Nissan Silvia S13 engine transplant - Our Shed

By: Kian Heagney - Words & Photos

Date: 28.12.2022

As part of the engine change we also sorted a complete exhaust system, which required some love from the welder

As part of the engine change we also sorted a complete exhaust system, which required some love from the welder

After hitting engine drama with his S13 Silvia, Kian finds himself a replacement

Regular readers of UC will know that back in early 2020 I got myself this fairly neat 1990 Nissan Silvia S13 turbo for $3500. At the time I thought it was a bargain I could easily throw on club plates and cruise around.

My VZ SS ute doing its job as a parts hauler with the new engine safely in tow

Things quickly escalated when the car started belching out an horrific amount of oil smoke. Last issue I detailed the rebuild I undertook of the 1.8-litre CA18 twin cam engine and turbo in the hopes of curing the issue, but after a lot of effort and a decent amount of money, it was all to no avail.

After that whole saga I decided I was done with that engine, so I parked the car up and started hunting around for a suitable replacement. Why didn’t I have the old engine professionally rebuilt, you ask? Back in early 2020 when all this was going on car parts were still cheap, so I knew I could pick up a new CA18DET engine for a fraction of the price of a full rebuild.

| Read next: Kian's Silvia build - can of worms

New engine and gearbox, ready to drop into the Silvia

That theory rang true when less than two months after my failed rebuild I found a complete engine and gearbox package within two hours of me for $2000. I got to see it running and driving in the car to ensure it was all in good health, before the seller pulled it out, and having a spare gearbox as part of the deal was a welcome bonus.

A week later I picked up the engine, and we wasted no time pulling the broken unit out of the Silvia to make way for the new heart. Given my mates and I had only just gone through this exercise a few months prior we were well rehearsed in the process, so the changeover only took us a day (which isn’t too bad for a bunch of mates faffing around).

The new engine at home in the Silvia. Shortly afterwards I changed out the black rocker covers for the red ones from the original engine

While the changeover went quite smoothly, the same couldn’t be said about getting the new engine started. After a few attempts it appeared it was hydrolocking, so we spun it over with no spark plugs in it and sure enough the little CA coughed a fair amount of petrol out of the plug holes. To top that off we also had very intermittent spark, so there was also a good chance something in the wiring was amiss.

To try and solve the over-fueling issue I swapped the original fuel regulator for an adjustable aftermarket one that had actually come with the new engine, but fiddling with that didn’t solve the issue.

Now with the red rocker covers back on it’s almost ready

We also cleaned and even replaced the spark plugs (which cost $30 each for the correct iridiums!) to try and amend the spark issue as well as swapping the coil packs, but after a full day of wrenching and expletive words the cursed S13 still refused to fire. Ah, the joys of cars, hey?

A look of thunderous frustration if ever there was one

From Unique Cars #472, Nov/Dec 2022

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