PART 2 OF THIS
SECTION 25 - WATER INJECTION – WHAT IS IT?
A brief explanation of how the system works in theory. We all know that low ACTs on an RST and any turbo charged car are critical to making it run at full power day in day out. Water injection is one method people can use to keep the ACT lower and to help prevent detonation. On an RST I believe the ignition gets retarded at 60 degrees. Most people aim to keep the ACT as low as possible permanently.
The kit is made of the following parts.
Water pump
Tank
Hosing
And the usual hoses & clips.
The water tank is filled up and then the hose from the pump is connected to the metal cross over pipe that runs over the rocker cover, and then a tap is added into it so the hose can be connected permanently.
The water is then injected when a certain RPM is reached, and you can adjust how water is added to the boost. The water removes some of the heat from the boost and turns to steam, which doesn’t harm the engine at all.
On all the RST I have seen with water injection I got the impression that the water tank was way too small, and that it ran out way too quickly. Some owners spoke of adding a huge tank in the boot and using that to hold a large volume of water in.
Personally I don’t think water injection is needed on an RST, not on a car with adequate ACT cooling anyway.
The most common system by far for the RST is the ERL kit, which retails for about £300 or thereabouts.
SECTION 26 - LOWERING YOUR ACT
A bit of a touchy subject this, as different people believe in different ways of doing things, but one thing is agreed on in general, and that is that if you turn up the power on your car you need to improve your ACT cooling an awful lot.
The first thing you should do is fit an ACT gauge to your car, so you can see for YOURSELF how high your ACT really gets. Ignore what you have read and heard off people, fit a gauge and then take your car for a hard drive and see what readings the gauge reads.
You will be quite surprised as to what the reading is when you are at full speed, and how long it takes for the ACT to lower itself to acceptable levels.
The way I see it is like this. Why spend a lot of money on your car, uprate everything and modify this that and the other, only to find that because of one critical part of the car the car won’t run at it’s peak performance and you are losing power?
First of all a few misconceptions that people are led to believe by the car magazines, which aren’t true at all. They are:
The most expensive system is always the best
Car magazines know best
Both the above statements are typical of what the motoring press seem to think, as in my opinion, most motoring journalists know next to nothing about RS cars, apart from what models there are in existance.
The key to keeping the ACT low is heat removal, as that is all an intercooler does, removes the heat from the boost flowing through it. There are different ways of doing this, and different end results too.
Here are the general thoughts of people as to what they think about the various systems available, but I haven’t covered every single one around, as I will never see them all or get to use one regularly, so it wouldn’t be fair for me to pass comment.
PACE HIGH CAPACITY INTER COOLER. - I remember having one of these years ago and I thought it was great. Bigger than the Ford item as it was called a ‘High capacity’ intercooler, nice and shiny to look at and it had the Pace logo on the front of it too. How could something like this possibly fail to work? I guess I was easily fooled back then. A bit niaive and I believed everything that the car magazines printed. Now I know different and I very rarely buy car magazines unless there is a car featured that I like. Anyway back to the review.
Unfortunately it was a complete pain to fit. The mounting brackets that Pace supplied had to be drilled out to fit, as they were un machined when they were sent to me for some reason. The intercooler never really lined up properly with the radiator like the old Ford item did. Oh and you had to move the fan over to the left of the car as well. After my drilling and fitting session was completed I found that the bonnet catch always seemed to be under pressure from the intercooler itself. It’s not what I would have expected from such a highly acclaimed piece of kit. The people who engineerd it should have re designed it as it wasn’t a great fitting piece of kit at all.
To be honest I thought it would be so much better than the Ford item, and it seemed to be at first, but after a while of hard driving it eventually seemed the same. Psycologically it must have made me think that my car was running cooler and faster as I had spent all this time fitting this lovely shiny Pace intercooler.
Of course now, I know that they are not the best bit of kit available, and that the ACT quickly goes up to above 70 degrees before you even hit fifth gear. That, to me, clearly means that the Pace intercooler is not up to keeping the ACT low at all.
I have now found out that the core is key to intercoolers. You could have an intercooler as large as the car itself (in theory) but if the core is restrictive and not up to the job if removing the heat, eventually it will fail to remove the excess heat. The Pace intercooler has a restrictive core, and as such it just doesn’t remove the heat well enough after a very short while. Cost £200
Pace charge cooler – supposedly the best around according to the press, oh little do they know. After fitting my charge cooler system I thought it was going to be the next best thing. So I went for a short run and then checked it all over to make sure it was all OK and there were no leaks, which there wasn’t. After that I took the car back out on my private testing ground, and opened the car up. After a very short time I could see the ACT rising and I was thinking it will be because the car is coming on boost, it will hold in a minute, but I was wrong. After getting to the traffic lights at the end of my testing ground the gauge displayed ?? and I thought it was broke! What had really happened was that the gauge had gone of its scale of reading above 75 degrees! Not the best feeling in the world I can tell you. So I was driving round town to pick up a video and eventually the gauge came back down so it was displaying a temperature, but it was still in the 60 degree range. Anyway after driving round for a while longer the gauge wouldn’t get any lower at all.
Even if I drive to work in my car and cruise on the motorway at 80 MPH (serious) I find that the gauge is soon reading 30 degrees, and then if you open the car up then within 10 minutes the gauge will be nearing its upper limit.
So I decided to do a full test on the system, which is what follows. I have missed the figures out as they were in a table format. All you need to know is that after 10 minutes of hard driving the Pace chargecooler failed in its mission to keep my ACTs low.
