floodshark and premo, the C tranny and 18det bolted up fine to everything underneath floodshark's car. I am going to go out on an limb and say in most cases that the det with C tranny is the same basic dimensions as the 20e c or 18et c. By basic dimension I mean it bolts in the same and fits the same. Now, remember to keep in mind nissans hates us and the occasionally change things on us...even the 18det has differences. BTW I am of the belief that this is sticky worthy...anybody else?
drfts12 looks real good man, good job! my 18det mounts were differnt as you stated.
Do you have any pics of your 18det mounts compared to your 20e mounts? I really want to see an set that are different...cuz mine are identical!!!
Aug 22, 2006, 3:13 pm · #12
as far as I know, the S13 C tranny is longer than the S12 C or B tranny, so that's why you need a shorter driveshaft, and you need to cut a hole in your tranny tunnel.
When my motorset arrives, I'll take measurements of both trannies/bellhousings and get back to you guys.
Thanks for the writeup, it definitely deserves a sticky.
Aug 22, 2006, 5:18 pm · #13
Thanks indy. BTW if anyone wires up there car, and the wiring differs from what has been written, please by all means do an quick write up for me thru an pm with how it was different from above, and your country of origin/year of s12/original engine and I will add to this write up.
Aug 23, 2006, 4:51 am · #14
awesome write up, i will add to that when i do the swap on my mk2 auto...heh
Aug 23, 2006, 2:12 pm · #15
Arent you going to try to find an CA18DET with an auto tranny and leave your car an automatic?
Aug 26, 2006, 5:03 am · #16
One thing that no one mentions is for the under dash white plug, how to you connect it into the det harness? Since that white plug is under the dash, and the det harness is in the engine bay.
Aug 26, 2006, 11:19 am · #17
Okay, what I've read here (from someone else's swap, I think it was NeedCAforS13) If you have a MkII car and want to use the C trans from the S13 motorset, you can. All you need is the front half of an S13 driveshaft (he did a KA swap, and when the S13 trans went in he tried a 180SX front driveshaft and it didn't work, but the USDM 240SX S13 did) and then cut 3" out of the trans tunnel to accomidate the re-positioned shifter. Cuz on the MkII cars, the trans mount is in the same spot as the S13s and will accept the trans. MkI cars you need to fabricate a new mount. Thats basically what I'm getting at, but I think my explanation might be good content for the wright-up.
Aug 26, 2006, 2:45 pm · #18
drfts12 One thing that no one mentions is for the under dash white plug, how to you connect it into the det harness? Since that white plug is under the dash, and the det harness is in the engine bay.
When i talk about the white plug under the dash and splicing into the harness i am talking about taking the wires off the 18det harness before they go into the ecu, splicing them, extending them, and running them to that white plug. Did you mount your ecu inside the car? I have heard a couple people mounting there ecu's inside of the engine bay....
Nemisis, I will go back here in an day or two, make sense of what you typed, and add it to the write up.
Aug 26, 2006, 7:45 pm · #19
drfts12 @ Aug 26 2006, 03:03 AM One thing that no one mentions is for the under dash white plug, how to you connect it into the det harness? Since that white plug is under the dash, and the det harness is in the engine bay.
When i talk about the white plug under the dash and splicing into the harness i am talking about taking the wires off the 18det harness before they go into the ecu, splicing them, extending them, and running them to that white plug. Did you mount your ecu inside the car? I have heard a couple people mounting there ecu's inside of the engine bay....
Nemisis, I will go back here in an day or two, make sense of what you typed, and add it to the write up.
Aug 27, 2006, 1:24 am · #20
sam31183 Nemisis, I will go back here in an day or two, make sense of what you typed, and add it to the write up.
LOL... Okay, if you swap an S13 trans into an S12 MkII, it will bolt up to the S12's trans mount, but you will need the front half of an S13 drive shaft and bolt that up to the back half of the S12's.
If you swap an S13 trans into an S12 MkI, you will need a custom trans mount. As for the driveshaft, I don't know, but the technique for the MkIIs might work. Or a custom 1 or 2 piece drive shaft may have to be purchased.
That is all assuming that the transmission is bolting up to the engine fine.
I think that explains it a little better. Sometimes I need to read my own stuff a couple times to make sense of what I wrote/ typed.
Aug 27, 2006, 2:24 am · #21
depending on where the trans mount put the tranny i think the same technique would work with an mk1...either way it is better to have an custom 1 piece driveshaft made instead of an 2 peice...the less parts the better.
EDIT I added that to the write up nemisis and gave credit back to both you and needcafors13....so yep, thats in it now also.
Aug 27, 2006, 6:24 am · #22
sam31183 @ Aug 26 2006, 04:45 PM
Nemisis, I will go back here in an day or two, make sense of what you typed, and add it to the write up.
LOL... Okay, if you swap an S13 trans into an S12 MkII, it will bolt up to the S12's trans mount, but you will need the front half of an S13 drive shaft and bolt that up to the back half of the S12's.
If you swap an S13 trans into an S12 MkI, you will need a custom trans mount. As for the driveshaft, I don't know, but the technique for the MkIIs might work. Or a custom 1 or 2 piece drive shaft may have to be purchased.
