My CA18ET won't fire please help????? I'm New
 

Hi i hope you can help i have recently purchased a car with a ca18et engine fitted i believe from a bluebird turbo. She was running and broke down one day. I have an ok knowledge of engines but not particularly familiar with the ca18et. From what i have done so far she will turn over happily all day long but she doesn't appear to be sparking i have had the plugs out and i can see no spark. I was wondering whether it may be the ignition coil.
Or are there common faults with the engine to change first????

Please help

Paul

ello et welcome

s12's use a fairly straightforward ignition system, i can't think of anything you'd want to point the finger at outside of the normal sequence of tests. don't buy new items yet but try another plug on the lead then swap the lead out etc.. until you get something:)

I tried two different leads and 2 different plugs straight from the ignition coil and neither sparked?

Could this be leads still or plugs ?

most common cause of my silvia not starting was plugs covered in coke:rolleyes:

take the dizzy cap off and examine the contacts; if they are dirty buff them clean with fine emerycloth/fine abrasive paper, if they're mangled [unlikely]then replace. test this by checking for conductivity from dizzy kingpin lead across to htlead pins while turning engine by hand.

if you have a multimeter put it on 20v range and over primary windings of coil see if you get 12v; otherwise maybe a spare bulb likea fog light?

Most common fault is a bad earth on the coil



This maybe a rare one but check that there is a 12v feed to the distributer.

I dont know the wiring diagram in my head but i know i lost this feed on my et once i put in a new one via a switched relay.

definitely check the coil is earthed OK, it's earthed to the body where it bolts on, and it can rust there a lot.

is that Paul "drifty skyline" Smith?

sorry for the delay in replying, thanks for the advise.

I was looking today, the coil i have now cleaned up but still no spark i have checked that fuel is coming through. It is pumping in to the chambers i think there was a lot of pressure behind the fuel when i undid the hose.

I was wonder how the is setup do these engines have a crank position sensor ???? if so any pics, if not what do they use.

any other ideas would also be a great help.

anyone one got a spare ignition coil plugs leads and distributor laying around that all work for sale???????????

There is a Crank angle sensor, but not sure that would be your problem

I'm no expert by any means, but if the CAS was out woudl it not still spark, but out of sequence?

Might have a spare one somewhere

i figured that if it was broke it wouldn't tell anything to spark???

I'll dig around for a spare in the week

i have a spare coil up the loft, i spotted it last night.

how much would you like for the coil???? does it definitely work. anyone got a pic of a position angle sensor so i know exactly what i'm looking for.

Thanks again for the help

Hiya,

The crank angle sensor is built into the dizzy itself.

If you know how to run the Self Diagnosis process on the s12, you will get an error code No.11, if the CAS is faulty.

Hope this helps :D .

Regards,
Ian.

its in the dizzy??? how could i check this??? or should i change the distributor for one we know works. Anyone got one for sale?

Hiya,
Yep the CAS is in the dizzy.

The control unit for the self diagnosis proceedure is behind the trim panel on the passenger side footwell. Remove the trim panel and you will see the control unit, if I remember correctly, you will have to remove the mounting screws for the unit and turn it round (as the lamps that display the fault codes are facing away from you) - but leave the harness connected.

There is also a diagnosis mode selector switch, which you will have to turn with a screwdriver.

If you do a search on this board, there should be a thread on here that lays out the self diagnosis prceedure.

Hope this helps :D .

Or if you know someone else with an s12, I guess you could just try their dizzy on your car, to see if that solves the problem.

Let us know how you get on ;) .

Regards,
Ian.

£10 for the coil mate, i can try it on mine b4 i send it you, i'am sure i have a coil as well.:)

Hi thanks for the response the s12 lump isn't in a silvia or bluebird so i'm not sure where they would have put the fault screen, is it attached to the ecu?

£10 for the coil mate, i can try it on mine b4 i send it you, i'am sure i have a coil as well.




yeah £10 sounds good to me, if you would try it before you send that would be brilliant so i know that this one is definitely working as appossed to mine that i have no idea if its working.
Did you have something else as well as you put coil twice, sorry.

Thanks again

What car are you using it in? The ECU has the fault code lights on it visible from the side

oh yeah,lol, i think i have a distributor as well,:o

....LOL.... Sorry for the confusion. As Martin says the ECU is the unit I was talking about (which you can use to carry out self diagnosis).

Regards,
Ian.

if you have a distributor as well how much do you want for the distributor, would you be able to check it definitely works aswell, sorry to be a pain.

The ca18et lump is in a nissan micra k11.

You will need a bluebird distributor.

Has the engine ever ran properly in the Micra? Could be a wiring issue? Have you got a proper fuel pump running off of the ECU?

yeah it was running but broke down one day.

yeah the coil is good mate.i'll pm you a price.

would the distributor fit?