Series 2 - FAQ

[GazP]

FAQ – about the Series two RS Turbo

Updated 24/04/2002.

I hope you will find these FAQ of some use to you. Whether it saves you posting a question on the BB, or waiting for a question to be answered. I am not a mechanic, nor am I an expert on RS cars. All that I have typed here is just from learning about the car itself over the years and getting my hands dirty by working on my own car.

There are also some articles by other RSOC board users, full credit to them for helping me out with this.

I have also added a 'fitting instructions' section as I think the instructions supplied by some companies are useless.

Topics covered.

Starting problems
Air leaks
Oil leaks
Brakes
Servicing
Cold starting problems
Electrical problems
Smoking
Rust proofing
Bumps and vibrations
Boost problems
Misfires
Dump valves
Cam followers
Overheating
Which petrol?
D.I.Y Two stage boost
Fitting a boost gauge
Chip identification
Rear disc conversion

Swirl pot – fitting instructions
Breather – fitting instructions
Charge cooler – fitting instructions
GRS intercooler – fitting instructions

STARTING PROBLEMS

Normally a car won’t start if the battery is discharged or some cells are damaged. But there are other reasons as well. What I will do is list all the reasons I know of, and how I fixed them. I am assuming that the car runs OK here e.g. fuelling and timing are OK and doesn’t have any other known problems on it.

Starter turns but car won’t start. The battery isn’t putting out enough power to kick the car over. Eventually when you turn the car over you will hear the ECU clicking madly, this means that the battery is virtually discharged and you will have NO chance of starting the car. The slower the starter spins reflects how worn it is, and how much power the battery is putting into it. I would get the battery checked and then replace it if need be. Another common fault is the fuel injection relay blowing. This relay is a pink colour and lives under the dashboard on the drivers side. It is in a bank of relays. They do fail, but they only cost £15 new from Fords. Best to buy new rather than get a second hand one.

Starter won’t turn when car is hot. A very common problem on RS turbos, and basically the turbo is cooking the starter motor. All the cars should have heat shields on them, but not many do now. If you find yourself stuck then the best thing to do is to put the car in gear and rock it forwards and back wards, that might unstick it. Failing that you have three other options;

a bump start
wait for the starter to cool down, which might take hours
try hitting the starter motor with a hammer or wheel brace to unstick it

Starter turns, car runs, battery light comes on and all lights dim very quickly. Again I found this one out the hard way. The terminals to the starter motor get corroded and covered in rubbish over time. They need this part of the loom to charge battery but if they are black they won’t charge the battery too well if at all. What I did was to jack the car up, take the keys out, take the heat shield off, and then clean up all the terminals with some sand paper. Then reassemble it all. Everything was back to normal but the battery needed time to recharge itself.

Car starts, but the battery light comes on then dims. This can be a few things. Normally it happens when the car hasn’t been moved for a while, or if the battery isn’t charging properly, or if the alternator is charging the battery up. The best thing to do is to check the battery, the alternator and the loom that joins the two.

Another reason a car will kick over but not start is lack of fuel. Take the airbox off, and get someone to turn the car over whilst you push down on the flap on the air flow meter. Again it might not be the metering head it could be the fuel dizzy that has packed it. Try removing and injector and starting the car, and see if any fuel comes out when it turning over.

Maybe the car won’t start, as the battery is flat. Have you thought it might not be the battery that is as fault? There might be a circuit somewhere in the car that is staying open, and that is what is draining your battery. The most common reasons are:

Head lights left on
Boot loading light not going off (time to put your mate in the boot and close it to see what’s going on)
Stereos and amplifiers taking to much power out of the battery
An open electrical circuit that should close when the car is off but hasn’t. Hard to find.

AIR LEAKS

There are a lot of places an air leak can develop on these cars, and most of it is down to old age and parts wearing out. The best thing to do is to replace the part with a stronger item if you can, if not then bodge it up. The following should be checked out, and when I mean checking, I don’t mean having a quick look whilst the part is still on the car. Take the part off, clean it up, and then have a good look at it. Sometimes you will find the leak straight away, sometimes you won't. Also check the parts are connected properly, and that the surfaces they are going onto are clean and that the jubilee clips are OK and are secured as tight as possible. Use a small ratchet and socket to get the clips very tight, as even after tightening a clip by using a screw drive, a socket will enable you to tighten them up better.

Boost hoses, all four of them. OK the one for the throttle housing very rarely fails, but the others do tend to fail. Simply they just age, crack and die. In the past I have gotten away with simply cutting the edges back and then refitting them. But once one fails you know they are all potentially on their way out, so its best to order a set once you get the warning sign.

The most common one I have found to fail has been the hose that runs from the turbo charger to the inter cooler. This hose always seems to split at the back so you can’t see it, I guess all the heat must take its toll over the years. Another thing to check for on these hoses is that they don’t collapse either. Personally I would replace all four hoses with silicone items. They are quite cheap now, less than £100, and they seem a lot stronger than the Ford items. Plus getting hold of Ford ones can be a pain to say the least.

Rocker cover gasket. These always seem to pack in after about a year on my car, I don’t know why but at £3 a go it doesn’t bother me. The best thing to do to get an airtight seal is to grease the gasket and then tighten up the bolts. If any grease runs into the engine, don’t worry as it will just burn, and won’t harm the engine at all.

Oil filler cap. Again, the seals go inside these and air will start to get into the engine, which will effect its idling slightly, or it might even cut out.

Breather system. The best thing to do with the breather system that the factory car has is to change the crank case filter. Remove all the hoses and clean them out thoroughly, you will find that there will be a bit of rubbish inside them. Again all the clips for them should be nice and tight, and they should seal up well.

Air box. If you remove the air box you will find a large rubber seal where the box connects onto the air flow meter. Sometimes these air missing, or they get worn over time. Make sure it goes back on before you put the air box back on. Then tighten the 2 bolts up nice and tight.

Inlet manifold. Well both parts of it really. There are 6 bolts at the back of the engine that hold the inlet manifold and spacer plate onto the cylinder head. You should check these to see if they are nice and tight. Normally I wouldn’t expect the manifold to be have worked loose, but never rule anything out.
If you think its leaking spray some WD40 over it and if the engine speed picks up then you have a leak, but it might not be on the manifold.

Injectors. The things to check here are the injector O rings and the metal brackets that seal them to the manifold. As I have said above, spray some WD40 over them and see what happens. Make sure the injector retaining bolts are nice and tight too.