That is all assuming that the transmission is bolting up to the engine fine.
I think that explains it a little better. Sometimes I need to read my own stuff a couple times to make sense of what I wrote/ typed.
Nov 9, 2006, 11:39 pm · #23
I wasn't sure if i needed to post a new topic or to just add it here. For those of you who just got the motorset and need to hook up all the hoses here is a helpful guide.
This should also clear up any questions about those four hose points on the back side of the manifold
Nov 10, 2006, 8:50 am · #24
One thing I haven't seen mentioned is.......which tb cable to use. Are you ca20 guys using the ca20 cable? The ca18et cable is a lot longer than the ca20's........so do I need to find a ca20 cable? Since I have the s13 one still in the clip, can I use it?
Also, another thing I discovered is that the threaded hole on the ca18det block where the oil feed line for the turbo screws in is smaller than the same hole on the ca18et block........so if you had custom s/s lines made up for your ca18et as I did......then you'll need an adaptor to be able to use the same line.
Nov 10, 2006, 2:18 pm · #25
I am using the 20e cable which works fine. I think indy is still using his stock mk2 18et cable without issues.
Nov 10, 2006, 7:47 pm · #26
sam31183I am using the 20e cable which works fine. I think indy is still using his stock mk2 18et cable without issues.I don't see how he could be using the ca-et cable.....cuz it's atleast a foot longer than the ca20 cable
Nov 10, 2006, 8:54 pm · #27
it works fine. and according to my SAFC, I get 100% open throttle as well.
Cable length really only matters to reach the TB, as long as the mounting points are the same, it'll work.
Nov 11, 2006, 1:47 am · #28
sam31183 @ Nov 10 2006, 08:18 PM
I am using the 20e cable which works fine. I think indy is still using his stock mk2 18et cable without issues.
I don't see how he could be using the ca-et cable.....cuz it's atleast a foot longer than the ca20 cable
Nov 11, 2006, 6:44 pm · #29
IndecisiveAhhhh, good to know. Save me a step I hope
Cable length really only matters to reach the TB, as long as the mounting points are the same, it'll work.
Nov 12, 2006, 12:44 am · #30
Indecisive @ Nov 11 2006, 02:54 AM
Cable length really only matters to reach the TB, as long as the mounting points are the same, it'll work.
Ahhhh, good to know. Save me a step I hope
Nov 12, 2006, 10:22 pm · #31
My det came with the different engine mount brackets that Sam mentioned on the first page.....let me know if you want me to post up some pics.....because they are different than the ca18et ones.
Nov 13, 2006, 2:28 pm · #32
yes keith, post em pics up, i can add edit them into the main write up afterwards...hell if you want you can just pm them to me and it will be all good.
Dec 14, 2006, 5:32 pm · #33
sam31183Here ya go Sam...............better late than never.
yes keith, post em pics up
Dec 14, 2006, 11:32 pm · #34
sam31183 @ Nov 13 2006, 08:28 PM
yes keith, post em pics up
Here ya go Sam...............better late than never.
Jan 18, 2007, 12:46 am · #35
i dont know if this will be of any help to any of u but for like $1400usd u can get a CA18det trans wiring harness and ecu and some other stuff from www.jazzproparts.com
they also carry some other nissan motor combos let me now what u think
Feb 10, 2007, 8:11 pm · #36
well i finally blew my head gasket so im having my parts guys looking for a 18det monday so i will be back and i will have pics when im done. by the way the 200 shot of nos will be back in
Mar 14, 2007, 6:03 pm · #37
I have a 86 that had the ca20 and now has a ca18det and I am using the "C" transmission and had to cut the floor to fit the shifter and am having problems with making a mount and wondering if anyone knows for sure how to do it and also if there is for sure anyone knowing which driveline combo to use.
Apr 19, 2007, 4:12 am · #38
So I went to edit the original post to add some fresh info/diagrams into it, and it said I had to many pictures. For the time being I am going to post here as to what I was going to add until I can have indy or someone fix it for me so I can add this stuff into the first original post. I will also post something up in the appropriate section about my problem...at any rate here is some more info for those in need.
If that didn't make much sense to you, here are some relays wiring diagrams that will make more sense hopefully, The KA/s12 wiring schematic and SR/S13 wiring schematic are less important, but are a good reference, and also are nice to have if you have a friend who might want you to help them with a swap.
Another important thing to remember, that isnt always shown in the wiring diagrams is that you should have a fuse and a fusible link inbettween each relay and its power source. A lot of people right now are just using fuses, and no fusible links and are getting away ok with it, however the fusible link is a good safety precaution to keep your ecu from getting fried.
This goes where the pic of the white plug near the interior fan was.
On the mk2 s12 there is i believe 2 or 3 white plugs underneath the dash that you need to splice into certain wires into the ecu, but those wires are previously mentioned in the write up. In the mk1 there is one or 2 plugs that you need to splice wires off of. As of right now I am a little unsure on both mk1 and mk2 plug counts. I havent started on my wiring yet, but as you can see I have almost all of the info. If you have done either swaps, please post up pics and or info for your model/year/engine of s12.