PACE CHARGE COOLER SYSTEM - The aim of this test was to evaluate the Pace chargecooler system. By analysing the figures produced we should be able to see how efficient it is at cooling the air charge on a modified Ford Escort RS Turbo Series two.
Summary
It is currently impossible to hold low ACT with a Pace chargecooler whilst running 16 PSI of boost. Here is my theory as to why. When the coolant is being pumped round the system, the pre radiator removes an average of x degrees of heat, at most x degrees of heat. When the coolant leaves the chargecooler housing it gains on average x degrees of heat, at most x degrees of heat. The difference between the 2 sets of figures are x degrees and x degrees. Both these figures are higher than what the pre radiator removes! In effect when the car is driven on boost the more the coolant circulates, the more the heat increases in the coolant, and the higher the ACT gets. The pre radiator is the weak part of the system, it fails to remove all the excess heat that the charge cooler is removing from the boost and adding to the cooling system.
What follows is my personal opinion of every part of the system.
Charge cooler housing
This is designed to fit in the same place as the factory inter cooler, and because of that reason, it is rather small. It weighs a lot more than the factory inter cooler as it is basically a water jacketed inter cooler. In my opinion this could have been made bit larger to incorporate a larger inter cooler inside a larger water jacket. It would have to be off set at a weird angle to fit in the car, but it is possible. One good thing about it is that it is doesn’t seem to have any extra lag when comparing it to the factory inter cooler.
Header tank
A very small metal item that fits onto the plastic heater box towards the back of the engine bay. I would have expected it to be bigger, but I guess space is an issue and there is nowhere to put it unless you move it to the passengers side inner wing and move the fuel filter elsewhere. If you have a strut brace on your car, you will have to move the tank to the passengers side inner wing, as it won’t fit.
The header tank itself holds less than a can of coke, and after a while you will have to grease the inside of the cap and the thread on the header tank itself as it starts to stick and the grease inside turns to white chalky powder. Not a major issue, but one I think you should know of. I think a larger tank should have been supplied in the first place.
Pump
According to rumours from some people I know the pump is a known weak link in the system, and that is why the two speed system was brought out. This supposedly helps to extend the life of the pump. The pump itself seems to flow the coolant quite quickly and because of this I can’t fault it at all. The fitting instructions imply it should be fitted to the inner wing somewhere, I put mine behind the battery in the bulkhead. The arch liners on my car have never been disturbed, and they are staying that way. It will also be easier to remove the pump if I ever need to in its current location.
I have had the charge cooler on my car for 6 months now and the pump is still working fine, although the 2 speed regulator is still in place at the moment. I know of people changing the pump for quieter ones that also have a higher flow rate. Personally I don’t think the pump that is supplied is a bad part, it is slightly noisy when pumping around, but I see this as a good sign, as if you can hear the pump, you know it is working.
Pre radiator
The critical part of the system, the part that is use to remove heat from the coolant, and in my opinion it’s useless! Firstly positioning. In front of the fan heat is sucked out of the car by the fan directly onto this. Has anyone at Pace ever heard of airflow? Some people have mounted them in the front of their bumper to get better airflow, but why bother? The Pace pre radiator is too small and weedy to cope with the massive amount of heat generated by the coolant, it really is a waste of time and the weakest link in the chain. It should have been made a lot larger and it should have it’s own electric fan on it as well in my opinion.
Summary
Overall it is my personal opinion that the chargecooler system offered by Pace is nowhere near as good as they claim it to be. The car magazines are partly to blame as whenever they feature an Escort RS Turbo car they always recommend a chargecooler for high powered engines, as they claim that they are the perfect solution to cooling the charge air. They helped to create the urban myth that they are the answer to keeping air charge temperatures down. Of course the manufacturer is also to blame, I wonder if Pace actually tested their product on a high boost car at all? In fact to quote Pace in an advert for their own chargecooler they claim “For high boost applications of 15 PSI and above” yet the figures generated by my car clearly show that the chargecooler is totally inadequate at ACT cooling when using 16 PSI of boost.
Most people think that because they have a charge cooler fitted to their car it will fly because they cost £500 or more that they will be the best. After all you’ve just spent a lot of money, and if it costs a lot its got to be good right? To be honest with you, I think the charge cooler would struggle running on a standard car, although I don’t have any proof of this, and I can’t be bothered turning my car back to standard either.
I also think that the charge cooler is well overpriced at £500 or more considering all you are getting is a pump, tiny radiator, a water jacketed inter cooler, header tank and the usual hoses and jubilee clips. In my opinion it should be on sale for £250 - £300 at the most. If anyone is reading this who doesn’t own one, just buy the charge cooler housing from Pace and get all the other parts from other places, you’ll save a lot of money!
The fitting instructions are also quite poor as well. They are very vague and could be a lot better. If Lego can do it so well with their products for kids, why can’t Pace do it? If they want me to I will produce I decent set of fitting instructions for them!
I am not going to mince my words here! The charge cooler system under performs by a long way. It isn’t a proper solution to achieving constant low air charge temperatures on a modified Escort RS Turbo. It is a damn good idea in theory, and that can’t be knocked at all, but in practise it is only good for short periods of time. Then you have to wait for the excess heat to be removed before you can use it again. For me that just isn’t good enough, especially for the price.