Exhaust manifold. Sometimes the bolts work loose slightly, so give them all a good tightening up. The same for where the turbo joins as well.

Brake servo. Over time the servo will develop a leak, and you don’t want that to happen at all. Normally when the servo is on its last legs you can hear it hissing, but you want to stop it before it gets that bad. Also check the vacuum hose that runs from the servo to the inlet manifold is ok. If you have to remove it be very careful, as the end that goes into the servo itself tends to snap off. I found that out the hard way.

Auxiliary air device. There are two hoses that go to this, and they need to be air tight, hence they have little rubber grommets inside to ensure they go on very tight. One goes to the back of the inlet manifold, the other to the underneath of the throttle housing.

Throttle housing. I have never come across a throttle housing that leaks, but your might. There are four nuts that secure the housing to the manifold. Tighten these up and that should be OK.

OIL LEAKS

It happens to us all sooner or later. You come out in the morning and you see oil under the car. There can only be a few places it can come from though. Try checking the following parts for leaks.

Sump gasket
Oil return pipe, from the turbo to the block
Rocker cover gasket, there will be oil on the inlet manifold
Sump plug and washer
Gearbox oil seals, both of them
Crank oil seals, normally the drivers side leaks with age
Cylinder head camshaft oil seal, cam pulley side
Cylinder head dizzy oil seal
Cylinder head gasket, normally the front left leaks when its gone
Oil pressure switch, at the back of the block
Oil cooler seal, which joins the oil cooler to the block
Oil filter itself, loosens off at the back
Another reason for an oil leak might be when you have changed the oil and filter and the filter has spilled oil on the block, and then it has run off over time. You will think you have an oil leak when you actually don’t have one at all.

BRAKES

Normally the brakes on the car are OK when new, again over time things get worn out, and things start to play up. The front brakes are normally fine, although the discs do tend to get scored or have a lip in them after a while. Mine did after 10 years. So I changed them for a new set. No major problems with the front, but at the back…

Drums and shoes, why Ford fitted these to an RS I will never know. Over time the rear cylinders tend to leak fluid out of them, so they need replacing. If you are unsure then take the drum off and get a mate to stand on the brake pedal and see what happens when the cylinders open up. No fluid should get past the seal at all. If it does then it needs replacing. The brake shoes will obviously get worn over time, but at a lesser rate than the front pads. As the fronts do more work than the rears. Once replaced they shouldn’t need adjusting as they have automatic adjusters on them.

Well, if your car is anything like mine the auto adjusters will now be worn slightly, so you will have to adjust them yourself. Nothing major, but you will need a bit of patience, as you don’t want them to be permanently on. The hand brake cable will need adjusting as well, the fewer clicks the better, on my car it works on about 3 clicks now.

The front brakes are a doddle, even the PG tips monkeys could do them. The best way to change the pads is to open the bonnet and take the top off the brake fluid reservoir. Then when you take the caliper off and push the piston back in there won’t be as much force required to push it back in. If you need to change the discs due to warping or having a lip on them then buy a new grub screw from Fords as you will struggle removing the old one that secures the disc to the hub. If it won’t come out the simply drill it out, there is a spot on the hub provided so you can put another screw hole in if need be.

If you are having problems with your brakes you should check all the lines, as eventually the metal ones will rust away, and also check the rubber lines, as these are known to rot and then fluid leaks out. Not what you need at all.

Bleeding the brakes. This should be easy, but how many people know how to do it properly? Fords say you need a special tool, as the car has ABS. The tool is in fact the key in the ignition barrel and the ignition to be switched on. If you are going to bleed the brakes then try doing it this way, I think you’ll find it works rather well. Leave all 4 wheels on the road and work round the car in this order.

Rear right
Rear left
Front right
Front left

But when you are doing the rear brakes make sure the wheel is resting on something, say an old wheel or the spare wheel. The reason behind this method is that the car has rear load valves, which sense if there is extra weight in the car or not, and they adjust the brakes to suit. By placing the wheel on something, the car thinks it is under load, and allows the valves to open a bit more, making the bleeding easier. If you don’t do this then you will find your brakes will still bleed up, but they will be quite spongy. It’s amazing how many garages don’t know this, and they wonder why they have to keep re bleeding the brakes.

Something to bear in mind is don't let someone to stand on the brakes with the drum off without some way off stopping the cylinders opening too far, you could pop the pistons right out!

The brake fluid should also not be over looked either. It should be changed at least once a year, maybe more depending on how many miles you drive. The fluid in the reservoir should look clear, not a dirty brown like most fluid. Most people never change their brake fluid for some reason. After changing you pads and shoes, you should always top up your fluid to the maximum level in your reservoir. The fluid I use in my car is 5dot1 fluid. £10 per litre and it has a good boiling point.

If you are wondering why I haven’t mentioned the ABS on the car, it’s simple. I have only ever used three times in about 4 years, and both times it has done its job, but its not the best system around. My advice would be to remove it from the car entirely.

From a personal point of view, if I have ever had brake problems, I have always assumed that the pads or shoes are worn. These are the first things to check, and it costs nothing. After that you should check that the fluid is getting through OK. This means opening up the bleed nipples and pumping the brake pedal. What you want to see is fluid coming out, not air!

If you don’t feel up to messing with your brakes then simply drive your car slowly into a garage that offers a free brake check, and let their staff find the problem for you, free of charge. Then just drive away and get it sorted for a lot less money than what the garage wants to charge you.

SERVICING

A point that some people seem to skimp on for some reason. That’s down to them I suppose, I service my car religiously (too religiously if my girlfriend and parents were to speak to you)

The main thing to remember is that servicing an RST is fairly cheap. Labour to service a car isn’t though! The best way to do things, or rather the way I do things is to do it myself. Get your hands dirty! Also you really should join the RSOC that way you can get a discount on all genuine Ford parts.

Or buy a Haynes manual for £10 or whatever they cost and read the thing. A bit of time learning things will save you a fortune. I dread to think how much I would have paid out to garages over the years for all my servicing on my car.

The main thing to remember is to change the oil and filter regularly, and to keep an eye on the oil level. Check it once a week from cold and top it up if you have to. The same with brake fluid levels, anti freeze and tyre pressures. It might take you 10 minutes, but it might save your car from damage, and your wallet from big bills.

