SVT Upgrade

[REDDYZ]

Originally Posted by thearrow

__________________
Owning a Cougar is like owning a Super Model

Good to own but "High Maintenance"

Dave, I think Cougar is a celebrity than a super model hehe...

[REDDYZ]

Finally... Timing cover is off.



Ever seen a naked engine?? here is one.. hehe..



Seriously, you definitely don't want to see leaks from timing cover. So much work involved.

There is not much difference between timing cover and rocker cover on this engine. If rocker cover leaks then its obvious for timing cover to leak. In fact its more prone to leak because of its position and there are few points which don't seal properly. Like the place where head, engine block and timing cover intersects... There is high temp silicone at those places from factory and thats where oil leaks from.

When I got rockers and UIM painted, I wished I could paint the timing cover as well. Here I go, now I can paint the timing cover. Just be careful what you wish for... hehe

[REDDYZ]

Took a while to get all the parts from US. When I got the parts weather turned bad and got busy with work as well.

Got timing cover painted and its back on engine.



Those two pulleys on the timing cover were almost worn. Thats another plus of taking all this effort. Most importantly the water pump. It was almost dead. I have been complaining about hot engine bays which turned out to be the water pump. It wasn't dead but the pumping efficiency was very low. I found this when I took the pump out and checked it. I must say am very lucky to spot it early otherwise this could have end up with blown head gasket.

Now, I have all parts to put it together except a tool to press in harmonic balancer. But, I was a bit hesitating as I was worried about excess oil being sucked into intake manifold from PCV. I did ordered new PCV valve but didn't want to take any chances. All the time, $$$ and effort I put in cleaning out UIM, LIM will go waste and eventually combustion chamber will become dirty. So, I have deceided to fit oil catch can and bought this from supercheapauto.



Its 400ml can quite big and heavy. Trying to figure out how and where to fit it. Not straight forward as PCV vacuum lines are shared with EGR. It will be good thought with oil catch can, UIM, LIM will never get dirty.

This is gonna be the last mod on this kitty kat............ hopefully. I dropped SVT cams as it leads to few other things. Instead I will buy a Taurus for $3000 or just the engine for less than a grand and drop that 3L engine in my kat. Thats gonna be a big project again. So, basically I won't go any further from this point.

[REDDYZ]

Finally, my kat is on road 'Roaring"

This is the Apollo kit I bought.


Its universal so not 100% compatible with cougar. There isn't an option to fit air temperature sensor. Luckily on SVT Contours this sensor is placed on air intake tube instead of air filter box and since I had that tube I got away with this. I had to tamper with wiring a little bit to bring wire across. Didn't cut anything, just separated from harness.

This is oil catch can fitted. I had to make couple of custom brackets.


I had to order a special tool to press harmonic balancer in. It went in hard even with the tool. After fitting everything back, filled pwr steering oil, coolant and engine oil. I used new Castrol Edge Titanium 5W30 this time.

In process of bleeding cooling system. I couldn't get radiator fans on. Checked all fuses and relays and everything was fine so. Hooked up snap on scan tool and did self diagnostics. Tool was able to activate and de activate fans. Some how after this test they started working normal.

While scan tool was on I looked for live codes and found injecter 6 output fault.


It wasn't missing though. Couldn't understand what it is. I thought I should go on a test drive and get injectors open up as they were sitting outside for more than 3 weeks. I was out on drive for about 15mins.

With CAI kit, there is so much difference. Out come is amazing. Even with hot engine acceleration is as good as when engine is cold. Just love it. I can get another 10 horses with MSDS but am more than happy with the outcome and spending so much on MSDS and getting them fitted is not worth in my case as I have already customised headers.

Anyway, after some spirited driving injector fault was gone.


Though radiator fans are working now, I noticed that they are going off when coolant temperature hits 100˚C and cut out at 95˚C. I don't know if this is normal. Can some one check on this? You need to enter into diagnostic mode.

Here is how: Hold units and reset buttons on dash and turn the ignition on. You will notice gauges turning across. While they go across start the engine and once engine starts leave units and reset buttons simultaneously at once. Some times it won't enter into diagnostic mode if buttons are not released properly. So just keep trying. I always get it in first attempt and sometimes takes 2 attempts.

Once you are in diagnostic mode keep pressing select button to cycle through digital rpm, speedo, and many other functions until you get to temperature. Thats the one for coolant temperature. Just make a note how what is the max temp it gets to while driving in traffic and on freeway. You will notice temp drops about 10˚ with in seconds which is when fans kick on.

This is adjustable. You can set fans to kick in at a specific temperature of your choice. I will probably set it to 96˚ or 98˚. Which will be the last mod. Hopefully. hehe

Will take some engine bay pics later today and post em.

[REDDYZ]

This is how display looks when you are in diagnostic mode



This is coolant temperature display



After 350kms I looked inside throttle body to check whether oil catch can is effective or not.



Its all dry inside. The hole at the bottom is from where oil being sucked from PCV with no catch can. But now peace of mind.

