Jump to content

2.0L Duratec Rebuild


JohnCh

Recommended Posts

Thanks, that confirms leaving it alone is the right decision. For the controller's other wires (switched 12v+, ground, sensor signal, sensor signal ground) the Emerald supplied engine loom uses a Superseal connector to make the attachment. Much cleaner and simpler than my old Innovate which had the signal wires directly connected to the ECU plug and the 12v+/- to the chassis loom.

 

The dipstick is the Ford factory blade-style -- same one Raceline supplies (or at least used to supply) with their wet sump. It would work better if the tip was spherical, as this would allow it to more seamlessly make the transition from hose to connector, but I cant' find a good alternative that has a flexible enough tip to also make it around the 45 deg bend of the bottom fitting. Unfortunately the blade tip will hang up when it hits that hose-to-connector transition unless they are in a straight line. Hence the reason for the hose's curved route vs. a straight shot down to the sump.

 

-John

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have the same transition issue. I currently use a removeable section of 3/32” SS wire to which we created a bead on the end with a TIG. It’s still not a smooth enough transition.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I did much of the same internal “cleanup” in my block as well. I also changed all the galley plugs to threaded ones. It was the only way I felt confident about the cleanliness of the galleys.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just read this again before hitting submit and realized it's a lot of long-winded drivel that many of you would prefer to skip. So for those who would rather me just get to the point so you understand the context of the photos and move on, here is the executive summary: This morning I made a tool to install the pilot bearing. Worked great. Took a lot longer than anticipated. The end.

 

And now for the rest of you...

 

Any masochists out there who have actually waded through my website will know that I have a theory called the Rule of Three. No matter how pessimistic I am when estimating how long a job will take, I'm always off by a factor of three. Even knowing that when going into the planning process and multiplying the initial estimate by three to short circuit the process doesn't satiate the gods who control this aspect of my life. It still takes three times longer -- or, in that case, nine times longer than what my original estimate would have been. Consequently I no longer apply that fudge factor to my estimates. Life is too short.

 

Anyway, this morning I had planned a small list of items to complete by ~10:30am: Install the pilot bearing, flywheel, clutch, test fit the engine without the transmission to remind myself where all the wires and fuel hoses need to go and ensure the engine mounts are lined up correctly, and finish installing the AEM WBO2 setup. Easy list, right? Arriving in the garage with a hot cup of coffee, I looked around and realized this place was a nightmare. I needed to clean it up before progressing. Once that was done, and with cup #2 in hand, I began the process of getting the engine off the engine stand to gain access to the back for the pilot bearing installation. More futzing around was done as I looked for the correct bolts to attach the cherry picker to the engine. With that completed and the engine on 4x4s on the floor, the engine holder was removed to expose the back of the block. Looking at the crank and thinking about that little pilot bearing that was finishing up a 24 hour soak in the freezer, I began to have a little trepidation about this step. A little more research was conducted to ensure I knew how deeply to seat the bearing and which end faced the transmission. This brought up lots of mentions of damaged thrust washers from beating the bearing in place. The Cosworth CSR260 engine assembly guide does mention to install it before installing the crank in the block for just this reason. Unfortunately I read that bit after I received the short block back from the machine shop. Given I still don't know if the shop did the assembly correctly, and I could still discover issues once it's back in the car and running, doing something they could then claim was the root cause seemed like a bad idea.

 

I finally came across a guy who used a steering wheel puller to press his bearing into the crank. Hmm. Instead of threading the bolts into the steering wheel, you thread them into the flywheel bolt receivers on the crank. Made sense and I have an old steering wheel puller I could modify. First step was figuring out the size of the new bolts required. Grabbing a flywheel bolt, I had an uh oh moment. They have very fine threads. M12 x 1.0 to be exact, and I needed two bolts at least 60mm long to make this work. Once at the hardware store I confirmed that this is a really oddball bolt size. M12 very fine spec is 1.25 and I needed 1.0. Super fine? Driving home and not wanting to wait a week for McMaster Carr to save the day, I started thinking about other options and decided that there was a way to fabricate a a different attachment method from the leftover 1/8" steel stock I used to make the dial indicator stand, and that would allow me to incorporate the stock flywheel bolts. Out came the hacksaw, calipers, stepped drill bits and drill press. A little while later I had this:

 

pilot bearing tool 1.jpg

 

pilot bearing tool 2.jpg

 

pilot bearing tool 3.jpg

 

The good news is it worked great. The bad news is that I had now nearly doubled the amount of time I had budgeted for the various jobs today, and I had only done one :( . Oh well, it's still a win. Just a slow one.