Since owning an RS I have only used a few oils in my engine, and they are;

Castrol RS 10/60
Mobil 1 way back in 1997 when it was thick enough
Castrol magnitec

I don’t work for an oil company, so you’ll get no bias from me as to which oil to use. I thought Mobil 1 was too thin, so I only used it the once and my engine sounded a bit rattly, where as with Castrol RS and Magnitec it sounded fine. I can’t recommend or comment on any other oils as I have never used any other ones in my RST.

I always change my oil when it needs changing, e.g. before 6,000 miles, sometimes even less. In a turbo charged car you need good oil, none of the cheap £3 mineral oil will do. Again, some people say to use oil flush, some don’t. I have recently started using it, and will continue to do so. Whether you decide to or not is entirely down to you.

When you change the oil change the oil filter as well, as the old filter will contain a fair bit of rubbish, you don’t want your fresh oil getting contaminated with rubbish straight away do you?

Air filter, these should be changed as often as possible. Or if you have an aftermarket one clean it out when you can and re oil it. I run a panel filter and it gets cleaned every other month. There is no excuse for not changing an air filter. They cost next to nothing and they are stopping rubbish from entering your engine. Some people I know haven’t changed their air filters in about 18 months, and they say they are OK. Originally they were white, now they black, I will let you work out if they should be changed or not.

Fuel filter, these should be changed every 6 months; you want good clean petrol getting into your engine, not petrol with all the rubbish from your tank. Sometimes if they haven’t been changed in a long time you will find your car will be down on power as they get blocked with sediment, and the fuel pump will be working harder to push the petrol through, albeit it in extreme cases.

Spark plugs, change these every time you service your car. They are cheap and don’t last on turbo charged cars (as you would expect and probably know). I would also change the dizzy cap and rotary arm once a year as well.

Anti freeze, I would say to change it once a year, but also flush your radiator out as well, just to make sure there is no sludge in there blocking it up. You will be surprised what comes out of your radiator when you flush it out.

Cam belt, these should be changed once a year, but according to Fords they only need changing at 36,000 miles. They cost about £14 each, and they stop your engine from self destruction. Change it once a year unless you have the money to buy a new engine once a year.

Gearbox oil, yet another item that is over looked. Change it once a year and make sure you use enough oil, 3.1 litres or you will loose fifth gear!

Alternator belt. This always gets my back up in winter! You always here cars that have their belts on way too tight and they make that squealing noise that drives me up the wall. Again I change mine once a year, before winter, as the less you have to do on your car the better in winter.

Cleaning out the fuel system. This is what I do on my car every now and again. Take all your boost hoses off, and take the air box off. Buy a can of carb cleaner and clean the air box out. Clean the hoses out, as even with a good breather you will get a tiny bit of boost left in the hoses (unless you re route it) and then clean the throttle housing out as well. Remove the auxiliary air device and clean that out. When its all back together the car will take a few more turns to start, but it will clear any rubbish out of the system.

Setting up, like I know how to do this as well (well not everything) The only thing I will say is to get the car set up as close to home with a decent company, not a dodgy back street garage. Afterwards the car will run and pull better. If you are unsure as to what they should be checking or setting up you should get the following checked (and more probably!)

timing
fuelling at idle
fuelling at 3,000 rpm and above when on boost, all the way to the limiter
throttle position switch
boost level
idle speed
spark plugs, right gapping and right heat range
fuel pressure

Any garage that knows its stuff should let you know if they find any problems on the car as well. In the past I have had little things wrong and they have been fixed for free. Sometimes the car can’t be tuned properly until a fault is fixed.

I am saying nothing about who to get to set up your car, or what the settings should be, I can’t be bothered with people starting a war over who is the best tuner. If in doubt ask on the board for some opinions.

COLD STARTING PROBLEMS

This seems to be a common problem on the RST for some reason. Firstly make sure your car is in good order, EG it’s just had a tune up. Even in the dead of winter my car starts and idles fist time, although it takes a tiny bit longer to turn over. There are a few things to check, and one of them involves checking for petrol, so don’t go checking with a fag in your mouth!

The first thing to check is the cold start valve. It is located in the middle of the inlet manifold and it has a red fuel line running to it. Remove it. And put something over the end of it. Say a small plastic box or an old coffee jar. Get someone to crank the engine over from cold, and it should pass petrol out (into your container). So we know that works. The next item to check is the auxiliary air device, which is located at the back of the inlet manifold, but to test it you can leave it on the car. Start the car up and when its idling you can crimp one of the hoses and if the revs drop, its faulty. If both items work then the thermo time switch might be faulty. These are expensive items, so make sure its not the other two items, or their loom that’s at fault before you order one. The thermo time switch is located at the back of the inlet manifold towards the bottom.

Another reason why the car might not start from cold and idle is that the fuelling ECU (black box next to battery) could be damaged.

I am not going into a full explanation of how the system works here, as it’s beyond the scope of what I am writing here, plus I don’t want to bore people to death either!

ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS

I guess this will be a short section then, as I only know basic electrics and electronics, I’m not an auto electrician by trade. Right let’s get on with it…

Assuming an item isn’t working, the first thing to check is the fuse in the fuse box. If you don’t know where the fuse box is then you’re in trouble. Check the fuse is OK and is the rate rating for the circuit. If it’s blown then change it, it should be OK. If it blows again you have a problem. Here is a list of all the fuses in the fuse box, what circuit it is for, and the correct amp rating according to Ford. What you shouldn’t do though, if a fuse keeps blowing is to replace it with a higher rated fuse, as this isn’t fixing the problem, it is only hiding it. Also, put some spare fuses in the lid of your fuse box too. There should be some there already but they might have been used.

Below is a list of fuses, their correct ratings, and what circuits they are for. Assume number one is the front left one in the fuse box, and number 20 is the last one on the right hand side at the back. E.g. four rows of five fuses.