[woolz_cougar]

Looking good mate!
You can get an 12V electric impact wrench from supercheap for $50

I got one when i was taking off my old focus' crank pulley... i was in the same boat trying to stop the engine from turning , but it worked like a charm.

http://www.supercheapauto.com.au/onl...28#Description

[REDDYZ]

Took some pics this evening with everything done and throttle body painted.

[woolz_cougar]

Originally Posted by woolz_cougar

Looking good mate!
You can get an 12V electric impact wrench from supercheap for $50

I got one when i was taking off my old focus' crank pulley... i was in the same boat trying to stop the engine from turning , but it worked like a charm.

http://www.supercheapauto.com.au/onl...28#Description

aaaahhh forget that one i didn't go to the next page.. you did that ages ago

[REDDYZ]

This is what I used which is a proper tool to press in harmonic balancer. Believe me it didn't went in easy even with this tool.



This tool is really worth. I could have used other means like impact wrench or big breaker bar, but if that stip threads on crankshaft that will be the last thing anyone want to happen.

[thearrow]

Mate you have done a great job...

The whole engine bay looks sensational......

Enjoy the power and the raspy note when the K&N gets going....

[REDDYZ]

Originally Posted by thearrow

Mate you have done a great job...

The whole engine bay looks sensational......

Enjoy the power and the raspy note when the K&N gets going....

Thanks mate. Enjoying every bit of it. Already clocked 400kms and topped the tank this morning and clocked over 100kms after tank full. At the moment fuel consumption is sitting at 9.0L per 100kms. Most of it was on freeway and the rest in bumper to bumper peak hour traffic and few spirited take offs at the lights and on freeway ramps.

Having MTX am not lucky to get the 'kick at the back' like yours when secondaries kick in, however one good thing is there is no lag when secondaries activate. Its continuous acceleration and when IMRC activates more rapid acceleration without lag. This was a surprise. Am not sure if this is because of IMRC relocation or cold air or clean UIM and LIM. Whatever, I just love it.

Loving K&N, at the moment I enclosed pod inlet into fender where stock airbox fits, just to stop hot engine bay air being sucked in. So, I hear huge gush of air being sucked in like a jet turbine sound only with passenger side window down. However, I drove with pod inlet left open in engine bay, and that sound is amazing.. even with windows closed. What a difference with and without K&N.

[REDDYZ]

Last weekend weather was around 37˚C and was stuck in bumper to bumper traffic. Coolant temperature went up to 104˚C at certain point. After I got home out of curiosity checked IMRC to see how hot it was. It wasn't hot at all. Before I relocated it underneath battery tray, it use to get very hot because of engine heat directly transferred to IMRC as it is bolted right on top of rocker cover and is covered with plastic 2.5L Duratec trim.

Has anyone got a chance to check the coolant temperatures in diagnostic mode? Since I flushed out whole cooling system and replaced waterpump, I also bought new Motorcraft Thermostat rated at 188˚F (86.5˚C).



But then I came across fail safe thermostat which in case of failure by default remains open preventing overheating. This thermostat opens at 90˚C though. Am thinking to try the Motorcraft thermostat that I bought before.

On NECO everyone is getting different readings of coolant temperature. Probably because they might be using different thermostats. Unfortunately I didn't checked coolant temperatures before replacing thermostat. Its very easy to change thermostat, and I can do that but I will have to drain coolant and it will make a mess in my engine bay. So, If someone can get into diagnostic mode and tell me at what temperature thermostat is opening and once it is open how low does it goes and how hot does it get, I will decide on switching back to Motorcraft or stick with failsafe thermostat.

[REDDYZ]

Its been a while since I have updated this thread.

I moved to Brisbane and took my kat along packed with all my stuff. There has been significant improvement in fuel consumption with SVT gear. It took 32 litres for 400kms on freeway with car fully loaded with all my stuff in boot and rear seats. Thats only freeway kms though.

The weight was so much that the rear end was sitting low and front end raised up. This weight broke one of the front strut mounts.




Had to take strut out to replace the mount. Along with strut mount I replaced strut bearings and lower control arms and the change is unbelievable. Steering has become soft. Didn't expect this much change though. Since I had to take hub out to do the strut mount I thought its right time to replace bearings as well. So, took hubs and new bearings to Ultratune in Sunnybank, QLD to get old bearings pressed out and new bearings pressed in. Its less than half and hour job to replace bearings and would cost around $50. I have been quoted $250 and then came down to $175. Then went to another ultratune in neighbouring suburb and got $45 quote for both hubs. I gave the hubs and then invoiced $90 saying quote is only for one hub.

Am now concerned about getting safety certificate for my car to change registration to QLD. If anyone knows a genuine workshop who can issue safety certificate, please let me know.

Anyway, while I had my car on stands I had a look at oil catch can I fitted. I was surprised to see the amount of oil it had in it.




I wasn't prepared for this much oil so used greek yogurt container Thats more than 100 ml. Imagine all this oil getting into engine through intake manifold... This is after $7000 kms