When you take into account the cost of the system, and possibly the labour charges for fitting it if you are lazy, it doesn’t look too good does it? Before I tested it I expected the heat would rise a little bit the longer it got used, but it would still hold good low ACTS. After fitting it I thought that would be another problem solved and that my car would still run great when it was a hot and sunny day. I didn’t think I would be doing this test on it to prove to myself and other RS fans the real truth behind the myth.
The most common way people think of to lower the coolant temperature is by adding more coolant, for example by adding a bigger header tank to the system. This would not have any major effect as the pre radiator simply cannot cope with removing the excess heat in the normal capacity of coolant. The amount of heat that is removed by adding more coolant will be very minimal as the vast majority of the heat is removed by the pre radiator.
Another option, if you can’t find a better pre radiator would be to add another Pace pre radiator (£70 from Pace I am told), which on average would help to reduce the coolant temperature to an average of x degrees.
Personally my own thoughts are about high efficiency heat removal from the coolant. Which means
adding a larger, more efficient, pre radiator with it’s own fan, then re testing to see how it performs
GRS INTERCOOLER – as used by a lot of people on this board. Supposedly one of the best intercoolers around. They look like they are the size of a radiator and fit right in front of it as well. Everyone seems to agree that they are very well made and that they are not over priced either.
From speaking to people I have been told that flat out they only ever see 32 degrees as the ACT which can only mean that they are top bits of kit!
The only bad thing I have heard is that they need a cooling fan on them to work properly and that they block the air flow to the radiator. But these are only minor points. Cost £260
KARL NORRIS INTERCOOLER – made from either 2 or 3 cosworth intercooler cores welded together. I have seen the pictures of these inter coolers made by Karl and they look brilliant. From what I can gather he removes the cores from the intercoolers and cleans them up. Then he welds all three together and then adds new end caps and new spouts. The cosworth intercoolers are renowned for having good cores anyway so if you multiply that by a factor of 2 or 3 then the outcome is bound to be brilliant, as you would expect having Karl behind the idea.
SECTION 27 - GEARBOX CHANGING AND LINKAGE OVERHAUL
These can be and normally are a complete pain on the RST. They either last for years and years, or die within a few months, it all depends how you drive the car, what power it has, and who has supplied the box. There are a lot of places that will supply uprated gearboxes, but how many of them really last other than a Quaife box? Not too many. At the moment, my own point of view is to just change them as a service item, rather than shell out on an uprated item that is no better than the factory item.
Here are a few things to look out for that indicate your gearbox is wearing out.
Speedo works erratically. Normally it is just the plastic driver that connects to the gearbox cable, these wear out over time, and cost about £3 to replace. If you change it and your clocks indicate that they only update every second or so then you know something else is a miss. From previous experience my old gearboxes used to whine an awful lot just before they would blow up. It got harder and harder to get gears, and then sometimes you couldn’t get a gear at all. After changing boxes over, I was showed my old box by my mate who had a big grin on his face, the casing was shot to pieces, and every gear was worn out. He showed me a lot of swarf that had been in the box and some pieces of some of the gears. Considering the box was only 14 months old I wasn’t impressed, but I wasn’t surprised either. Well not as surprised as the company that sold me my exchange box will have been when they looked at it.
Anyway if you are buying an RST box you should look for the following number being on the gearbox itself.
It should have a limited slip differential fitted as well. If not its been removed, or the box is not an RST box at all, it might be from an XR3I or a Fiesta turbo, as the Fiesta box is identical apart from having no LSD fitted to it.
If you are planning on changing a gearbox yourself you will need a lot of patience, but it can be done. Here is one way to do it.
Remove the starter motor
Disconnect the amal valve from the box
Disconnect the loom for the reverse light switch
Disconnect the speedo cable from the top of the box
Remove the clutch cable from the box
Remove the CV joints from both sides of the box. Check CV boots are OK if not replace them.
Loosen all the bolts but don’t remove them yet
Disconnect the linkage from the box itself, leaving the car in fifth gear
Disconnect the box from the cradle
Remove or move the cradle out of the way, this can be a pain as other things normally have to be moved out of the way as well. Be careful, get an extra pair of hands to help and take your time. It can be done!
Support the box with a trolley jack or something, be careful as it will fall
Remove all the gearbox bolts and the box should come free from the engine
Make sure you keep hold of the doweling that sits next to the box
If the car is sat high enough you should be able to put the box on a skateboard and move it from underneath the car. That’s what we always do and it works.
When refitting the box it is always a pain! Make sure you have the oil ready, 3.1 litres, any less and fifth gear will suffer oil starvation. Also check that box gearbox oil seals have been changed. Fit the reverse light switch if you haven’t already done so or if your box doesn’t have one supplied with it. I am so tempted to write the old Haynes manual phrase here ‘refitting is the reversal of removal’ but take it very tongue in cheek! It is nearly the same except putting the CV joints in will be a pain. They will either go in without any hassle or they will never quite line up properly.
Assuming you have it all back together, you should add the gearbox oil now. Check the ABS belts are OK and that the ABS light isn’t coming on. Adjust the linkage and take the car for a slow drive, and see if you get all the gears perfectly first time. If not adjust and curse away until they are all there and the gearbox feels crisp and like new.
If the linkage needs overhauling then here is a guide on how to do it, parts numbers and prices from Ford.
Gear leaver £41.27 6199487
Right hand lock £0.78 6172154
Left hand lock £0.78 6122154
Springs x 2 £0.34 each 6193756
Here’s how to make it like new.