1. Hazard lights & horn, 15 Amp
2. Cigarette lighter & interior lighting, 15 Amp
3. Heated rear screen & Electric mirrors, 30 Amp
4. Headlight washers, 30 Amps (never seen these fitted on a Series 2)
5. Central locking, 15 Amp
6. Fuel injection system, 10 Amp
7. Fuel pump, 20 Amp
8. Spot lights, 15 Amp
9. Left hand high beam, 10 Amp
10. Right hand high beam, 10 Amp
11. Heater, 20 Amp
12. Radiator cooling fan, 25 Amp
13. Flashers & reverse lights, 10 Amp
14. Left hand low beam, 10 Amp
15. Right hand low beam, 10 Amp
16. Wiper motor & screen wash pump, 20 Amp
17. Stop lights & instruments, 10 Amp
18. Electric windows, 30 Amp
19. Left hand side lamps, 10 Amp
20. Right hand side lamps, 10 Amp

If it isn’t the fuse that is faulty or blown it could well be the part itself. Try changing the part for another one and see if it works. If not then you will have to check the wiring to it. Normally the best thing to do is to clean the earth up for the circuit. Earth’s on Ford cars are brown. That might help things along, and it won’t do it any harm. The thing to remember is that some circuits have common earth points, so you might not find the earth straight away.

If after that I can’t sort it then it goes into the auto electricians. You could spend hours trying to find the problem and still not find out what is up, auto electricians work on cars day in, day out, so they will probably know what is up and will be able to find the fault quickly and fix it.

If your car is running a lot of extra electrical items, such as extra fans, large ICE system, and what not it might be worth buying a 90 amp alternator, available from Fords, or fit a voltmeter or an ammeter to monitor current drain.

SMOKING

Obviously not about tobacco this section. Right, when your car is warming up you will see condensation coming out of it, not a problem, all cars do this. After it has warmed up it should run fine and not smoke at all. If it does then read on…

Normally there are 3 colours of smoke the car will produce, blue, white and black. Black means the car is over fuelling, which means the mixture is too high. White means water is getting burned, and normally means that the head gasket is failing and is about to let go. Blue means that oil is getting burned, which can be put down to a few things. It will probably be a combination of the following.

Valve stem oil seals have worn, £8 for a set from Fords, and you don’t have to take the head off to change these, although most garages will tell you otherwise.

Turbo oil seal has gone, time to get the turbo changed

Pistons rings, oil control ring might be failing, or the bore might be worn.

Oil in the air box, maybe from the breather system. Give the air box and the breather system a good clear out with carb cleaner.

RUST PROOFING

Ideally you want everything cleaning and sealing with wax oil or hammerite paint to stop the rot before it starts. Prevention is better than cure. Here are the areas I would do.

Inner wings
Fuse box
Battery tray
Bulk head
Chassis arms
Floor inside car
Spare wheel well

Underside of car (after cleaning it all)

Chassis
Floor pan
Boot floor
Fuel tank

Also think about opening the sun roof and greasing the runners, and oiling the petrol cap with 3 in 1 oil once a month as the fumes from the petrol tank can cause the cap the seize. If you have the time, remove all the body kit as well and clean behind it and rust proof as well. Remember to take your time when rust proofing and to clean off all the dirt before hand. Once done it will be worth it.

BUMPS AND VIBRATIONS

These could be anything. If you can’t find out the problem try checking the following

Wheels balancing
Tracking
All suspension bushes, including the ones on the steering column.
Engine mounts
Wheel bearing
Wheel bolts are on tight
Wheel discs are not worn or warped
Brake calipers are not sticking on
Rear discs/shoes are not sticking on
Suspension springs haven’t snapped
Steering column bushes aren’t worn
Steering rack is OK
Track rod ends are OK

BOOST PROBLEMS

Right before I go into this, make sure you have the right ECU for the right car. Some tuning companies won’t touch the car if it has the wrong ECU on it, and some will. Best to check if you don’t want to be turned away.

Blue-Red-Blue = Series one cars (B, C, D)
Blue-Red-White = Early series two cars, with no knock sensor, mainly the first D plates
Blue-Red-Black = Series 2 cars with a knock sensor (E, F, G)
Hearts & Diamonds = 90 spec cars, with a knock sensor (G, H)

If you are wondering what the knock sensor is, it is a green plug that is on the right hand side of the inlet manifold.

Right to test the boost on the car, the first thing to check are the boost hoses and jubilee clips, this will cost you nothing. Moving on from there the next thing to check is the Amal valve. It is a small electric solenoid, and it is attached to the gearbox, if you look below the water thermostat housing you should see it sat there with three hoses running to it. When you switch the ignition on, it should click. If it doesn’t it might well be dead.

The easiest way to check the boost is by a boost gauge, and that’s why most people fit them to their cars. A standard RST should be boosting at 7 – 8 PSI. If not then there are a few reasons why it might not be.

First up the actuator. This might be worn, or it might be set up wrong. To adjust the boost you have alter the length of this rod. To increase the boost shorten the rod, to lower the boost lengthen the road, and don’t forget the clip for the end of it either.

Another reason the boost might be wrong are the hoses that run from the turbo to the Amal valve. Check they are OK and that they are secured tight. Another hose to check is the one that runs from the ECU itself to the inlet manifold. Don’t run a car without this hose!

Another reason why the car might not be holding the boost is that the turbo might be dead. It might have worn internally and so it can’t create any boost at all, or debris might have got inside and damaged something. But only assume it’s the turbo as a last resort, as it’s the most expensive part to replace.

MISFIRES

Not to be confused with hitting the rev limiter. Normally a misfire is down to a worn component, or a few worn components, and the first parts to check are the spark plugs. Check they are OK and not worn out, they should be a grey brown colour if all is OK, and that the gap on them is OK too. The next thing to check is the HT leads and the coil lead. In the past I have had lots of problems with number 4 lead breaking down on my car, it was always number 4 for some reason. Other items to check would be the timing, rotary arm, coil, dizzy cap and even the dizzy itself, as if the dizzy packs in the car will just fire when it feels like, which isn’t good for the engine to say the least. Another item that could be worn is the cam itself. This would cause one of the valves to not open properly.

Other items that might cause a misfire would be a wrong setting up, and over fuelling, although it won’t be a misfire as such, just unburned petrol popping as it hits a hot exhaust.

CAM FOLLOWERS

Normally the cam followers start to rattle on the CVH. This could be the followers themselves being worn, low oil pressure due to an oil leak, or worn oil pump, or the cam itself might be worn. The engine might even be low on oil. One way I have found to quieten then down is to remove all 8 of them and slowly squeeze them in a vice. Take note of which follower goes in which lobe, or just take them out one by one, and then slowly squeeze all the oil out of them using a vice. Move it slowly and you will see all the oil come out. Don’t squeeze them all the way otherwise they will pop and the top part that can be pushed in won’t come back up, and the lifter will be scrap. Once you have done all 8 put them back in and re assemble the rocker arms and nuts etc. Start the car up and it will sound rattly. After a while the followers should quieten down. If not then they are probably worn out, or the cam is, or maybe both.

