I have just got my first RS.
I did a part ex/deal with my evo 6 on the weekend for her, must say i'm quite impressed as i've never driven one before or even been out in one.



She's had a few bits done to her so has good power, just need to get used to it and the fwd torque steer.

Few questions about the car if anyone can help.

On the front bumper both of my side vents can be pushed inwards to the front of them and its as if there's clips missing, are they meant to be loose or is there some missing fitment?

I've also got a ggr/spa oil pressure and water temp gauge. What kind of oil pressure should i be seeing at idle and when driving etc?
the water temp i've seen go right up to 120 degree's is this right? there's a light on the gauge that starts flashing when it goes over 100degree's too, it only gets this hot in traffic, when driving normally around 80-90 degrees. (i have got a alloy radiator fitted too)

Anybody know how to use a blitz sbc boost controller or know of any online instructions in english?

There's some dried up pink fluid round by the thermostat housing, don't know if this has been fixed or not as haven't seen it leaking and i'm not loosing water, what is the procedure on fixing these as i've read its a common problem?

Also is it safe to run the frs without a dump valve, its had a bluefin remap would it run any different if i removed it? I have a turbosmart adjustable half recirc-half atmos d/v fitted, but i'd rather have just the chatter.

Thanks.
Ant.

 

Hi Ant - your best bet will be to go to the RSOC forum & register there, then go to the FRS section as you will get answers from the owners pretty quickly as tbh for FRS owners Passionford is dead quiet tbh - there are loads of helpful & knowledgeable owners there who can help you out

http://bbs.rsownersclub.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=134

To answer a couple of your questions the dried coolant on the thermostat housing indicates either a housing that is leaking slightly or has leaked in the past & been fixed with a new gasket but not cleaned up

Re the dump valve, yes you need one & ideally it should be a recirculating one as fitted to the car as standard - atmos ones can cause the FRS to overfuel & not run correctly - basically the FRS is not designed to run without a dump valve due to the spec of the turbo fitted to our FRS

Out of interest seems like you've bought one with a bit of work done to it then based on the front mount intercooler setup thats fitted to it

 

That is very nice mate! I'd like to hazard a guess with such an intercooler you will be running close to what a stock evo 6 produces in terms of power! As for the temperature, zetecs do run on the hot side and 80-90 on the move is very good and it should be if you have an alloy rad but 120 is getting on a bit must be said. Are the fans working as the should kick in around the 100 mark iirc.

 

yeah i tried joining rsoc but i can't with my hotmail address.

Yeah the car has been rolling roaded at 338bhp so she does go well, not fully tried her out yet as i wanna know everything is working right incase i cause any damage and also need to get used to her, it feels so much different than my evo did i forgot how torque steer felt..lol

The fan rad did work when i first got her home as i turned the car off and the fans came on for about 5 mins afterwards. I've had a look under the bonnet and noticed the casing to some wires that run across the top of the rad has melted due to the manifold, i don't think the wires have broke but i haven't heard the fans come on since. i will investigate the wires on the weekend just incase.

As for the possible leaky thermostat housing is it just a case of buying a new gasket? are they expensive? if not i'll chuck a new one on her anyway.

Thanks again
Ant.

 

I changed the complete themostat yesterday mate on mine as when I took it off it had swollen the rubber o ring and cracked a bit of the inside off. A mate of mine who's a mechanic told me not to bother with just changing one part of the case as from experience, a few months down the line, the other part will go or it will crack again so just replace it all, straight from for, no messing about.

Take it off and examine first. If it's ONLY a seal or gasket with no signs of a crack then I'd just replace that seal or gasket. Any cracks or defects, replace the entire stat. 120 degrees doesn't sound like the fans are kicking in mate. In traffic, I can normally tell when my fans come on or are on.

 

right today i went and bought some new rubber gaskets just incase. I have now steam cleaned my engine bay so i can see whats going on a bit better and cleared up all the dried coolant from around the stat housing, just got home and all is dry with no sign of a leak. fingers crossed its been fixed already and that was just the old dried up coolant from before.

I also left her running to warm her right up and the fans seem to kick in at around 105 degrees, but it doesn't look like its taking away a great deal of heat as the gauge doesn't really start dropping all that quickly. Does anybody know if the fans blow the air forward or suck it back in towards the engine? I've put my hand behind the fans and can't feel any air coming off them.

Pani k when you say you changed the complete thermostat do you mean the actual thermostat inside or the whole plastic outer casing too?

All fun and games just need to know she's running right before i really start having fun in her.

 

I got all of it mate. Themostat, 2 part housing, gasket and seals. If I put my hand in between the exhaust manifold and radiator fans, I can feel the air being sucked away/blown towards the exhaust manifold.

 

Cool, well the missus is out in the car now so will be nice and warm when she returns, so will stick my hand behind and have a feel to make sure they definately are sucking away from the fan as they should. Is there anyway the wire's to the fan switch could of been put on round the wrong way so the fans spin the opposite direction without the actual wires being cut?

It's all been removed to have the alloy rad fitted so just thinking could someone of wired it up wrong.

Anybody know where the fan switch is on a frs?

 

I'd also check how pressurized your water pipes are too mate. The main one going from the rad to thermostat.

 

right i had a quick look when she got back in the car, i think only 1 of the fans are coming on. I can feel air behind right fan (looking from front of car) but not behind the left hand fan (but it is quite hard to get my hand right down as the manifold and hot pipes are in the way).

Also decided to remove the top boost pipes for the front mount to give them a polish tommorow, and i had to remove the air filter hose from the turbo to get to a jubilee clip on the boost pipe. Whilst trying to refit the air filter hose i felt a drip on my hand, turns out the small pipe that comes off the larger rad pipe and goes to the turbo had a small pin prick hole in it and was letting coolant out. I trimmed a couple of mm off and refitted. Hopefully that explains the dried up coolant around that area and its nothing to do with the stat housing at all.

I have squeezed that pipe from the rad to the stat and it's not rock hard, feels how a water pipe should when the cars running.

 

Oil pressure idle is around 30-35 psi (1.3 - 2.5 bar haynes manual)

3000-4000rpm about 75-80 psi (3.7-5.5 bar)

I have my SPA gauge set to a warning of 30 psi low warning...


Nick

 

Its a nice motor Ant!
you'll have to take me for a spin next time i see you .

as RE: oil pressure. what you said to me sounds pretty healthy, so wouldnt worry!
and temps.. i have read that the RSs run pretty hot.

get polishing!

 

Try using your ISP email address (if issued with one)

 

Cheers PeeVee, yeah of course i'll take you out for a spin one night.
sorted my oil pressure gauge out now, i reset it and it's reading how nick said above. god knows why or how it was reading so high before, also set my warning lights so they should now flash when they should.

Alex I know nowt about computers and this one was given to me so i've no idea what my my ISP email address would be, i've tried getting one through my virgin account too but won't work. looks like rsoc don't get another member.