Jack the car up
Put into fifth gear
Unbolt linkage from engine
Loosen linkage clamp which joins box selector pin
Working from inside the car, remove the gearstick gator and lower rubber boot
Undo 4 securing nuts
Lower linkage out of car
Undo the bolts that hold the main plastic housing together
Open casing up, make sure you don’t loose the little metal pin that’s under the bigger lock block
Check components for wear and tear.
You will probably find that the sleeve where the gearbox shaft runs through the housing has become sloppy, this is normally the small spring form the top section that has worn and isn’t applying pressure anymore.
Before reassembling fill the housing up with grease then put it all back together
SECTION 28 - BODY KIT REMOVAL
Maybe you are fitting a part or the car needs work doing on it and you have to remove the kit. Well here’s how to do it all. When you remove the kit it might be worth cleaning all the rubbish off it, and cleaning up and rust protecting any exposed metal.
Front bumper, this is held on by four nuts and aligned by two screws. If you look in the front of the wheel arch on each side you will see the screw. Remove both of these and keep them somewhere safe. Next up open the bonnet the you will eventually see the four nuts. You can either work from the top or the bottom of the car for these, I prefer the top for the top two nuts, and the bottom for the bottom two. After removing them the bumper simply pulls forward to come off.
Rear bumper, basically the same as the front bumper except the four nuts are in the boot, so no working from below is required. You still have the two screws in either arch to remove as well. Again once all have been removed pull the bumper away from the car to remove it, but remove the rear licence plate light first.
Arch deflectors, these are held in by rivots. Drill them out and then remove the screws as well. The screws might well be seized up, so soak them in WD40 and let them soak. If they still don’t come out then you will have to drill them out. On of the screws is hidden behind the jacking cover point, so remove that first. When refitting the deflectors use the proper Ford double sided tape or mastic to join the arch to the bodywork then rivet the kit onto the arch and then add the screw.
Side skirts, these are held on by screws, and will more than likely be seized up. Again just remove the screws and it will come off, but you will need patience to get the screws out.
Rear spoiler, before you even touch this take note the caps that cover the bolt holes have to be put on back order by Fords, they no longer carry them in stock, so make sure you don’t damage them! Looking from above the spoiler you will see the circular holes that need to be removed. Use a fine edged small screw driver to remove them. Inside the hole you will see the bolts that need to be removed.
Bonnet vents, simple to remove. Open the bonnet and simply remove all three screws that hold the vent to the bonnet.
SECTION 29 - SENSORS AND THEIR LOCATION
There are only a few sensors on the RST as it’s a mechanical fuel injection car not an EFI model. It’s always best to clean them up from time to time using a bit of WD40 and an old toothbrush, not your mums one that’s in the bathroom though. Clean the plug that connects to the sensor as well, and allow time for the WD40 to evaporate after you have cleaned it before you reconnect it up.
Here is a list of them all, their plug colour (if applicable) and their location in the engine bay.
Air charge sensor, black plug, right hand side of metal cross over pipe (brown/brown & black wires)
Knock sensor, green plug, right side of inlet manifold (blue/yelllow & brown wires)
Thermo time switch, centre of the inlet manifold (black/yellow & brown/white)
Cylinder head temperature sensor, bottom right of cylinder head
Coolant temperature sensor, blue plug, back of inlet manifold
SECTION 30 - 90 SPEC LIST OF CHANGES
Front bumper, modified to allow more air to the radiator to aid cooling. It no longer has a rubber strip below it.
Boot spoiler, curves down at either side
ECU, was changed to the hearts and diamonds type. This can run 10.2 PSI of boost.
Interior, the seats and door cards were given new patterns, called Zolda. It is grey with blue and red flecks.
Roof lining and sun visors are a different colour, as are the speaker panels, kick panels, and rear quarter panels.
Intermittent wiper speed control was added to the right hand dash column controller. Supplementary manual produced by Fords to cover this modification.
Second courtesy light was added in the rear of the car roof lining.
Centre console, a second part was added to extend the length of the console, handbrake handle had a different cover.
Screen wash reservoir wash changed slightly, it now has a thicker neck and incorporates a plastic gauze to stop any debris from entering the screen wash reservoir.
Brake fluid reservoir updated.
Rocker cover changed, holes for the charge carrier bolts moves out a few inches.
Charge carrier, bolt holes to connect to the rocker cover moved over a couple of inches.
Dash clocks, the fuel and temperature gauges are reversed. Fuel on left, water temperature on the right now.
Rear light clusters were changed slightly. The lenses are now darker than the 1986 versions.
Oil dipstick pipe, end is now plastic rather than metal
SECTION 31 - BUSHES
Here is a complete list of bushes that are on the RST in case you are thinking of replacing them all with either standard or Poly bushes.
Front anti roll bar x 2 (24mm ones)
Track control arms (inner and outer) x 2
Suspension doughnuts x 4
Rear wishbone x 2 Note that Ford will only sell these with the wishbone itself!
Rear wishbone to hub x 4
Rear tie bar to wishbone x 2
Rear tie bar to chassis x 2
Bushes on steering column x 2
There are also 3 x exhaust hangers on the car as well. Not technically bushes but they do wear out like bushes do.
SECTION 32 - PAINT CODES
These codes were taken from the site
www.standox.co.uk and they seem to be pretty accurate. The red cars have 2 types available, either Rosso or Radiant. Both are listed. When the series 2 was first put into production the Mercury Grey colour was also listed as being Nimbus Grey. That colour code is also listed as well.