DUMP VALVES

You either love them or loathe them! I used to run one on my car but I don’t anymore. Right then they are very easy to fit on an RST, and most of them don’t require any messing about, just add it, cut into a vacuum pipe and away you go.

Normally the dump valve is added into the large hose that runs from the top of the intercooler to the cross over pipe. You can either cut into the hose and use a metal T piece, or simply buy a Samco hose that has a hole already moulded in for the dump valve. When I had mine in, I just cut the hose and added the T piece. The dump valve then joins to the T piece by using another hose. Or if you want to be flash and save your hoses, you can get a dump valve welded to your cross over pipe, it’s entirely down to you.

Then it all depends on what dump valve you are using. For all modern ones you just add the small hose from the end of the dump valve and join it to the hose running from the right hand side of the inlet manifold, the one that runs to the ECU. That should be it! Make sure all your jubilee clips are done up nice and tight and then take it for a test drive. You will know by the sound if it is working or not.

For the older types of dump valve read on. Your car might have one on it, and it might have a bleed valve with it as well. Not a problem. The installation is the same apart from you need to adjust the bleed valve and adjust the cars idling. The bleed valve goes into the hose that runs into the air flow meter, and the bleed valve goes into that hose. They can be a bit of a pain to adjust properly, that is why all the modern dump valves don’t need a bleed valve.

OVERHEATING

This shouldn’t be a problem on the RST, but if you are having problems with the car then you should sort them ASAP, a turbo charged car should run as cool as possible. The first thing to check is the cylinder head temperature sensor and loom, located (surprise surprise) at the front right of the cylinder head. If you switch the car on and gauge rises straight into the red from cold, or the gauge doesn’t move when the car is warm then it might be this.

Other things to check are that the cooling system has enough anti freeze in it, this should be diluted with water so it’s a 50 – 50 mixture. Drain it once a year and flush the radiator out, to remove any rubbish or blocks in the radiator.

Also check the water thermostat in the cylinder head. Buy a new one and change it over. But test it in a pan of hot water first to make sure it opens up when the water is hot.

Another thing to check is that the header tank is OK and not cracked, and that the cap seals properly. In the past my header tank split and hot water leaked everywhere, not what you need when you are driving along. My car now has an alloy one on the car. Both header and tank are still available from Ford.

What I wouldn’t confuse overheating with is the car being hot after a hard run. You would expect the car to get warm after the run when you are running down or you get caught in traffic. To be honest my car never gets too hot when on a run, the needle normally sits by the O on NORM on the gauge. If you find your car is getting too hot then there is a problem somewhere. If you don’t like the idea of your car sitting in traffic and waiting for the fan to come on then do what I did. Connect the fan to a manual switch so you can control when the fan comes on and goes off, but the car can still switch it on in case you forget. Here’s how to do it.

Parts needed; 1 x toggle switch, 2 x lengths of cable, 1 x 1metre long, 1 x 20 cm long, the same gauge as the loom on the car, or thicker but NEVER thinner! 1 x junction block

Time to fit; Roughly 20 minutes depending on skill

Firstly connect your 2 wires to your switch, they might need soldering on depending on what type of switch you have bought. On my car I mounted the switch on the choke blanking plate on the car, and simply drilled through the front part and glued the switch to the front of it. The 2 wires pass neatly through the hole on the rear of it.

Connect the smaller wire to a live on the ignition barrel, I chose yellow so the fan won’t work without the keys in the car. Feed the second wire through the cars bulkhead down into the engine bay. If you look to the right hand side of the thermostat housing there is a blue connector with 2 wires on it. Cut the black/red wire in the middle and join the long wire you have fed through to one end of the wire you have cut. This part is tricky as there is very little room around this part of the car, and if it is still warm you might burn your hand on the thermostat housing, so take care.

Join both wires together by wrapping the ends together then put a small jab of solder onto them to make sure they stay joined together. Next put bother wires into one end of the junction block, and put the other end of the wire you have just cut into the other end of the junction block and tighten the screws up.

The fan should now be able to be switched on or off from your dash mounted switch, as long as the keys are in the barrel and the ignition is on (and probably with your immobiliser/alarm unarmed).

Next up start the car up and switch the fan off. Let the car warm up as normal and let it warm up of it’s own accord. Eventually the fan should come on as normal. Why Ford never built this option as standard on the car I will never know.

WHICH PETROL?

The RST was designed to run on 4 star leaded petrol, but now its no longer available at most garages. Some companies do still sell it, but not by me, and I have been told its on sale for about £1 a litre. The first thing you should realise is that normal unleaded petrol is no good for turbo changed cars. It is has a RON rating of 95, which is too low for our cars to use. If you use it you might find the car will pink and damage your engine. So what about 4 star unleaded I here you ask? Well I have been told that the additives in the petrol can damages the blades in the turbo. I have never used it so I can’t comment on it.

The only two types of petrol I would say to use would be Super unleaded or Shell Optimax. These have a high enough RON rating for the engine.

Also you can run your car on these without having to worry about changing the cylinder head or getting an unleaded head conversion. Most car magazines and the press would have you believe that you need the cylinder head valve seats changing over to run on Super unleaded or Optimax. This is a load of rubbish!

All RST cars have toughened valve seats as standard so they will be OK to run fuel without lead in. You just need to run fuel of the right RON rating. Save your money and don’t believe the rubbish printed in car magazines is my advice. If the head ever needs re furbishing then by all means get the work done, but don’t remove the head just to get the work done. Spend your money on other things.

D.I.Y 2 STAGE BOOST

Why pay £40 for a 2 stage boost kit when you can make it yourself for under £5? All you need to do for the 2 stage boost is it interrupt the signal from the Amal valve to the ECU, and then the boost will get lowered. Here’s what’s needed and how to do it.

1 x switch, length of insulated wire, 2 x junction blocks

Cut into one of the wires that runs to the Amal valve, you decide which one and where to cut into it, it doesn’t matter.

Add the new wire to the cut you have made and join it by using the junction blocks or soldering it if you like.

Feed the wires through the bulkhead of the car.

Add the wires to your switch and position the switch where you want it in the car.

