Slomove

In the meantime I continued experimenting with the wideband lambda probe. Please indulge my following explanations and if you have an idea if that makes sense or how to improve please let me know! I have the probe now installed in the header collector with a bung and that gives a pretty steady reading. The engine is runnig fine in almost all conditions: clean idle, good acceleration and full trottle power. Progression is acceptable, but there is still a lot of exhaust banging and popping when cruising, mostly between 2000 and 3500 rpm. My observation with the wideband probe: - I can get best idle when I run the mixture rich, i.e. AFR around 12-13. If I turn the screws in 1/2 turn I get the mixture to AFR=14 or more but idle becomes rough. - When running under load and at higher revs the AFR is at 15-16 somewhat lean. I am not sure if that is acceptable. I have 135 main jets (normally the 45DCOE152 has 145 jets). Should I change to the larger jets? - In the cruising range when the exhaust is banging the mixture is extremely lean (AFR over 20). Is that a sign that the famous 4th progression hole might be missing? Thanks for feedback!! Gert

Use a 5mm metal bar that is long enough. Somebody who put my engine together obviously used something short and the ends dented/scratched the valve cover sealing surface. Maybe he even used it to hold the cams while tightening the pulleys Gert

I had the intake manifold of my Zetec off today to install vacuum ports for a Carbtune balancing tool. When re-installing I felt that the threads of a few bolts in the cylinder head began to give already at almost no torque. I stopped right away but I guess that the fool who put my engine together did already some damage. So far it is holding and the engine is running fine. I am only wondering (especially if I have to take it off again) how I can fix stripped threads in an aluminum cylinder head. Any advice? Thanks, Gert

Bill, that WAS a horribly good advice. I bought the Innovate Motorsport wideband lambda gadget and within 30 minutes I got my car running SO much better. I am still confused about some readings/carb settings: When I started I had my 45DCOE152 idle mix screws set to the recommended position of 2.5 turns out. The engine idled reasonably with the butterflies almost closed. But that is the position that makes low speed driving so awful as explained in the earlier posts. Now when using the A/F meter, I got a reading of over 30, which means horribly lean. I don't even understand that the engine is running at all that lean. Next I turned out the mixture screws by and by to make it richer. Idle became slower (?!) and I compensated with the idle speed screw. The farthest down I can get is around 22 A/F which is still very lean but the car runs almost fine. I am tapping the exhaust gas about 6" inside the tailpipe (no cat). Could there be outside air mixed in at idle? As soon as I open the throttle a little the mixture reading goes to around 13. Now, my questions are: - Do I still have to get the mixture closer to 14 in idle ? - Since I have the idle mixture screws very much out (4-5 turns) do I need different idle jets (I have 55F9) ? Thanks, Gert Edited by - Slomove on 27 Nov 2003 05:31:06

O.K., I will continue playing but get a carb synchronizer first and I will see to find a lambda probe somewhere. And I am pretty sure that I will not touch the butterfly edges with a file or something. I am not that brave Thanks all for the advice! Gert

Norman, a little O/T but that is not my call (I mean lettim him back in). I am myself a stranger in a strange land here ;-) Well, not really after 10 years. Anyway, I would appreciate if you could come along and give me a hand, no matter how you get here. 😬 BTW, weather is BEAUTIFUL right now. Cold beer is ready. The problem is that the car runs well enough to use and have fun but bad enough to be annoyed. There is a Weber distributor and shop not too far from here but I am afraid that the pros there might not be that professional after all. And getting it finally straightened out yourself is a reward in its own right. Gert Edited by - Slomove on 19 Nov 2003 21:33:56

Bill, I CAN see light through all three holes when the butterflies are completely shut. But I guess there is nothing I can do about it. I can hardly move the holes and the butterflies are firmly positioned on the shaft. Thinking about it, I am wondering what it would do if the rim of the butterfly shuts off the first hole when fully closed to end stop (idle speed screw out). Would not the tiniest amount of idle speed setting activate the progression and defeat the setting of the idle mixture screws Gert