XSC2076C for Mercury Grey
XSC691 for Diamond White
XSC632 for Black
XSC2251 for Radiant Red
XSC1933 for Rosso Red
SECTION 33 - 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 what so ever, 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.
SECTION 34 - 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.
SECTION 35 - 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!
SECTION 36 - 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.
SECTION 37 - ACT GAUGE – FITTING INSTRUCTIONS
OK, for once I am wrong here, the instructions you get with the ACT gauge from Mike Rainbird are good and make perfect sense, but I thought I would add them anyway in case someone has bought one second hand from someone.
If you need an ACT gauge then contact Mike Rainbird at
Mike@rjpipe.demon.co.uk he charges £35 for one including delivery, well worth every penny if you ask me! Anyway enough plugging here’s how I fitted mine.
The wire that senses the temperature goes inside the boost hose that goes between the metal cross over pipe and the throttle housing. Make sure you tighten the jubilee clips up real tight when you re fit them.
The other wire goes to a live anywhere on the car, I used a switched live on the ignition barrel as I mounted the gauge near to it and I run other items from there too.
To mount the gauge I decided to put it on the blanking plate for the manual choke, as the RS doesn’t have that fitted. I removed the plate and then marked out the size of the ACT gauge on the front of the plate. To get the corners perfect I used a small drill bit and then once all four corners were done I cut through from one point to another. Eventually I was left with the shape of the gauge cut out from the plate, very Blue Peter if you ask me! After that I sanded down the edges and then fitted the gauge, with wires already running through the back. I also sealed it in using some blue tack, as the fit was good, but I decided to add that just in case.
Another place I have seen the ACT gauge mounted is at the bottom right side of the dash board clocks.
So now when I switch the ignition on the gauge comes on and displays the ACT gauge, and at night time it is illuminated too.
SECTION 38 - BUYING GUIDE
After doubling the production run to 10,000 units for the limited edition Escort RS turbo it was almost inevitable that the Ford motor company would continue to produce the car. In august of 1986 the new model Escort RS Turbo went on sale to the general public. Based around the MK4 Escort shell the car continued where it's predecessor left off.
It was available in the following four colours:
Radiant red
Mercury grey (originally listed as nimbus grey)
Black
Diamond white
The 1986 model, or 'Series two' as it is more commonly known is based around Fords CVH engine, along with a Garrett t3 turbocharger and Ford intercooler. Unlike most 4x4s it doesn’t have a huge intercooler sticker on the back.
Engine Type: SOHC, in line, 4 cylinder, transversely mounted
Engine size: 1597 cc
Bore: 80.00mm
Stroke: 79.5mm
Compression ratio: 8.2:1
Brake horse power: 132 @ 5750 RPM
Torque: 133 LB per ft @ 2750 RPM
Brake horsepower per litre: 82.6
Power to weight ratio: 124 BHP per tonne
Gearbox: 5 speed with limited slip differential (non adjustable) as standard
Brakes: 10.2 inch front discs, 9.0 inch rear drums
Wheels: Alloy 15 inch with Dunlop 195x50x15 D40 tyres
Average Fuel consumption: 25 MPG
0 - 60 MPH: 8.1 seconds
Top speed: 128 MPH
Price of standard car: £10,028 including VAT
Fuel required when new: leaded 4 star or super unleaded 97 Ron
Fuel required today: Super unleaded or Optimax, minimum RON rating 97.
Insurance group: 14 as standard, higher if modified.
Kerb weight of the car: 1,021 KG
When you ordered the car from Ford you had a wide range of factory options available to you. You could have opted for a custom pack, consisting of electric windows, slide and tilt sunroof and central locking. This would set add £572 to the total price. Other options were as follows:
Heated front screen £100
Fuel computer £117
Electrically heated and adjustable door mirrors £69
Recaro seats for £271.
I personally do not know of any RS Turbo that wasn't ordered with Recaro seats as standard, but that doesn't mean that somebody somewhere didn't not order them.
SCS, Fords own anti lock braking system that came as standard on all series two models. Most people deem it as being useless, and they might well have removed it. But it was standard on all Series two cars.
When looking at buying a car in the press people will often use the following terms to describe certain items fitted to the car from the factory.
C/L - central locking
E/W - electric windows
FFSR - factory fitted sunroof
H/F/S - heated front screen
E/M - electric mirrors
Trip computer for the fuel computer.
FFSH would mean a Full Ford Service History.
At first people thought there wasn't much difference between the two models but there is actually quite a lot. The following is a list of items that I believe Ford altered.
Bonnet: bonnet vents were added to help cool the engine bay area. The front edge of the bonnet also slopes down, essence of the Granada of that time.
Body kit: this was toned down, the wheel arch deflectors didn't stick out as much. Ford weren't going to race or rally this car, so they didn't need the wheel arch deflectors to cover huge wheels. The front and rear bumpers were of standard MK4 escort type, they were over bumpers, and covered the front and rear valance of the car. They were colour coded to match the car. The boot spoiler was the same as on the XR3I of that time. Plastic, raised by three supports. The series 2 no longer had opening rear windows for security reasons.
Engine: the engine capacity remained the same (1597cc) and the Bosch KE fuel injection system was the
same. The turbo charger was now water cooled so it would last longer. The pistons were different, as were
the exhaust valves and the oil pump was of the low friction type.