When the circuit is broken by flicking the switch, you should find that the boost level will drop. When the circuit is joined the boost should go back to its normal level. Best to check it out by using a boost gauge so you know what boost level you are running on low and high boost. Ideal for motorway cruising, or if you are driving in the wet. The money saved should be enough for a tank of petrol.

FITTING A BOOST GAUGE

Ok you’ve got your boost gauge but where does it connect to? Simple! The boost level is displayed by the gauge by tapping into the right hand hose that comes off the top of the inlet manifold. This is the same hose that runs to the ECU and that the dump valve connects to.

It’s down to you were to mount the gauge in the car. Sometimes people put it in the coin holder if they don’t have a fuel computer. Or you can get pods form NOMAD that mount on the A post, or pods that replace the centre heater vents. The choice is yours.

CHIP IDENTIFICATION

The main chip for the RST lives in the silver ECU, behind the black heater box. It should have one of the four following symbols on a sticker on the front of it.

Blue-Red-Blue
Blue-Red-White
Blue-Red-Black
Hearts & Diamonds

To see if the ECU has been chipped you will normally have to remove the ECU and open it up, but some tuning companies put a sticker on the back of the ECU to make it easy to identify. If you suspect the ECU to be chipped and you have a receipt for the ECU why not phone the company up and see what they have to say. Anyway to make sure 100% you should open it up and see what’s inside it.

Remove the black shrouding for the heater motor. Behind it is the ECU itself. Remove the fixing screws and remove the hose that runs to the inlet manifold.

You should now have the ECU on it’s own. To open it up remove the screws on the back using a stubby Philips screw driver. Once open you will see the circuit board. Remove some more screws so you have got the board out of the ECU casing completely.

You should see metal shield covering one of the large chips. Remove this using a flat headed screwdriver. If the ECU has got a sticker on it, the sticker should say who programmed the chip, when and what stage it is. If not and it is just a Motorola chip the chances are it will still be the standard Ford chip.

Another way of seeing if the ECU is chipped is to try and turn the boost up. I know for a fact the hearts and diamonds ECU can run 10 PSI of boost, so try and turn the boost up to 15 PSI and see if the car will hold the boost or not. If it does then the ECU is chipped, if it doesn’t and the car shuts down when going over 10 PSI then the ECU isn’t chipped. To adjust the boost you should shorten the actuator rod, or adjust the bleed valve.

Just don’t turn the boost up and run the car with higher boost, you need to adjust the fuelling to match the boost being run!

REAR DISC CONVERSION – By Steven_RW

Parts required

2 x 2WD Cosworth rear callipers
2 x 2WD Cosworth rear discs
2WD Cosworth rear pads
RS2000 MK5 handbrake cable (disc model K 1992)
Brackets
TAS Bias valve

All parts are available from Mike Rainbird at a damn good price. Mail him at mike@rjpipe.demon.co.uk

The first thing to consider is reconditioning the callipers unless you know that they are in good working order. Local motor factors supplied a kit for £12.50 per side, Fords wanted £50 but that kit contained more parts.

To fit the brackets you must first the present drum / backing plate. As you will be using a different handbrake cable you can just cut the old one off. When you are just left with the backing of the spindle you have to drill out the front two holes so they don’t have a thread so that you can attach the bracket. Take note that when you thread the bracket bolts in make sure you don’t cross thread them.

If fitting new hoses attach the hose to the pipe work on the car first and then to the caliper when the caliper is still free from its bracket. This will allow you to rotate the caliper so that the hose end can be wound in tight to both the caliper and the brake pipe on the car.

Fit the disc on and use a wheel bolt to hold the disc on. Put the caliper on, add the new pads and then attach the piston part of the caliper to the floating part. At this point you can fit the handbrake cable.

After putting the cable on, cable tie it to the rear tie bars at each side to ensure it doesn’t float free.

When fitting the wheel you will notice that there is very little lip for the wheel to rest on. I just lowered the car on the jack until the wheel lined up perfectly with the hole and saved all the effort of lifting the wheel for ages.

Now the hard bit! When it comes to adjusting the rear bias you are best to seek professional help otherwise if there is way too much bias going to the rear, the car could step its back end out when you hit the brakes, similar to pulling a handbrake turn.

So how to set the bias valve up correctly and safely? The best and easiest way to set it all up is to run new brake pipes. The master cylinder on an RST has only two outs. Take the front out which has a larger connector and run it to the T-piece which was in the standard braking system. Take two outs from the T-piece directly to the front calipers. Then take the other out from the master cylinder run it to the bias valve which I located passenger side of the handbrake for easy in-car adjustment.

This requires drilling a couple of holes for the brake pipes to enter the cabin and exit it after the bias valve. The out of the bias valve should lead to the other T-piece which was on the drivers side of the inner wing and now will be relocated under the rear floor and run the two outs of the T-piece to either rear caliper.

The rear compensator valves would be left out of the equation completely, as they are now useless and can be thrown/given away.

Follow the instructions given with the bias valve it says basically set the bias valve which has 9 turns to exactly half way to start with. Then drive gingerly to ensure you don’t go spinning out! If you are in any way worried just wind the bias valve to full front brakes to start with and work on it from there.

SWIRL POT – FITTING INSTRUCTIONS

OK you might laugh at me for writing this, but I remember what I got my swirl pot, and I got no instructions with it, so rather than let other people suffer I thought I would describe where it goes, and the best way to fit it.

Firstly always do this when the car has sat overnight, as you will loose coolant, and you don’t want to get burned by the water do you?

If you open the bonnet you will see a hose on the right hand side of the radiator that goes to the thermostat housing, and it also branches off to supply a water feed to the turbo itself. This is the hose you need to cut into. I found the best thing to do was to remove the hose and cut it off the car. You will also need 2 x jubilee clips, which weren’t supplied with the swirl pot either. Once you have cut the hose and added the swirl pot make sure the clips are very tight, as my car has silicone hoses on and they needed to be done up very tight otherwise they would leak, for some reason they don’t like being mated up to aluminium.

Anyway once the swirl pot is on the car you should re direct the hose that runs from the header tank to the thermostat housing, so it now runs from the header tank to the top of the swirl pot. If you are using the standard hose that was on the car it will fit, but you will have to redirect it and it is a bit of stretch, but it does fit. You should block up the top of the thermostat housing with a very small hose with a bung in the end.