Thanks Bill, Allen and Oliver: I took the right carb off and the actuating lever had indeed some play. I fixed that by smashing a tiny piece of the flat side of the lever bore with a punch. It is now nice and tight without play. Maybe I had also overtightened the nut. Anyway, at least I can get reproducible throttle setting now. I am still not satisfied with the progression but I will get a suitable vacuum gage for measuring and balancing the suction. Then I will tackle the idle mixture screw settings. I would not mind to use Colortune but I am wondering how I can see that in the deep plug well of my Zetec when the plug cable is on A wideband sensor might be nice but I can't borrow one here. How much are they, actually and where to buy best? Some other things I tried: On Roger King's advice I experimented with 0.35 pump jets (was 0.45). That improved throttle response when blipping somewhat. But it is probably still impeded by the otherwise incorrect state of tune. I did notice that the exhaust popping on overrun is greatly dependent on the idle screw/balance settings. Right now it is banging quite a bit and I know I had it set up better a while ago, with just a pleasant crackling. But that with five screws to play with that is just hit/miss experimentation. I also checked on the progression holes with the cover screws off. Looks reasonable to me. When the butterfly starts moving the edge begins to cover the first hole immediately. That means the hole is not right above the edge of the butterfly when closed but just behind it. Gert

Let me get that problem out before the club cuts me off (far away and not a member 😳 ) I have the same Weber progression problem described a few posts earlier (on a 2.0 Zetec). And when I fiddle with it that makes it sometimes better, sometimes worse. For a while I had it running quite well. But I am a beginner with no proper tuning tools other than a screwdriver and a timing light. However, where I get stuck already is the idle speed screw. Even if I turn it out completely and with loose throttle cable, the engine keeps idling around 900 rpm. I can then push the butterfly linkage lever back to make the engine run really slow or kill it but it appears I have some stiction to break loose the right hand side carb and not return fully. Or maybe the linkage has some play? I tried the hose-in-the-ear sync method. Maybe I am not the musical kind of guy but the air suction sound does not change a lot when ajusting. I do hear a pretty loud clicking in the cylinder 4 barrel getting lesser on 3 and 2 and almost none on 1. Don't know what that means, though. If it was the valves popping open it should be the same for all cylinders? Any advice what I should do? Thanks, Gert Edited by - Slomove on 18 Nov 2003 02:32:14

Steve, I will take a picture and mail it, although I am somewhat embarrassed. While the vent works well, I did a pretty poor job in terms of workmanship, not exactly to my own standards. 🙆🏻 My lame excuse is the limited space with the car on axle stands. Doesn't make it easy to keep everything lined up. Fortunately nobody will see it except when crawling under the car. 😬 Gert

Oh. forgot that: if you are close to the ocean (I guess that is hard to avoid in Aruba) don't forget the Waxoil. The wind blows the salt spray from the surf pretty far. Gert

30 degrees is pleasant. I drive my Seven in Southern California and summer tends to be on the warm side. But I don't have any special engine setup. I went to a track day last July in Willow Spings/Mojave Desert at , well, around 42 degrees C and used more drinking water than fuel. No problem with the engine, though (Zetec, 45DCOE and Dunnell ECU). I did install a footwell bottom louver to protect my trotters from roasting (wedge-shaped ali box, rear open that sucks air out through a drilled grid) and sealed all gaps in the firewall. That helps a little. Gert

Thanks Roger, I am not aware of any Supersprints in the area. This appears to be majority Zetec territory. But I will just go to the friendly neighborhood Weber distributor who will happily sell me the pump jets. Gert

My 2.0 Zetec runs normally well on 45DCOE Webers (36mm venturi, 135main, 50F9 idle). However when rapidly floored under 2500rpm there is a noticable stumble. Not too bad when driving, but almost impossible to blip for double clutching. Instead of a short rpm growl I just get a burp. Here are some questions I have: Is this effect most likely related to the accelerator injection pump of the carbs (too much or too little extra fuel) or maybe because the carbs are lacking the famous additional progression holes? Anything about the jetting? I know the mains are smaller than usual but full power is just fine. Can I influence this behavior with the ignition map? I do have the heavy stock flywheel, I suppose a lighter one would help? Thanks, Gert

Not sure if easy to install in a Caterham but you could try to get the brake pedal assembly that is used for the Birkin. They come with dual master cylinders, separate fluid tanks and an adjustable balance bar. Gert

Ian, it is only in 5th gear and when running, let's say over 2500rpm, that means most likely cruising on the Freeway where you change between slightly accelerating and decelerating all the time to adapt to traffic flow. I would not have been surprised to hear the gears clatter if they have play under no load. But the sound is not really one of massive metal gears rattling but something tinny. On the other hand, I am no expert in how things should sound and maybe it is something else altogether. I suspect the transmission only because it happens in no other gear. Gert