The gearbox ratio was also changed; the LSD was a lazer welded one that was none adjustable. The ratios
in the gearbox box were also changed. The series two was slower off the mark than it's predecessor but
was more economical, and had a higher top end speed. Maximum power was reached at a lower RPM than
the series one. The car was also fitted with an anti knock sensor to detect if the car was using low grade
fuel, allowing the car to run on low grade fuel without causing any internal damage. Albeit not
at the full power the car was capable of!
The early series 2 cars were not fitted with an anti knock sensor, according to Ford, only cars registered on
or after 1987 will have an anti knock sensor. If you look on the right hand side of the inlet manifold you
will see a green plug connected to it. This is the anti knock sensor.
The engine management was changed slightly on the series 2. The units were still made my Motorola, but the components and chip inside were modified to incorporate the changes in the engine and the gearbox ration changes. As such the ignition and fueling map were altered accordingly. Ford also intended the car to be more economical, which officially it was.
Interior: a big area of change. The new interior is in a red/grey format. The clocks showed every 10 MPH
and there was no low fuel warning light on the dashboard, as the fuel computer is available as a factory
option. The column stalks were smaller. The dash and other parts of the interior was modeled on the Ford
Granada of that time. If you remove the fuel computer module from the dash and open it up it is even
marked up as Granada.
Wheels: the series two was supplied with 5 x 15 inch wheels. These can only be described as looking like a set of fan blades. They do actually suit the car though. 17 inch wheels will fit with a little bit of arch work. 16 inch wheels will fit without any problems at all. The standard tyres were even changed between the two models. The series ones came with 195/50/15 Michelin MX V tyres. The series twos were fitted with 195/50/15 Dunlop SP Sport D40 tyres.
Brakes: The series 2 had bigger brakes all around. It all came with Fords SCS (Stop-Control-System) as standard. This was Fords attempt, courtesy of Lucas-Girling, at a cheap ABS system. At the front the series 2 had 10.2 inch ventilated discs the same as fitted to the XR4I and 9.0 inch drums on the rear.
Ford decided to uprate the brakes as one of the major criticisms in the motoring press of that time was about the brakes on the series 1. They simply couldn't bring the car to stop quickly enough and they were considered to be quite bad. Luckily the series two brakes are OK.
The very early series 2 cars didn't have front wheel arch liners fitted to them. However, most
owners should have retro fitted them by now. From Early E all the cars were fitted with them from
the factory
1990 Update: The car was updated in late 1989. Most cars that were registered on a G plate in 1990 should have the following changes. Most people refer to these cars as being '90 spec'. What follows is a list of items that were changed; however I do not believe it to be a complete list.
Front bumper modified, to allow more air to the radiator to aid cooling
Boot spoiler, curves down at either side
ECU, was changed to the hearts and diamonds type.
Interior, the seats and door cards were given new patterns, called Zolda. It is grey with blue and red flecks.
Roof lining and sun visors are a different colour, as are the speaker panels, kick panels, and rear quarter panels.
Intermittent wiper speed control was added to the right hand dash column controller.
Second courtesy light was added in the rear of the car roof lining.
Centre console. A second part was added to extend the length of the console.
Screen wash reservoir wash changed slightly, incorporating a plastic gauze to stop any debris entering the screen wash reservoir.
Brake fluid reservoir updated.
Rocker cover changed slightly, holes for the charge carrier bolts moves out a few inches.
Charge carrier, bolt holes to connect to the rocker cover moved over a couple of inches.
Dash clocks, the fuel and temperature gauges are reversed.
Rear light clusters were changed slightly. The lenses are darker than the 1986 versions.
You would normally expect to pay more for a 1990 spec car, due to the fact that it is a newer car and the parts such as the interior, front bumper and boot spoiler are highly sort after. It is worth noting that not all the items were added on the production line. Some cars were released with only the 90 spec interior in late 1989, and then after that the car cars had everything changed over to the newer look spec.
Although the car has been out of production for 9 years you can still find good examples of Escort RS turbos. In my opinion, the best place to find a mint RS car for sale is in Rallye News. Not only will the car be genuine, but it will be known to other RS owners members, and almost definately registered with the club. That way you will be able to find out the history of the car if you need to.
The Series 2 cars were only made on the following plates, D, E, F, G, and H. None were ever officially supposed to be sold on a C or a J. But as always there will be examples out there that were registered late and they are genuine RS turbos. Just check them over and make sure they are what they are supposed to be.
Here are some performance figures for the factory car.
0 – 30 MPH = 3.0 seconds
0 – 40 MPH = 4.7 seconds
0 – 50 MPH = 6.1 seconds
0 – 60 MPH = 8.1 seconds
0 – 70 MPH = 11.4 seconds
0 – 80 MPH = 14.1 seconds
0 – 90 MPH = 18.5 seconds
0 – 100 MPH = 23.0 seconds
Standing ¼ mile 15.8 seconds
Below are the official Ford UK sales figures for the Series 2 model, sadly they don’t list the different types of colour sold or what options people specified. But it gives you a good idea as to which cars will be the most abundant and which ones won’t.
