Anyone know anything bout CAs??

[JH32]

My girlfriend has a CA 180SX, and its acting very strangely

The car idles quite roughly, but then if you drive the car, it can become sort of ok. On acceleration there is quite a lot of blue/black smoke out the back, and if you rev the car and put your hand over the end there's lots of little specks of brown stuff that lands on your hand.

There's definitely not as much power as there was.

I suspected coils, but someone said it won't idle like it does if it was a coil. My brother suspects air flow meter? Could this affect it like this?

Cheers.

[jlnewton]

Blue -ish smoke sounds a bit scary. If there was a problem with ignition/spark or mixture (faulty AFM) I would expect black/rich smoke or even white/grey/rusty smoke. To me any blue smoke means somewhere along the way oil is being burnt. Don't know, I suggest seeing an expert you can trust.

I had a mate with a 180SX with the CA motor. His was showing similiar symptoms to yours and it turned out to be the turbo. Its hard to say without seeing/hearing it in person

[JH32]

Yeah true.

Did his idle strangely ... even though the turbo was playing up?

[JH32]

Also I think the smoke is more black, and smells of fuel.

[Morgs]

The AFMs are rubbish... i'd start there... its very likely.

[GTS-t VSPEC]

JiMiH,

Could be lots of things, so go sit it on a dyno before some real damage occurs.

See'ya:burnout:

[jlnewton]

If its black smoke I would check the two things you have already mentioned. You may have a faulty O2 sensor?

Apologies, I get very scared at the sound of blue smoke, past experiences.

[Steve]

I was under the impression that blue smoke meant oil, as would the brown speckles, but that was in the days before cats. How is the oil level? Have you checked the turbo for signs of any oil leak problems there?

With the AFM it is a pretty easy job to to pull it off and hit it with some carby cleaner - would be worth doing whether or not it is the problem as it is such an easy job.

[red17]

Go see Lumpy at C-Red, he know's the CA like the back of his hand. He'll probably have it diagnosed in 5 minutes.

Red17

[JH32]

Cool ... thanks guys I'll try those suggestions

[keca18]

i know this is gunna sound pretty stupid, but you bothered trying to change the plugs????

-erratic idle

-you drive it and it kinda clears up?(under load)

-acceleration it pumps black smoke(fuel not burning)

-specks of fuel on your hand if held over exhaust?

my previous ride was a 1974 KE20 toyota corolla with a CA18det.

same prob with mine, i was changing a set of plugs every 4 weeks. mainly due to the microtech, but hey, theres always a rule of thumb with mechanics, try the simple things first!

hope i helped, cheers

[Guest Nismo_Freak]

Sounds like a turbo seal and some metering problem... the 180SXs and 200SXs are notorious for blowing turbo seals.

[JH32]

Cheers guys ... I took the AFM off and cleaned it with carby cleaner. Then I disconnected the battery and left it overnight. Today it seems to be running ok, so we'll see how it goes in the next couple of days!

Thanks very much for the help

[Targa Tom]

Hey JiMiH,

Did I help by those wheels? Going to give your poor old federals a few laps of Symmons plains Sunday....

Car looks good... and as for your thread, take the KISS principal. And check the easy things first! Hey it may well be a turbo seal, but plugs, AFM, etc you probably need to be doing as maintenance anyhowe... and think of the points from the girl.

When racing Superbikes we pulled everything apart one day chasing a missfire. A plug faulty, even though new! Never assume and start at the beginning.

Regards