I am running a T9 on a Zetec and don't really have trouble with the transmission. However, in 5th gear only and with no load (i.e. right between accelerating and overrun) at freeway speed there is a distinct rattling sound like a vibrating sheet metal. When driving in traffic such load changes happen all the time and thus I hear it often. Anybody else had that? Should I be concerned or just consider it part of the symphony? Gert

I had some pretty wide gaps in the header joint and tried at least 5 different methods to get it sealed (short of welding) including regular and copper silicone. So far no sealant held up. Maybe it would if I had sanded the surfaces down to bare and shiny metal but the remaining thin carbon deposit made the sealant not stick and blow out. I ended up with external packing (glass-fiber "tadpole" tape), wrapped in aluminium adhesive flue tape, and held in place on the joints by hose clamps. Gert

I broke a few poppers lately and was wondering to replace the junk with TENAX buttons. Did anybody try that? I know they are quite popular for marine applications but I have not seen them on cars that often. Too expensive? Gert

I am very satisfied with the Odyssey battery the previous owner put into my car (don't know how much he paid). It is a very small dry-cell (not gel type) jet-ski battery, only 13 pounds but rated at 625 amps cranking. Amp-hours are limited by the size but throughout the engine tests I had to do lately I used it to crank for minutes and it still keeps going and going....(no Energizer Bunny inside). Another advantage is that it is supposed to keep the charge for more than a year, have not tested that one, though. (http://www.odysseybatteries.com/specs.htm) Gert

Thanks all, that gives me some comfort. Yes, the engine was hot when I did the tests and I forgot that there is heat exchange and othereffects while the compression stroke happens. Well, then I will continue looking for ignition problems. I did notice when I crank with grounded sparkplugs in air the sparks don't look very impressive (Bosch Platinum4). I think there are some spark testers around. Let's see.... Gert

I had posted a few days ago about my engine trouble and that I suspected a broken coil pack (www.blatchat.com/t.asp?Id=39847). The coils turned out to be O.K. but in continued search I ran another compression test. Unlike the previous one I remembered to open the throttle wide but otherwise these were the first compression tests I did on the engine. The result knocked my socks off: around 230 psi on all four cylinders (AFAIK that would be a 14:1 compression?). I am not an engine specialist, bought the car used and have no idea about the original spec, just always thought I have a bone standard Zetec just with carbs and new ECU. That leaves me with the following options: - I am hallucinating and just phantasized the test result - The compression gage (new) is broken or totally out of calibration - The cylinder head is totally clogged with soot and messed up - Somebody gave the head a brutal shaving when installed It's just that the engine ran fine until last Sunday before suddenly refusing to accelerate beyond 3500rpm. Oh, one more thing: when running the compression test the engine made some strange and pretty loud crackling/popping sound when cranking as if the fuel wanted to ignite in the cylinder being measured. Did not sound good. I am at a loss here. Can somebody enlighten me, please? Thanks, Gert

Never mind the previous post, that wasn't it. Swapped ignition cables and coil pack and still the same trouble. Somebody needs a coil pack? Noticed someting else: The digital rpm reading of my timing light display (inducive clamp-on type) reads sometimes double the actual value and is quite unsteady. Maybe there is something wrong with the Dunnell ECU, after all. I will hook up a scope to the coil drive next week. Still looking for opinions or other help, though..... Gert

I am having trouble with my engine for a week (Zetec ZX1, Ford Contour US version on carbs with Dunnell ECU). It happened suddenly while driving: - Start, idle and low revs are somewhat O.K. but does not go beyond 3500 rpm when floored driving, creating a burbling and choked engine sound and a hell of a racket from violent exhaust explosions. - Camshaft timing is o.k. as well as compression - Carbs are synchronized, jets are cleaned and fuel pressure is o.k. - Plugs are fine at low revs but begin to blacken in the problem rev range. - Sparks are present when cranking in the open However: I checked the coil pack and secondary resistance is 11.4 kOhms (cylinder 2+3) or 14.8 kOhm (cylinder 1+4). That shuld be 12.8-13.1kOhms according to the book. Can that be the root cause? Would not mind to get a new pack but only if it makes sense. Thanks for any feedback and if you have other suggestions what to check for PLEASE let me know! Gert Edited by - Slomove on 18 Oct 2003 05:44:08

try to e-mail steve@loc-nar.com I know he figured out the wiring for a 96 Zetec ECU and made his own wiring harness. You can also find his notes, connector descriptions and diagrams in http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/birkinowners/files/ file name is fordv11.zip Gert