BTW, for those wondering, I have been collecting diagrams from the 18det section and whoring them onto my hard drive...they need to all be in this one post tho so everyone can see them...
Apr 29, 2007, 3:54 am · #39
Hello,
Just wanted to post up, that there is an issue wiht powering up the ecu, when your s12 has an fj20e engine originaly (to be exact mines is 1986 mk2). As i was being carelless i had to frie the ecu to figure this out . I dont have much time right now to look into this, as i still need some extra wiring diagrams. But when ill know anything exact i'll fill you in with that
Apr 30, 2007, 12:34 am · #40
Well...your going to have to do quite a bit of research. As far as I am aware you are the only one I know of going from the fj to the ca18det. We pretty much have everyone covered with this write up except for you...lol. BTW nice pic in your signature.
Apr 30, 2007, 8:46 am · #41
Sharas
Hello,
Just wanted to post up, that there is an issue wiht powering up the ecu, when your s12 has an fj20e engine originaly (to be exact mines is 1986 mk2). As i was being carelless i had to frie the ecu to figure this out . I dont have much time right now to look into this, as i still need some extra wiring diagrams. But when ill know anything exact i'll fill you in with that
you gutted a Grand Prix? i've been looking everywhere for one, and now there's one less
Apr 30, 2007, 10:14 am · #42
I'll be doing some research in a couple of days, im gessing that it has sth to do with remowing the original ignition coil (but well wount be able to put this in practice right now, because i dont have any more time to work on my car at the moment)
Seraph1m
you gutted a Grand Prix? i've been looking everywhere for one, and now there's one less
Everything is fine with my Grand Prix , it just had an engine upgrade , because there are some issues with obtaining Fj20e internal engine parts and its only N/A (but i still have the engine it just needs most of the internals new, some day maybe ).
Apr 30, 2007, 1:46 pm · #43
Sharas @ Apr 29 2007, 12:54 AM
Hello,
Just wanted to post up, that there is an issue wiht powering up the ecu, when your s12 has an fj20e engine originaly (to be exact mines is 1986 mk2). As i was being carelless i had to frie the ecu to figure this out angry.gif . I dont have much time right now to look into this, as i still need some extra wiring diagrams. But when ill know anything exact i'll fill you in with that
you gutted a Grand Prix? crying2.gif i've been looking everywhere for one, and now there's one less mad.gif
Apr 30, 2007, 3:00 pm · #44
I am really curious to see how the stock wiring differs from the rest of the s12s. Did you put the ca in already? Did you use your stock xmember and engine mounts?
Apr 30, 2007, 5:40 pm · #45
sam31183
I am really curious to see how the stock wiring differs from the rest of the s12s. Did you put the ca in already? Did you use your stock xmember and engine mounts?
Yeah the ca is already inside with no mods at all, everything fits (it seems that the xmember and all the mountings are the same as ca18et powered s12's)
Apr 30, 2007, 10:40 pm · #46
sam31183 @ Apr 30 2007, 11:00 PM
I am really curious to see how the stock wiring differs from the rest of the s12s. Did you put the ca in already? Did you use your stock xmember and engine mounts?
Yeah the ca is already inside with no mods at all, everything fits (it seems that the xmember and all the mountings are the same as ca18et powered s12's)
May 1, 2007, 12:34 am · #47
hmmm...i see. I still wonder how much of the stock wiring in the engine bay is different.
May 1, 2007, 9:19 am · #48
did a bit of the research and i think i found my problem: i conected the eccs relay (or the efi relay, as its named in s12) the other way around. I didint pay much atention to the fact that in the s12 this relay is controled by the ignition switch, but not by the ecu, so i ended up conecting the main ecu power into the relay control pin of the ca18det ecu, no wonder it fried.
Another thing that i noticed is the fact that there is no ignition coil relay in the s12, but i have no idea if this is a problem, because i did have a spark just before the ecu fried.
Now about the differences in the engine bay harness i dont have much exact information, because im still waiting for a full fj20 manual, but one thing for sure that the wire colors dont mach up at all (maybe except for the water temp sensor), also the fj20 does not have a o2 and a detonation or knock sensor, also no neautral switch.
Oh and in my s12 there is no under dash white plug, the only place where the efi harness connects to the main harness is two white plugs (one consists of only 1 pin, has to do smth with powering up the original ecu) under the afm i guess (too bad that i dont have a pic, but these plugs are the first ones on the efi harness after the ecu).
One more thing, in the write up at the first post, it is said that the brown wire on the ca18det harness is for the o2 sensor, but in the diagrams that i have it says that this wire goes to preasure regulator control solenoid valve (whatever it is).
May 15, 2007, 2:49 am · #49
So, for those of us with the MK1 'B' transmission who want to keep their s12 transmission...
Do we have to swap bellhousings to do the install like the ka24de folks claim you have to do for that engine?
May 15, 2007, 2:56 am · #50
you can run the b transmission on the 18det without having to switch bellhousings. On the ka tho you have to switch bellhousings.