RST4ever

(Realized this is likely the proper forum to ask so copied over from the Fiesta one)

Just bought a nice Fiesta RS Turbo, single owner 95.000 verified miles (MOT logs) and in quite decent condition but no service history. Engine sounds fine, no weird tappet noise, no oil leaks, looks well maintaned, and I think it performs quite as it should (Maybe a tad weak, but I might be spoiled on that by my other car). However the turbo is barely audile. Just a very faint shhhhhh around 2000 rpm and absolutely no chatter noise when lifting to change gears. Is this normal at all? From what I read in forums and magazines, this turbo should be quite noticeable, so I am puzzled by its quitness. Any ideas what might be going on here??

GVK.

Perhaps running really low boost. Get a gauge on it.

RST4ever

Thanks GVK, I will have that checked and already had planned to add a boost gauge (Plus oil temp and press). But it probably doesn't have that low boost, since a friend's E92 beemer 170HP which was following me could not keep up with it when speeding up for the highway.

EDIT: I have double checked the engine bay in case someone added one of those stupid recirculating dump valves, but all hoses seems standard with nothing plugged anywhere. Only mod I can detect is an improved oil breather.

GVK.

An E92 must weigh double your car! 170 bhp or not.

RST4ever

I'm a bit confused now as I have seen several videos at Youtube and several FRST that were allegedly stock did not have any chatter at all when lifting to change gear. Can someone please confirm whether an absolutely stock FRTS should have chatter??

I used to own a stock S2 ERST long ago and being MFI it had no chatter, but for sure it had a quite loud and nice whistle around 3000 when it spooled up and then it pushed you well against the back of the seat. The FRST does not push you hard against the seat, and the spooling up noise is nearly absent but maybe I'm expecting the wrong feel, I don't know.

studabear

A standard Fiesta Rs turbo has a smaller turbo (T2) than a S2 ERST that has a T3 turbo.

The escorts chatter is dulled by the metering unit.

Has your fiesta still got the standard air filter box as that will muffle any chatter. A big cone filter should help increase noise, as will more boost.

RST4ever

As far as I can tell everything is totally standard yes, the original filter box is there. Only things I can see that are not original are an alloy radiator and an oil breather. Cone filters are ilegal here, but I can put a sports filter panel inside the original housing. I'm trying to get it booked as soon as possible for a timing belt service as I have no idea when it was last done. Will have the shop check the boost then, maybe the actuator has aged and the spring is too loose, or maybe there is some leak in the system (Unlikely as hoses look good but you never know). Thanks for your comments, will try to post some pics of the car soon.

ray barker

maybe the spring has gone weak in the waste gate actuater if it has a similar turbo set up as a cossie you were saying about low ish boost

RST4ever

My thought also Ray, but haven't been able to check that yet.

Just got the car back from the shop, they did me a favor picking it since they are absolutely overloaded these days, they could not check the boost but at least it got a full timing belt/waterpump service, oil/filter and air filter change, new spark plugs etc. Compression wise the engine is very healthy, and they confirmed to me it is an all around great car, well looked after by the single owner. One of the guys there, who is also a rally mechanic, shared a Fiesta RS turbo years ago with his brother and knows the car through and through and says it runs as you would expect from a stock FRST, but on january once all Xmas madness is over I will bring it back and we will be doing a more in depth check, installing boost and oil gauges, reinforced fan and fuel pump wiring and rest of customary things to do nowadays.

After all the service it certainly runs better, some vibration at idle due to a knackered engine mount (Couldn't source one in time) and it lights up the tires easily in 2nd if you give it the beans, so I guess it puzzled me mostly because it feels so different from the S2 Escort. The FRST is a bit like a turbodiesel, pushes you hardest at the bottom but then goes up the rpms quick but very linearly, no drama at all. You only realize how fast you are going if you look outside or at the speedo.

Big bonus: Thanks to the dry spanish climate there is absolutely no rust at all in the car!!!

Some additional Qs if you don't mind helping me a bit more:

1) Would you guys recommend adding a second fan? Spain is really hot in the summer and I have seen some S2 ERSTs here with a second fan extending rightwards of the original fan covering the rest of the radiator and the intercooler. I can easily source here a second FRST fan, but need to know before ordering my fan cable if I will be using two.

2) Any ideas where a gear shifter rebuild kit can be had? Lever is very sloppy, although gears engage perfectly. I know it's just some small plastic parts & springs that wear out, but Ford Spain doesn't stock them anymore.

ray barker

not sure how old your fiests rs turbo is the later ones may be electronic waste gate actuater there the much later ones. if yours is old school like my saff you can check the lift on the actuater spring easily just pressurise it with a decent tyre gauge my saff is about 8psi lift mines uprated yours would be simllar maybe 5psi. a second rad fan is a good idea such an easy install if your handy with the spanners make your own fan loom just piggy back it and a bigger fuse you may even get a few more gee gees if runs cooler. your gear shifter you can get a rebuild bush kit or really what you want is a quick shifter kit the quick shifter is under the gear stick you need both a bush kit is the other end where the play is. best place for anything after market is probably from the uk from the likes of graham goode racing or brands hatch performance or burton power they all ship outside the uk. theres alot uprated fiestas on this site some body will point you in the right direction

RST4ever

It's a 1990 Fiesta RS Turbo, the 1.6 CVH one with the small T2 Garret turbo. Should run 8 PSI stock if I'm not mistaken and the actuator is mechanical. That's a good idea using a tyre gauge, will see if I can hook it up there.