1986 (D only) 1317 cars sold by Ford UK
1987 (D and E) 4748 cars sold by Ford UK
1988 (E and F) 5786 cars sold by Ford UK
1989 (F and G) 6965 cars sold by Ford UK
1990 (G and H) 2795 cars sold by Ford UK
1991 (H only) 497 cars sold by Ford UK
The first thing to look for when buying a series 2 is to check the cars identity. Why waste the time and effort checking everything else when the car might be a ringer? There should be a chassis number stamped into the floor by the drivers seat, underneath a small plastic flap. That number should match the one on the VIN plate on the slam panel AND on the V5 document. If it doesn't match then walk away. There is also a small metal plate spot welded onto the car underneath the front valance. (If you want to be doubly sure about your cars identity phone the AA and get them to do a history check. It is much better than HPI as they hold much more information)
Here is an explanation of the chassis number. All the Series two cars should have been built in Germany, so if yours has been built in Brazil or somewhere else outside of Europe then questions it’s identity if it’s a genuine right hand drive UK car.
The chassis number on the RST is made up of letters and numbers. The numbers being the engine number that was originally fitted to the car when built.
Using this as an example chassis number I will break it down and explain what it all means.
WFOBXXGCABHP12345 when expanded becomes WFO,B,XX,G,C,A,B,H,P,12345
WFO is the Ford company that assembled the car. WFO is Cologne in Germany. Other codes that appear are SFA (Brentwood, Essex), VS6 (Valencia, Spain), UNI (Ford of Ireland, Dublin), XLC (Ford of Holland), TW2, (Portugal), and finally 98F (Brazil)
B stands for 3 door hatch back saloon. Other variants are L for a Cabriolet, V for a van, A for a 5 door hatch back, C for a 2 door coupe, D for a 2 door estate, N for a 5 door estate and T for a 2 door saloon.
XX is not needed.
G means the car was sourced from Germany. Other variants are B for Britain, W for Spain, C for Ireland, N for Portugal and L for Brazil.
C means the car was assembled in Saarlouis. Other variants are A for Cologne, B for Genk, B is also used for Halewood as well. K is for Karmann, N for Australian and P for Portugal.
A means the model of the car is Escort. B is for Sierra and Mondeo, G for a Granada, E for a Capri and F for a Fiesta.
B again is just repitition of the B above, in that it is what model of car it is.
H is the year the car was manufactured (1987)
Here is a list of some relevant years you should look for, and bear in mind that the letter I isn’t used at all.
1985 = F
1986 = G
1987 = H
1988 = J
1989 = K
1990 = L
1991 = M
1992 = N
P is the month (September 1986)the car was manufactured. These are represented by letters running in a sequence. Again with no letter I.
Here is a list of all the all the other months/years
December 1991 = P
November 1991 = O
October 1991 = N
September 1991 = M
August 1991 = L
July 1991 = K
June 1991 = J
May 1991 = H
April 1991 = G
March 1991 = F
February 1991= E
January 1991= D
December 1990 = C
November 1990 = B
October 1990 = A
September 1990 = Z
August 1990 = Y
July 1990 = X
June 1990 = W
May 1990 = V
April 1990 = U
March 1990 = T
February 1990 = S
January 1990 = R
December 1989 = Q
November 1989 = P
October 1989 = O
September 1989 = N
August 1989 = M
July 1989 = L
June 1989 = K
May 1989 = J
April 1989 = H
March 1989 = G
February 1989 = F
January 1989 = E
December 1988 = D
November 1988 = C
October 1988 = B
September 1988 = A
August 1988 = Z
July 1988 = Y
June 1988 = X
May 1988 = W
April 1988 = V
March 1988 = U
February 1988 = T
January 1988 = S
December 1987 = R
November 1987 = Q
October 1987 = P
September 1987 = O
August 1987 = N
July 1987 = M
June 1987 = L
May 1987 = K
April 1987 = J
March 1987 = H
February 1987 = G
January 1987 = F
December 1987 = E
November 1987 = D
October 1987 = C
September 1987 = B
August 1987 = A
July 1987 = Z
June 1987 = Y
May 1987 = X
April 1987 = W
March 1987 = V
February 1987 = U
January 1987 = T
December 1986 = S
November 1986 = R
October 1986 = Q
September 1986 = P
August 1986 = O
July 1986 = N
June 1986 = M
May 1986 = L
April 1986 = K
March 1986 = J
February 1986 = H
January 1986 = G
December 1985 = F
November 1985 = E
October 1985 = D
September 1985 = C
August 1985 = B
July 1985 = A
June 1985 = Z
May 1985 = Y
April 1985 = X
March 1985 = W
February 1985= V
January 1985 = U
The 5 numbers that follow are the engine number running from a range of 0001 to 99,999.
Next up is the slam panel plate or chassis plate as it’s sometimes called. This contains even more information about the car. Again if it’s missing as why. You can still get them re made from Fords, but if they don’t have them on the car shouldn’t pass it’s MOT.
The plate will have a few boxes on it with information in them. Here is a breakdown of what is contained in them and what they should say.
The DRIVE box, this should have a number 2 in it, which means the car was originally manufactured in RHD. It could also have the letter B in it as well which means the same. If it has a number 1 or the letter A in it the car was originally built in LHD form, even though it might now have been converted over to RHD, so look out for this as the car might be an import from Europe.
The ENG box has two parts to it. The first part gives the cubic capacity of the original engine and the second part is the type of engine (eg 1600 CVH, Fords never did a 1.9 turbo or 2.1 ZVH from the factory as you know) The engine code for a CVH is L. The RS turbo car should also have a second plate on the slam panel that says F for turbo on it or even the words Turbo. It should be the same colour as the car.
There is a third box which is called TRANS and it should have one of 4 letters in it, on the RST it should be W for a 5 speed manual gear box. The other letters are T for a 4 speed manual gear box, Q for an MTX type gear box and X for a CTX automatic gear box.
