Ford Duratec Installation and Tuning
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on November 18 2024This page is dedicated to the Ford Duratec DHE420 engine and my attempt to install it in the Mk1 Ford Fiesta.
March 2011
I swapped the gearboxes over, and fitted the engine with the Quaife sequential box for the first time.
April 2011
This month I bought a Titan superlight flywheel, and an AP Racing 215mm Clutch and Cover. The Titan flywheel weighs in at just 3.7KG. I also fabricated a new lower rear engine steady bar, that connects the gearbox to the chassis using a modified Fiesta Mk6 gearbox steady bracket.
May 2011
I bought a set of ARP Duratec rod bolts from Burton Power, and an AP Racing paddle clutch, CP5354-15, which Burton confirmed would work with the CP5905-500 cover.To take the sump off, 17 bolts need removing, then the sump needs prising gently off the block. Using a screw driver at the flywheel (cyl 4) end of the engine, there's a gap between the sump and block, and gently pushing the tapered end of the screwdriver between the two is enough to prise the sump off. Out the factory, black RTV sealant is used to seal the join between the sump and block, and this would need cleaning off and re-applying before reassembly. Changing the rod bolts is simple enough to do. The new bolts need to have a special ARP assembly grease applied to the threads before re-assembly, and then each bolt is torqued to 45ft-lbs. Once all the bolts had been changed, it took me a further hour to carefully clean off the old black RTV from the block and sump mating surfaces. I didn't want any oil leaks and it was worth spending the time to get the surfaces clean.
The sump is baffled on the Fiesta ST, and it looks like it'll be more than adequate for race use. And the oil pickup pipe is made from plastic, and appears to have a filter built in, to prevent any debris reaching the oil pump. Next I washed the sump out with petrol to remove any RTV that had dropped in, and cleaned both surfaces using solvent cleaner. I then used Blue Hylomar on the sump for the replacement sealant, and carefully joined the sump back to the Duratec block, and re-fitted the 17 sump bolts. You dont even have to take off the timing chain cover to remove the sump, but this means that extra care is required when fitting the sump back, so as not to disturb the hylomar (or RTV) sealant.
Next job was to stand the engine back up again, and fit the new clutch. I'm a bit concerned about the depth of the AP5905-500 cover. When I fitted the gearbox back on, it compresses the clutch release bearing, meaning that the bearing is permanently pressing against the clutch cover. I'll run some checks before I re-connect everything back to the engine, to make sure that the clutch depresses the cover adequately to allow the clutch plate to disengage. I'll have to live with the bearing pressing against the cover, I just hope it doesn't generate any heat and damage the plastic clutch slave housing. Anyway, I mated the box back with the engine, and by 21:30 had the engine and box both back in the Fiesta, sitting on the engine mounts, and then called it a day after 5 hours of hard graft.
Removing the standard Fiesta ST flywheel and clutch/cover
The section inside the gearbox bellhousing that need modification to clear the Titan flywheel
Laying the engine on its side and removing the sump to replace the conrod bolts. The Fiesta ST sump looks properly baffled, and the sump pickup is plastic and has a gauze inside to prevent debris reaching the oil pump.
Using blue Hylomar to re-seal the sump
Bolting the sump back on - dont worry I did fit the missing bolt!
Fitting the clutch
Fitting the box on the engine
The new gearbox steady bar
Fitting the engine back in to the Fiesta
June 2011
Northampton Motorsport set the engine and suspension up. Troy worked his magic on the engine map. No overheating issues any more, no dramas, not even a drop of oil on the floor. All the care and attention has paid off.Yet again we coaxed 199.8BHP out of the engine, and the red line is now set to 7500rpm.
Suspension also aligned as best as we could.
L -1°3 and -1°25 R Camber
L 2°48 and 2°56 R Caster
L -°01 and -°03 R Toe
So thats as close as we could get to 3° caster and 1.5° of negative camber
Here are the youtube videos I recorded, of various mapping and full power runs.
We had to stick some cold fuel in around midday as power was dropping off, and the fuel lines were warm to the touch. No other issues. Another successful day at NHM.
March 2012
The floor mounted gearbox torque limiter bracket, was simply not up to the job, as I discovered when I spotted that it had almost torn itself free from the floor of the car (damaging the floor in the process). I designed and built a 4mm box section, that fits below the steering rack, on to which a 45mm turnbuckle connects the rear of the gearbox to the bracket, thus limiting the movement of the engine and gearbox under braking and acceleration.
May 2013
After developing serious clutch judder at Loton park and Santa pod in September/October 2012, I decided to replace the paddle clutch for a conventional uprated AP clutch, supplied by Burton Power. The clutch itself looked new when it was removed, but there were witness marks on the flywheel where you could see that it was catching and this I believe is what contributed to the judder. I've sold the clutch plate to another Fiesta owner. I'm now running the AP uprated race clutch CP5351.I've also sold the original Fiesta ST IB5+ gearbox that came with the Duratec engine, which raised a healthy £450 towards the cost of the latest modifications for 2013.
Youtube videos (A269FEJ)
Injector testing April 2010 Ignition testing April 2010 Dashboard testing March 2010
Links to Ford Duratec & Fiesta ST150 sites
The M-Sport web siteFord Power Products web site
Wikipedia page on the Ford Duratec engine
Ford Duratec Forums
3D Duratec Screen Saver
Links to technical bulletins and documents
Fitting the uprated engine and gearbox mounts Sporting Trophy Options List (Part numbers for uprated items from M-Sport) Ford DHE engine range leaflet