 

-John

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks guys. I'm sure Croc will be along soon to weigh in on my lack of sanity.

 

I decided to install the flywheel after lunch and researched the correct torque and if Loctite is required. I last did this when the engine was built in 2004, so have no recollection of the process. When I had the engine out in 2007 for the first cam upgrade and to install ARP rod bolts, I also bought a set of Cosworth flywheel bolts (stamped ARP but in a nice blister pack that has Cosworth printed all over it) as an additional upgrade. However, when checking the flywheel, I discovered it already had ARP bolts installed. These must have been what Raceline supplied as part of my original engine kit. Consequently I left them in place and stored the new ones away for future use.

 

This is where things get interesting. The CSR build manual includes torque specs and process for their flywheel bolts, which are presumably ARP like what I purchased years before. SBD also sells ARP flywheel bolts and have a download on their site for their installation. Lastly I checked the ARP site and downloaded their instructions for these bolts on a Duratec. None of them align.

 

Cosworth

Torque in 3 stages: 37 ft lb, 59 ft lb, then 82 ft lb

There is no mention of thread locker

 

SBD

Torque in 2 stages: 85 ft lbs., then 105 ft lbs.

Use Loctite 243

 

ARP:

Torque to 95 ft lb.

Use Loctite 242

 

So very different final torque values and although Loctite 242 and 243 are both medium strength, the 243 handles slightly higher temps (360F vs. 300F) and has significantly higher breaking torque (230 in. lb. vs. 110 in. lb.) Torqueing in 3 stages makes sense, but at what value do I stop? I'm leaning towards the stronger 243 and torqueing to 100 ft lb, but anyone have an experience or counter advice?

 

Thanks,

John

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks guys. I'm sure Croc will be along soon to weigh in on my lack of sanity.

 

Good grief, you have had one of those weeks. I would never question your sanity...

 

...but I would observe your Microsoft background makes you far more resilient to bang your head against a wall repeatedly while being impervious to pain or the obvious logical need to stop. ;)

 

 

Back to bolts...

 

 

 

 

I am confused which set of ARP bolts you are planning on using? Old ones from the former engine? New ones already installed and torqued by a vendor? New ARP from SBD. New ARP from ARP or new ARP from Cosworth? At the first, I would never reuse previously torqued bolts - I know you know that but I did get confused easily from your post (more coffee please). The dumb question is - are all these bolts the exact same thing? Same spec/product id? Should be but I learned to never trust these things.

 

 

Assuming the ARP bolts are new and all the same, then I would go SBD approach. Its application specific for your build. Its more current (that Cosworth guidance is getting ancient). SBD is building these engines today. Plus the ARP spec is generic for a range of builds - not necessarily intended for yours. You could mix and match but why is your a la carte approach a logical one better than one of these experts? I could rationalize a 3 step build in torque to 105ft/lbs. Just my 5 cents

 

SBD

Torque in 2 stages: 85 ft lbs., then 105 ft lbs.

Use Loctite 243

Edited by Croc
Link to comment
Share on other sites

When i upgraded the cams in 2007, I also purchased ARP rod bolts and ARP flywheel bolts for the increased redline. The flywheel bolts were purchased form Cosworth and arrived in their packaging, but the bolt heads are stamped ARP. After removing the engine back in 2007, I discovered ARP flywheel bolts were already in place. These were the bolts Raceline supplied as part the Duratc kit I purchased in 2003/4, but at the time I didn't notice they were ARP.

 

Since there was no point in replacing the bolts at that time just for the sake of replacing them, I left them alone and kept the sealed Cosworth bolts in a box until I needed them. Like now. I'd be surprised if Cosworth, SBD, and ARP each have bespoke versions of those bolts. Having ARP do something different isn't cheap, and that would mean that SBD or Cosworth thought there was something wrong with the original spec. It seems a stretch.