Alternatively, if you have a TAS header tank you can run 2 hoses from it, one to the water thermostat housing, the other to the swirl pot, so you don’t need to blank the water thermostat housing off.

Now you should check the coolant level in the header tank to see if it has dropped, which it will do. Top it up and start the car up to check if there are any leaks. When you have run the car properly check the coolant again and top up if need be.

BREATHER SYSTEM – FITTING INSTRUCTIONS

Again, another good system, with rubbish instructions. Maybe it’s just me but I expect better instructions when I buy things. This should make fitting a Bailey breather system a bit easier. On with the show!

Firstly you should remove you old Ford breather system, as you won’t be using it anymore, except for one hose that goes back to the block itself and a bit of hose for one small breather pipe. This might be old and worn, so check it before fitting the new breather, and replace with new hose if need be.

What you should find on the Bailey item is that you need 4 hoses to fit it correctly. They are as follows.

Left hand of rocker cover to breather
Right hand of rocker cover to breather
Bottom, back, of breather to block (oil return)
Bottom, front, of breather to air box (oil vapour)

The actual breather unit itself is connected to the cylinder head, you remove the blanking plate at the rear right hand side and fit it there. You should also use 2 x spring washers as well, to take up any vibrations from the engine, as I found that after a while the nuts worked themselves loose. Again, not supplied in the kit from Bailey.

Here is how I fitted mine.

I cut the short hose for the right hand rocker cover and added that to the rocker cover, then I connected the breather to that hose, then lined it up and joined the breather to the back of the block and then tightened the nuts up. I then added the hose from the left hand side of the rocker cover to the breather. So far so good.

The next bit is a bit tricky, so what I did was to work underneath the car, makes it much easier. You have the hose that is at the bottom front of the breather, and this joins to a hose going to the air box via a metal pipe. It can be a bit of a pain with all the boost hoses and what not in the way, so jack the car up and work from underneath the car. A point worth bearing in mind is to use jubilee clips to join the air box hose to the metal pipe as well.

The final hose is the bottom rear one, and this really annoyed me. I removed my Ford hose as it was cracked, and it was a pain to get the hose back on and to tighten the jubilee clip up. I guess small hands are needed.

When all the hoses are on you should tighten up all the clips as tight as possible and check they all connect to the spouts as far as possible.

Then you should start the car up and adjust the idling if need be.

One thing worth bearing in mind is that the breather now vents oil vapour into the air box, which according to Bailey’s own advertising is a daft idea. You don’t want oil being mixed with air before it goes into the engine!

So what you can do is to block the hose off that runs from the air box, and re route the hose from the breather to an oil catch tank. The oil tank must then be vented to atmosphere.

This idea was suggested to me by Karl Norris from Norris Motorsport, so the full credit must go to Karl for sorting this out and for answering my questions on the matter. Very helpful and knowledgeable guy!

All you then have to do is to empty the oil catch tank every now and again and the problem is cured. It’s just a pity Bailey didn’t implement this idea from the start.

CHARGE COOLER – FITTING INSTRUCTIONS

Instead of using the rubbish Pace supply you with, or if you have bought one second hand, here is one way to fit it all. I am assuming you have all the kit and that nothing is missing here.

The first thing to mount, and by far the easiest too is the header tank. This fits onto the black heater box cover, at the right hand side. Make sure you grease the inside of the cap up as over time they tend to seize.

Time for the front bumper to come off!

Next up is the pre radiator, and this can go in a number of places, but I mounted mine behind the front bumper below the fan as per Paces recommendations. Some people mount them in the front bumper itself or cut the bumper to get extra air flow to the pre radiator. It’s all down to personal choice.

Next up is the charge cooler unit itself. This sits where the factory inter cooler lives, so you have to remove the factory inter cooler first, which is a pain as the bolts that join the radiator to the inter cooler always rot away. Once in place use new bolts to join the two parts together and grease the top of them up to stop rust.

Finally the water pump itself needs to be mounted. According to Pace it you should remove you air liner on the driver side and push your air flow meter back and other vague suggestions. I mounted my pump behind my battery on the bulkhead, as my arch liner is staying where it belongs, plus it will be easier to remove the pump if it’s behind the battery.

You should then add all the hoses to connect the four items up. They connect as follows.

Right side of pre radiator to lower left on charge cooler unit
Right side of charge cooler to top of header tank
Bottom of header tank to in on water pump
Out of water pump to left of pre radiator

You should then wire up the two stage pump controller to the ignition barrel. The way I connected mine up was so that I could run the pump without the engine being on, but I still needed the ignition on, so there would be no chance of the pump staying on whilst the car was stood still without my knowing about it.

Once it’s all wired in I filled the system up with anti freeze, right to top. Then switched the pump on. I then kept on adding anti freeze until I had used about 2 litres of the stuff. I then added water until all the air was removed. This will take sometime as you will be surprised as to how much fluid this system holds. You should then start the car up and watch the fluid in the header tank until the water level is OK.

One trick I have learned from this system is that if you get an air lock, and the header tank sounds like it is bubbling away, is to connect a hose pipe with a gun on the end of it and to blast water through the system. This will remove all the air locks!

GRS INTERCOOLER – FITTING INSTRUCTIONS By DaveRST

The first items to remove are the 2 headlights from the car (this makes it easier to reach the nuts for bumper removal) and be careful not to scratch the bumper. Once off, remove the four 13mm nuts with a deep socket (2 nuts each side of the front cross member). On each side of the bumper, remove the holding screws. Now carefully lift the sides of the bumper out and pull from front of the car.

Remove the original cooling fan and use it as a Frisbee in to the nearest skip. Drain the cooling system and now undo the two big 13mm bolts that hold the radiator in (left side) and the intercooler in (right side) I had a charge cooler in, and had already removed it, so this made things easier. Separate the intercooler /rad by removing the two 10mm bolts and slide both items out.

(For all pace radiator owners, I cut off the extra metal flaps at the bottom of the radiator with a dremmel as they would get in the way on re-assembly)

The GRS intercooler should come with 2 brackets. These attach to the radiator so it can be mounted securely where the original intercooler used to support it. (top bracket with spout facing up to fit on recess in front panel, bottom bracket with O hole to mount to panel on lower side)

Now offer up the Kenlowe 10” slim line fan to the left side of the radiator, insert the plastic ties through the fan mounts and through the radiator (I grimaced at this, but all should be fine) and connect the securing tabs on other side. Make sure the cables are as low down as possible for ease of wiring.

