Fiesta ST, replacing bent valves, DIY always.

[RAAM]

Pulling the head today off very low mileage engine to inspect everything before ordering parts, so far only know parts I must buy are head gasket and bolts, will see how it goes, 90 percent done, cams are next then head bolts.

Once I know what I need to do I will order parts, lap and replace bent valves, then put it all back together.

I used to have an EFR turbo, 400HP, 165'lbs ligther than stock, turbo lag was making it really fun but really hard to be safe and huge grip and it want to run right off the road. Downsized to a GT2650, now around 350 HP but much easier to drive and ultimately faster except in just a straight line but I always loved curves more than straights.

Just took lunch break, going back at it in a moment until to hot to work on it.

Rick

 

[RAAM]

Head is off, valves are out, sure a ton of parts and very complicated to put it back to gether when I am done.

Lapping all the valves, new seals, new head gasket of course and one time use head bolts, sealers, etc.....I have to install the head, bolt it down, install cams, measure valve lash valve lash, take cams out and replace and lash buckets that are out of spec, install cams, measure again, good to go then take the cams out, install new head bolts, install cams.

All during this I have to have the cams and crank perfectly aligned and the crank turned 270 degrees while bolting down the cam caps. I have the tools on hand but very tedious and exacting work. By the manual I have to pull the passenger side axle and mount to get to the crank locking bolt location, why in the heck did they not put it in an easier place to get to.

Working in a none insulated space, 96 F today, only so many hours before just to hot but I will get it done, cleaned up, tuned and ready to sell to somebody that will get a great deal on a $50k(ten years ago) project with barely any hard use and 22k miles.

Rick

 

[RAAM]

Dang, a lot of work to get the valves taken care of and installed new guide/seals while at it. I used the water/compressed air method which involves sealing the spark plug and DI holes in the combustion chambers, flipping the head upside down and filling to over the top of the valves with water. Made a seal, used compressed air to blow through and look for air bubbles around the valves, had 5 leaking when I started.

Relapped all the valves, tested again, down to two left to fix, one more lapping pass and then used a heavy ball been hammer to tap the valves to help seat them fully, it worked, all pass now!!

Meticuloustly clean and prep head and block surfaces, tops of pistons, etc.....

Installed head with new gasket and stretch head bolts, two torque passes in sequence, two 90 degree added turns using a degree wheel, in sequence as well. Cams installed, two sizes bolt, two sequences for each side so four in a row total.

Next up is checking valve lash then expect to have to pull the cams and swap out any needed tappets for the correct thickness, just got to hot to continue, back at in the AM.

 

[confusis]

Fantastic work! What caused the bent valves in the first place? I've got plans to rebuild a Toyota 1ZZ engine with my son and nephew, and your description of your process gives me inspiration to try and get that started as soon as I can find a good base engine!

 

[RAAM]

I will try to keep this short......

1) Suspected bent valves caused by me not noting in the rather disconnected service manual not realizing the crank pulley is not keyed. I was replacing the engine due to a known faulty cylinder head design to a new model engine, had to swap crank pulley and removed flex plate and swap over the flywheel. Working on both ends at once I turned the flywheel when bolting on the manual gear box then found the crank had turned but not the cams. I bought the supposedly correct alignment tools and put the crank and cams back in the right positions, at least I was sure of it.

2) Compression check showed two low cylinder pressures, about half of normal values. I was pissed at myself and Ford for cheeping out on keying the crank/pulley and left it sitting for 3 more years(I was already pissed at Ford for it not having a real temp sensor causing a blown head gasket, warped head, etc at 20,000 miles and temps showed normal, I left it parked for 2 years)

3) After watching many videos and reading everything I could find I pulled the head expecting to find marks on pistons, bend valves, etc, not a mark or obvious bent valve. Lapped the valves, had 5 leaking, tapped with wood block and hammer, 4 leaking, two very little, two quite a bit more. Lapped again, tapped again, 2 worst ones still leaked, skipped the wood block and tapped around circumference and lastly center of valves directly with round end of big ball peen hammer, pretty decent taps but not hard, no more leaks, whew!!!!

4) Not absolutely sure the valves were bent, if so barely were as the engine was turned by hand. Either two were barely bent, cylinders 1 and two had one each, and the hammer tapping straightened them out which I had read can be done, or somehow I had the cam timing off when I aligned the crank and cams

5) During all this I was very careful of damaging anything by accident, kept everything as clean as possible, used good lapping compound, cleaned completely after each pass, very carefully cleaned top of block, bottom of head, checked all passages, cleaned top of pistons and also cleaned off the normal direct injection dirty intake valves.

6) Every tapped, valve, spring, retainer, cam and caps are back in the same exact location and orientation and tightened to exacting specs, new gaskets, sealant, etc....

7) Today I will check clearances and if pass then do a compression check and keep my fingers crossed! HIghly likely I have to replace some tappets. If only a few I will order them, if more I might pull the old(20k) engine apart and see if any the correct thickness and if only in excellent condition use them...