 

I think I'll go with the SBD torque value, but include an initial lower torque third step to more closely align with the Cosworth approach. It's interesting that both Cosworth and SBD specify multi stages, yet SBD's initial stage is higher than Cosworths final stage. I also find it interesting that the procedure with the lowest final torque value uses no thread locker and the one with the highest value uses the strongest. As for the Loctite 242 vs. 243 conundrum, Amazon made that decision. 243 wouldn't arrive until Thursday, but the 242 will arrive tomorrow. I'm tired of waiting...

 

Thanks,

John

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The ARP values above are from their website for these specific bolts (see link below), so I'm not sure they would provide a different answer. My guess is that from an engineering perspective, 95 ft-lb creates sufficient clamping force, but to Croc's point, SBD has a lot of practical experience in this area with high revving, big power Duratecs. Their approach and slightly higher values are probably what they find best in their builds without failures.

251-2802.pdf

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No progress to report thanks to spending most of the day SUV shopping (yawn). When we returned, I took the Elan out for a much needed, head-clearing blat, but came upon this group just as the corners began 1.5 miles from home. They did not want to move and were in no way intimidated by either the sheer size of the Elan or the angry scream of the revving twincam. I was tempted to try the horn, but it's a Lotus and with my luck it would have released all the Lucas smoke contained in the wiring harness. I'm beginning to wonder if I really screwed up in a past life...

 

goats 3.jpg

 

-John

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had a DOH! moment Sunday night. It occurred to me that I never ordered replacement bolts for the pressure plate. After a little digging I was able to secure a set from Massive Performance here in the States which arrived today. Last night I test fit the engine without the bellhousing/transmission to confirm the engine mounts lined up and refresh my memory on wiring and hose routing. Then installed the flywheel and clutch this evening. There are a few more things to do over the next couple of nights, but I might actually be in a place to attempt installation Saturday.

 

engine temp install (3).jpg

 

clutch.jpg

 

-John

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It took 90 minutes, a hoist, two floor jacks, a set of jack stands, and shockingly no swearing (honest!), but the engine is in. Still a lot of work to do before first start, but the initial attempt should happen soon.

 

engine in.jpg

 

-John

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ran into a bit of an issue with the accessory belt. The replacement is too small. Digging into it, it appears that the current one, which still has life, has stretched a lot since first installed. Over the course of its life, the steering column was replaced with a newer version that collapses and is slightly larger in diameter. When that switch was made, the belt had already stretched enough to allow that to fit, but a fresh belt creates some interference between the column and the alternator. I have a new, slightly larger, one arriving tomorrow. Other than that, the only things left are bleeding the clutch and getting fresh gas. The rest is done: all fluids, wiring, even the interior is back together. To end the weekend, I installed a special zero timing, zero fuel map in the ECU and cranked it over until I had oil pressure. Woo hoo!

 

-John

Link to comment
Share on other sites

UPS tracking showed a 12:15pm arrival time yesterday for the new accessory belt. It didn't show until nearly 5pm. Although that was early enough to install it and confirm the new size works, it wasn't enough to attempt a cam break in and ring sealing drive. It's raining today. Not sure I want to attempt that process in the wet, particularly given there is no guarantee the car won't leave me at the side of the road. However, I really want to know if it will start, and today does mark the 10 month anniversary of pulling the engine, so I called Kent to confirm that a simple start for a minute followed by a proper break-in drive tomorrow won't create any issues. They told me to go for it. To be safe, the cam lobes received another coating of assembly lube, then 3 fire extinguishers were placed between me and the engine, prayers were made to various deities (gotta cover my bases), and then I gave it a shot.

 

At first it wasn't running on all 4, but things started to clear up before the engine was switched off. Quick post mortem revealed the primaries all felt equally warm (good), and the lower radiator hose clamp needed to be a little tighter (easy fix). The smoke seen at the end of the clip should be some coolant burning off that primary which sits directly below the fill location.

 

 

Weather permitting, first drive is tomorrow.

 

-John

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...