Time to refit the radiator. Get the radiator in position and secure the right side first. The reason for this is that the left side needs to be pushed back a tad so the GRS cooler doesn’t hit the fan centre bolt. Offer up the GRS cooler. There is a small piece of metal at the top of the cross member that needs to be bent. I found that if bent further down and back, it could act as a safeguard for the GRS cooler to avoid hitting the fan centre bolt.

Keep pushing the left side of the radiator towards the engine bay until the GRS cooler is in position without fouling either side. Adjust the metal tab as above safeguard. Tighten the RIGHT side of the radiator mount fully.

You will find that the left side will have to be left unfastened; this is no problem as the radiator is now held securely by the two top spouts and the right side bolt.

Check that the bonnet closes, I still have difficulty closing without a big effort, so when I have more time, ill investigate in to that.

Enjoy

[Darrone]

Bloody hell Gaz!!

Thanks for the essay!

A few things have helped me out there.

Cheers
Darrone

[vroooooom ptssssssssh]

Good man that lot will come in handy WHEN i get an S2 :p
Dave

<img border="0" alt="[clap]" title="" src="graemlins/claps.gif" />
Thats an excellent post
and just how the FAQ section should be.
nice one m8 <img border="0" alt="[RS Grin]" title="" src="graemlins/rsgrin.gif" /> <img border="0" alt="[beer]" title="" src="graemlins/beer.gif" />

[Matt]

a very worth while post gaz mate

[Simbo]

<img border="0" alt="[clap]" title="" src="graemlins/claps.gif" />
Well done Gaz,very good mate,some good stuff in there

SIMBO

Nice one Gaz! That'll come in well handy!

CheeRS!

Wes.

Well done Gaz <img border="0" alt="[clap]" title="" src="graemlins/claps.gif" />

from the way things r going i think the smoking section is going to come in handy, cheers <img border="0" alt="[clap]" title="" src="graemlins/claps.gif" />

[BigP]

ABS Removal on an RST.

The braking system on a S2 is very complicated and combined with the ABS makes it pretty useless when it its not working correctly. Some swear by it and others hate it saying it either doesn’t look the wheels at all or it works when you don’t want it. So inevitably when it stops working properly it is better to remove the system completely from the car.

Now this can be done cheaply without any new parts or it you can go the whole hog and replace the entire braking system as detailed in Steven Ross-Watts description of fitting rear discs and setting up a bias valve. This is the ultimate solution to better brakes

As was mentioned above the braking system is complicated because of the way in which the lines are split. I.e. the front left disc and rear right drum share the same line!!!!, and vice-versa for the other side. This is further complicated, by the lines passing through the ABS system, just have a look at the Haynes manual for a schematic of the system and you will see how complex this is.

The ABS system is not electronic like modern systems but completely mechanical and works through a system of valves whose operation is dictated through drive belts attached to the drive shafts. This means that its not just a case of removing the belts as some people do otherwise the ABS will try and work every time you brake!!!!!!!!!!!!. The only electrical part of the system is the reed switches that run against the belts to tell you when they are slack. This is why sometimes you will get the ABS light flickering on the dash, because either the switch is faulty or loose, or the belts are slack and need adjusting.

You can adjust the belts by loosening the bolt on the ABS Unit (modulator is the correct name) and rotating it round to tighten, similar to how you tighten the Alternator.

Removal:

Right, you have decided to remove the ABS - Good choice. I had a garage do mine when I had my gearbox replaced so I didn’t do the job myself, but this is how it is done.

Originally the brake lines ran from the master cylinder to the modulators and then to the brakes. What you need to do is basically by-pass the modulators. I was going to detail the order in which to re-connect the 4 lines which are attached to the plate but when I looked underneath the plate had been removed when the job was done by the garage.

So, either with a new XR3i master cylinder or the original with the top two returns blocked, the brake lines run as follows - well this is how they are on my car ;-).

The brake line closest to the servo runs down to a t-piece on the drivers side of the inner wing. Here it splits and goes to the front driver side and to the rear passenger side(same as before). The other brake line runs to a t-piece on the passenger inner wing and again splits to the passenger side front and the driver side rear.

If you have a copy of the haynes manual to hand, then turn to the schematic on page 9-15. At the bottom of the diagram there are the four lines that come in and out of each moduator( 2 each ). If you label each of the lines from right to left 1,2,3,4, then you need to connect directly line 2 to 1, and directly line 4 to 3. If you do this, then you should have the same layout as I do.

Once everything is all connected back up, bleed the brakes and disconnect the belts. If you can you can also remove the modulators. They weigh a ton and are now useless anyway.

Drive around and enjoy the new sharper pedal feel.

Paul Eggleton

[ManicRacers]

[Roosie]

cheers mate some of my answers were in there

[Cerby]

Nice posts guys, printed out some of that for reference later.

Excellent set of FAQ, but I'm curious about your ABS comment. The only way that the ABS is connected with the ignition is through the warning light, which is simply a belt break switch. Turning the ignition on serves no purpose when bleeding the brakes.
You do of course need to bleed the abs units sometimes, if you have had any of the pipes off the master cylinder, but that only needs an allen key. There are no other special tools required to bled it.
Cheers,
Raoul.

[GazP]

Not been on the BB in ages, got made redundant so not much net access for me. But I have been busy re writing some of the FAQ, and adding a load of pictures as well, its currently 20 MEG in size so it needs to go on a CD really. Once I am employed again I will be offering it for sale as cost price, EG price of blank CD and postage, no profit for me in it.

As for the ABS bleeding, well its a pain unless you know the right way to do it. I was always told to leave the ignition on and its worked fine for me. Each to their own I guess.

starting problems: done plugs, battery, etc.

can someone tell me the standard timing for a S2 ERST?

[e]

While on the subject of brakes i have fitted a new master cylinder to my S1 .After bleeding the brakes their ok until i start the engine and the pedal drops right down and just about work with my foot to the floor.... Whats going on is the servo or the pressure regulator gone...any ideas ...anybody

[Nicky Z]

Found this post really helpful, thanks v much, shall print it off.



Thanks for taking the time and trouble to write it, really makes sense now, well done

[teddy]

hi can anyone tell me what gap should the spark plugs should be on a escort rs turbo s2 thanks

[teddy]

spark plug gap on s2