 

[RAAM]

This is still fun to me but just getting harder as I get a few more years under my belt and having health issues I am dealing with, and fixing on my own, I only use the parts of "modern" medicine that are of benefit and use ancient and modern real medicine to fix most things.

1ZZ, I bought the 2rd Toyota Matrix sold in the US first day they were sold, second day in a turbo shop, a week later replaced engine due to shop owner tuning on a dyno after his tuner quite, blew the engine....found some real half assed work done on the turbo setup so pulled it apart, rebuilt the whole thing, kept it moderate at 250 WHP, LSD, coilovers, front BBK, etc, it made a shockingly fast autocross car beating 400-500 HP AWD Audi etc...only one faster car in SM class in SoCal, 95 M3 driven by 8 time national champ.

Rebuilding one of these engines will be a challenge to get it all ligned up properly, really should get a tools set for it but great fun for your son and nephew and yourself, great bonding as well !!!

Rick

 

[RAAM]

YABBA DABBA DOO! valve clearances were perfect so no more parts to order or see if I can resuse them from the other engine which is a fair amount of work to tear down. Also do not have to take the cams out of this one to replace any of the tappets.

I have the cams locked into place, crank at TDC, and could install the variable cam timing units then timing belt and tensioner but.....I started to take the left passenger side suspension apart, again, and pull the axle but it was just getting to hot and my pulse rate went up a bit to high, it is hard work in a not very large space to get to everything....I decided to defer until early tomorrow morning, take my time and do this right.

Once done I can do the compression check, should be fine, then button everything up, quite a task with this highly modded vehicle, and fire it up

Still likely to just sell it when done, somebody will get a super deal on a very well sorted, fast, well built car with only 21k miles on it. I just want to get something simpler to drive like the great 2015 Mazda3 5door, 2.5 NA, 6spd manual trans. I would just get some flow formed lower weight wheels, good tires, maybe lower it 30mm or so or leave at stock height due to winter snows...I do not even need AWD since retired I can just stay home or take out our AWD 4Runner.

Getting close, long time sitting around collecting dust, I really hope to find a worthy home for this car I have at least $50k into and 1,000 plus hours.

It has a big intercooler, oil cooler, custom radiator, real ram air, everything ducted as much as I could reasonably do. Also brake ducts, front and rear big brakes, all suspension bushings, custom coilovers, shiftingis short and precise, limited slip, engine and trans mounts, very clearn flowing 3" intake and exhaust, Recaro seats, sun roof(needed to keep our doggies cool, NAV, Cobb tuning unit, pedals, super high grade fluids, extra track and street pads, two sets
of super light wheels with barely used tires.....CF vented hood. Only Fiesta to ever have 9" wide wheels under just rolled stock fenders and not skinny silly fan boy tires on them either, real tires sized right for performance not goofy unsafe looks. Lowered just right for best handling and ride, real geometry a must in all my builds, even cut and changed the rear axle for proper camber and toe which was a pretty serious task in itself.

It is not loud but sounds great, not built to look at, built to blend in fairly well and be FAST in all aspects and it is

I keep listing all this I might end up getting excited to keep it.

Rick

 

[RAAM]

Just did the compression check, looks great, going to install everything left tomorrow and should start right up.
I loaded the last tuning log into the latest version of Virtual Dyno, which is decently accurate, shows it made 443 WHP and 373 ft lbs of torque, not bad for a 2,600lb car

I am going to get a retune (etune) without the methanol water injection as I might keep the car now and want less to deal with, it will be more than fast enough without it.

Rick

 

[RAAM]

I forgot to mention it cannot be making that much power, having a really weird issue with V dyno, even the newest version. It shows my EFR turbo as around 435 HP and 390 ft lbs which I recall was about right, that was at 5,200 ft elevation. It spooled so hard it was tough to drive fast in the twisties so I went down to a GT2560R with custom wheel and it should be showing around 330-350 WHP, not over 400. Still a very quick car as has fully built suspension, brakes, cooling, etc....

 

[RAAM]

BACK FROM THE DEAD!!!!

UPDATE: I drove it today, first time in years, only one small water leak, fittins on aluminum overflow take sight window tube, might have to order fittings but can plug it for now, not an absolute must have item anyway.

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It runs, just need to go over every nut and bolt on the whole highly modded car, ensure no leaks, none showing up yet, steam clean the engine bay, etc....

Waiting for the mail to deliver fresh Castrol SRF brake fluid, the absolute best, $$$, Motul Gear 300 and then it will have all fresh fluids.

I pumped out the old gas, added new, pumped enough to flush the system, started first try.

Once all that is done it might need a new pull to check the custom tune but same exact engine specs so it might be just fine. It is tuned for 91 Octane and water methanol injection but I might get a regular 91 octane tune if I decide to keep the car, still plenty of power and less hassle to deal with.

Rick