The fourth box is the AXLE box, which has all the details for the final drive on the gear box. The codes used are
4 for 3.82:1 ratio
6 for 3.12:1 ratio
8 for 3.56 2 ratio
2 for 3.59 (and also for a ratio of 4.27:1)
F for 3.84:1 ratio
J for 4.06:1 ratio
On the RS Turbo it should have a code 4.
The plate also contains information as to what trim is fitted to the car, but as it’s an RST just check it has Recaros and that the rear seats match and so do the door cars.
Next you will have to prove the mileage is genuine. Check all the service documentation and previous MOTs. If there aren't any ask yourself do you want to own the car? As the cars are quite a few years old they should have some kind of a history. Don't presume the MOT to be genuine either if it's only got the one with the car. The car will be at least 10 years old, and should have some form of history. If the car has no or little history it normally means it has gone missing for a reason! The more history the car has the better.
Check the steering wheel and see if it's shiny. Check the seats, the drivers recaro seats wear out very easily on the side nearest the door. Also check the drivers seat hasn't been replaced with another passengers seat (any easy trick to do) The rubber pedals will also indicate how much use the car has. Do the seat belts retract themselves when you disconnect them? If they don't it might be another sign of a high mileage car.
Security. Probably THE most important point of any RS badged car. Is the car alarmed and immobilized? Does the owner have certificates for the security systems? If not you may have trouble getting insurance. Are the windows and sunroof etched with the correct licence numbers? Has the chassis number, which may be correct, been welded into the floor? You don't want the hassle of buying a ringer or a stolen motor. Taking the worst case scenario you could end up losing all your money! Once you have bought the car change the door locks or better still de lock it. The more security features your car has the lower the chances of it being stolen. Theft was one of the major reasons Ford stopped producing the RS turbo. If you do decide to buy the car make sure you get hold of any spare keys and alarm fobs when you buy the car, otherwise it might disappear very easily.
Check the car for rust. D registration cars, and the very early E registration cars are well renowned for being rust prone. Check the car over properly, ideally spending a bit of time underneath the car as well, this may well stop you buying a rot box. Although well built the car does have a few known rust spots.
The following is a list of major panels, and where they are prone to rusting.
Roof, behind the sunroof
Bonnet, along the front edge below the Ford badge
Tailgate, inside behind the bottom corners
Doors, start to go at the very bottom
Sills, as always
battery tray and bulkhead near it
around the fuse box
underneath the spare wheel well
inside the sunroof, sign that the owner has opened the sun roof in the rain
rear chassis arm also rusts into the boot area
The list above seems quite long. But with a bit of patience and some waxoil, most can be prevented. If you intend on keeping your car, spend some money and time on rust proofing your car, it will help to protect your pride and joy. A good way of seeing how solid your potential car is, is to cover the car with water and see if it leaks anywhere inside. Any leaks and you can haggle the price down.
You should also check for over spray, the chances are the car might have been in an accident. Check were the front wings join the slam panel for the factory sealant. That is always a good indication of whether a panel has been replaced. Also check if the front wing, door and rear quarter line up. Using the lines that are moulded into the panel's check that they are all true and level.
Another easy way to check is to look in the boot and see if it is the original panel. Remove the boot seal and see if the bottom of lip has been welded, a sure sign that a panel has been replaced and that the car has been hit from the rear.
Check the bonnet is the proper turbo item with vents, don’t fall for the old it had no vents from the factory all series 2 cars had them as standard, there was no option to not have them. Check that the front edge of the bonnet isn’t rusted and open the bonnet to see if there is rust inside it. Then check the bonnet lines up evenly with the wings. If the bonnet doesn't line up it is probably due to a prang.
Check the wings line up with the bonnet and the doors, and that they have side repeaters in them, again all series 2 cars had these as standard.
Check the doors line up with the wings and they rear quarter panels in a straight line and that they aren’t rotten at the bottom too.
Check all the body kit is in good condition as well. It should all fit perfectly over the car, and should be bonded onto it so it doesn’t move. If it can be moved it has been removed and fitted wrongly. The arch deflectors are held on with rivets. The side skirts by screws. Over time the screw get rotten and are very hard to remove. If the screw are like new then you must assume that the car has been well looked after or that they have been replaced. Check all four jacking point covers are on the car, and that they are joined to the kit by a plastic strap.
When you start the car up it should idle perfectly at around 950 rpm. Check for blue smoke on start up, which is a sign of the engine burning oil. And it is normally the valve stem oil seals letting oil past. You should also check in the header tank for mayonnaise, which means the head gasket is leaking. Not a major problem, but do you want to buy a car knowing that it needs work doing to it? Look at the turbo and look how rusty the turbo is, this is a good sign of how old the unit is. When the car is running check the exhaust fumes that are coming out of it. If there is any smoke it isn't a good sign. Remember, white for water, blue for oil, black for over fuelling.
Ask or check when the cam belt was last changed. Ford recommend they are changed every 36,000 miles or less, I would say to change it as soon as you buy the car. The money it costs to buy and replace a cam belt compared to an engine rebuild is quite a lot.
Check the radiator, if it is green in parts it will soon need replacing. Check the front discs aren't warped or scored. The rear cylinders are prone to leaking after a few years of hard work. Also the rear load valve tends to seize, making the car think it is fully loaded and as such increases the braking power at the rear. Check all the electrical items work. If they don’t these could be a good bargaining point for lowering the cars