Burton has no longer short shift kits sadly, the stock parts I'm looking for are the ones described here:

https://www.fiestaturbo.com/forums/r...uide-vt111530/

2 * Catch assy 6172154 (return spring holders)
2 * spring, lock 6193756 (horizontal return springs)
2 * screw, pan head 1648726 (return spring retaining screws)
1 * bearing, gear change lever gate 6192095 (bush for the change rod)

Some are available at autodoc.com, the reference matches but I have had wrong parts delivered in the past. In any case they should be common with any MK3 Fiesta that used the BC5 gearbox as far as I can tell, so they should be readily available as gazillions of those were produced and many I guess are still running around.

ray barker

this is a pain in the ass getting parts that are discontinued. other models like you say after that you got to start making things fit.just dont give up. you car will last forever in spain. i have a saff cos i need a float for my fuel sender unit we can get new after market fuel tanks for them im going to fibre glass matt and resin the float. ive ordered a couple from different models there either bigger or smaller. im suprised the cvh head gave good service i remeber when the engine first came out in the escort mk3 with the hydrolic tappets. i didnt think the head would put up with a turbo

RST4ever

Cheers, 3D printing has given new life to many classics thankfully. I have found at least some of the bits to rebuild the gear lever and have ordered two, one will not just be spare but also go to 3D scanning for the future, which I also plan to do with misc other bits.

Some pics of my new pride and joy:

ray barker

that is a really nice car only 95k. i dont remember the spotlights or running lights on the uk version. even if you put a bigger exhaust on that from front to back it would probably be the best mod you could do for the least amount of money. but if your getting to be to sensible like me leave well alone. i dont see many white ones mostly red. i would jump at the chance to buy a saff from a dry country like yours and convert it to right hand drive thanks for the pics i will put some of my saff on here

RST4ever

Thanks, my plan is to keep the standard look and just do sensible improvements that Ford could/should have done, had it not cared about cutting costs. Like RS2000 front discs and calipers, black silicon hoses for cooling and turbo, Koni adjustable dampers, etc

And speaking of that, the stupid fan fuse died tonight and I barely got home with some water spilling out already while entering my garage. I had planned already to add the improved cooling fan wire loom from Autodynamix, but now it seems to have become the most urgent priority. Time to get a second fan and have this bastard stay cool enough to prevent me getting a heart attack.

Looking forward to seeing some pics of your Saph, that was one of my favs when I was young, would love so much to drive one of those!

bluntys1rsturbo

you need an open cone filter in place of the standard airbox to release the desired sound you want mate.

RST4ever

Cheers, thanks for confirming it.

ray barker

auto dynamix are very good no one nos any more about rs fords than them. the owner was at the very start of the cossie tuning scene back in the day. ive just bought an engine wiring loom for the saff of them its very good. check your fuse holder in the fuse box thats seems to be the weak point it may be burnt or just need cleaning. ive uploaded pics of my saff on the pics and vids bit there not the best. im just putting a new fuel tank in mine its a reproduction one there very popular

RST4ever

So I was finally able to install a Durite mechanical gauge, and it shows an eye watering 0,35 bars of boost i.e. about 5 PSI I know mechanical gauges are not the most precise, but still it's a huge difference. So the witch hunt has started.

The turbo seems capable of pushing well, I know it because while testing on the road, the line from the Amal valve to the actuator got loose (Worn end) and for some brief moments I had the car of my dreams until I quickly realized what was going on and limped back home feathering the throttle.

Went through all turbo hoses and while old they seem OK as well as the actuator (New hoses and Forge actuator are on the way) so my main suspect right now is the Amal valve. It's hard to tell if it's clciking when switching the ignition as there are other noises around. I know it's getting 10V with ignition on and 12V once the engine is running, but I have the feeling it is not working.

I have ordered a working 2nd hand one but is it really worth keeping it? The seller told me he removed it from the car with only a few miles on it as he preferred a bleed valve, and recommended I should also run one, using the gauge to set it to achieve the proper boost.

zvh

have you set the per load on the actuator ??? , needs to be under load then rule of thumb is half a hole then hook it back on .

RST4ever

Not yet, too tight to squeeze tools in there to remove clip need to figure out how (Any tips welcomed). But as soon as my new hoses and the Forge actuator are here I wm replacing the lot and setting proper preload.

Main suspect is still the Amal though, can't hear it clicking and have found out that the default actuator preload is 0.35 bar i.e. the same pressure I am getting and the same the car should run with a non functioning Amal ... so everything seems to add up.

Any opinions on binning the Amal and running an adjustable bleed valve locked to have the starndard pressure and left alone without messing up with it? And is the boost delivery with it much different, feels better or worse?

RST4ever

Finally! had the time to wrench on the car, and in went the Forge actuator with standard spring, new turbo hoses (Old ones looked really worrying) and a good cleanup of the fan, plus a new fan switch and fan loom from Autodynamix. The old actuator was completely toast and the main culprit of the low boost.



After installing everything, the first test was sketchy as the turbo was boosting quite high (15+PSI), had to fiddle around until finding out that you have to be really precise with the orientation of the actuator's rod, which being curved can easily add resistance to movement if not properly aligned and increase the preload. Anyway, car is boosting now quite well, I get a brief peak of around 9-10 PSI when flooring it that quickly drops to the standard 8 PSI and stays there. I guess that is the normal expected behavior if anyone can please confirm it?