Andy Spencer

Don't bother with one at all You can adjust the mixture live, can't remember which keys but look in the manual, its easy to do. I've had to adjust my summer / winter enrichment settings this way. The car won't run correctly at enrichment that will cause damage and you'll get black smoke and that 'rich mixture' smell like old cars with the choke on. If the motor is settled and happy I'd be amazed if you did any damage.

Hi Peter I suffered twice going to Le Mans in queues with that car with fuel vapourisation when it got very hot (30 degs + and very long queue!) but never in this country. Would always re-start after a couple of mins though, and of course it was the older 1.6 engine. I'd still say fuel vapourisation. Did I hear you say once that you had reduced the 15 odd mm gap between the bonnet and chassis sides? If so you could be restricting cooling air flow around engine and making the problem worse, as that bonnet had no vents in (at least when I had it!). Keeping good airflow around the engine will help, and your new electric fan should add to that help. But if the air can't get out from underbonnet then temps will rise to fuel vapourisation point. I'd ensure good airflow and keep the mechanical pump, which was new with the engine refurb so won't have done many miles. Only about £20 new if I remember correctly though for peace of mind.

I'm nervous about my fuel lines down the tunnel in case of prop failure and keep meaning to re-route them. I'd route them elsewhere if you can.

Sorry didn't see the question before....if going fixed you don't need a Lambda at all. Ditch it and blank up the hole and save your pennies. I tried mine to regulate just idle mixture via the feedback system and it was so awful I just disabled it and its never been used for 3 years.

The Sierra 1.8TD's were 75bhp and the Mk 2 Mondeo's 90bhp so a Mondeo one would be better, same basic engine though that dates back to those really old gutless Escort and Orion 1.6D's from the late 80's/early 90's. Tough as nails though. Even better an early TDDI 90bhp Mk 1 Focus is the same engine as well but direct injection, more torque, better economy. Must be a few of those around in breakers now.

Yes. Narrow band lambda and set fuelling, not adaptive. Too many variables on adaptive and doesn't sort your ignition. All set up on the rollers at Emerald. I have 3 programs. One for track or fast drive, one for economy (leaned off a bit at cruising speeds, 40mpg!) and one with an optimised lambda curve, although don't use this. All pass the MOT emissions. Not that much difference between them really to be honest!

The crank sensor will run off the Ford flywheel which has the 36-1 pattern on it. Just need to set this up in the menu in the ECU which is easy and mount your sensor on the exhaust side (I'll try and dig out a photo). There are a few of us around now to help who have been through this trial (sorry, enjoyable experience!). I've also got a variety of programs you can try when you get running, although bank on at least one rolling road session at Emerald to get it properly set up. It will probably run like a bag of nails at first. At least using one of these programs you don't have to spend ages in all the menus setting it up, calibrate the throttle pot and away you go to try. Good luck with the wiring.

Many congratulations. Great times for you.

I looked seriously into this and decided in the end that a rolling road session at Emerald was better as it included ignition as well. Having said that, on paper it should work and its an intriguing way of getting everything apart from ignition set up. As Woolly says ensure the feedback loop is on in the program otherwise it won't be looking for or using the lambda. Is the ECU also set up to take the correct output voltage range from the lambda you have? Hope you get it sorted

Yep its a Mk1 Sierra 7. Mk 2's had a different front subframe assembly. Somewhere I have a pdf of the build manual which I scanned in when I owned Peter's car (pwlcarz) above. If you need it give me a shout. It was posted on here at one point I think, big file though. Thanks & good luck

I've got a Focus manual. My engine is a 2002 and from a rear ended Focus, I think the crate GBSC engines are about 2004 vintage, but I stand to be corrected, so a last generation Focus manual should do you fine. I don't think there were any fundamental changes to the blacktop during its life anyway, just don't buy a manual for a silvertop car (bit obvious really, sorry!)

Although condensing boilers are the most energy efficient and obviously lowest cost to run, there are some interim reports now that in severe cold weather, they have a tendency to freeze up and fail because the consensing section freezes. Something just to bear in mind when selecting. I remember there being soem news reports on this issue in the cold period last winter. I've got a grant boiler though, not a condensing type but very good, very efficient on oil and has been totally reliable for 5 years with regular services.

Crikey. I'd be spending at least £30 a day over there then!!!! One to avoid.

Stay here for a couple of days, the forecast for the weekend's not bad! Only bugger is that we're off in the van for the weekend, so can't go out in the Hood Least I'll be able to have a few of these though, as will you over there if its raining! Enjoy the trip

Got the first quickly. For the second I got to the end of my tether and googled it. There are a few similar on the web and they all have one very small bit of extra info which this doesn't have but makes it instantly solveable. Mathematically I can't see enough info in this to do it, but I do have a habit of being a couple of cans short of a 6 pack (normally as I've drunk them!!!!!!)

Yes I'm waiting for our 2004 Mondeo TDCI one to go too - no signs yet however we're at 65k miles apparently 80k is good mileage to get out of one and we tow a caravan with it. Apparently high throttle / low revs don't help, so keep above 1500rpm as much as poss. DON'T change to a solid on the TDCI, your box won't last more than 3k miles after. Transit Parts or Euro Car parts do a kit, subframe drop to change or about £700 all in at a non main dealer. I think our Mondy is great but the flywheels, injectors, crank pulleys and turbo pipes can all give problems, but that depends on how much time you spend on the Mondeo Forum, where of course everyone goes when they have a problem, not when they've racked up 150k of trouble free miles. Don't worry about it until it starts rattling at idle with the clutch down or your starter motor fails to engage occasionally. Ours is a 130 but the 115's last better in all respects. Cheers

Better than 'Chitty', which is what mine is referred to by our 3 and 1 yr old in our household!

If it won't start again, increase the enrichment in the coolant enrichment table. I can't quite pick up what you are saying about sucking air in. If it won't start again, reduce enrichment. Either way sounds like coolant temp enrichment is wrong. Also on the startup table increase / decrease the value of the injection priming, this gives it a squirt as you turn on the ignition, rather like operating the enrichment pump on a carb. Sounds like great progress!

Hi What fuel pressure are you running at? Should be 3 bar. When you say 'no sensible rpm at all' do you mean that the ECU is not registering a sensible rpm? If so then the crank sensor is the place to go - is it set up to the Ford 36:1 trigger? Is the cam sensor definitely disabled in the setup menu? If all else fails, it may be worth starting the engine with the live screen up and adjusting the fuelling and timing at idle to see if it makes any difference (can't remember which keys to use, look at the manual). Does it emit any black smoke when its running? Cheers

Yes and yes BigLee has a 2.8V6 in his and there are one or two others around. The type 9 boxes are V6 specific, they have a longer input shaft and different (better) ratios. If you can find an engine and box should be OK. Very heavy, but sound great and very torquey.

The last rolling road I visited before Emerald gave me 155bhp at the flywheel, the first power run with no adjustments at Emerald 169bhp, so there are differences. Mind you finished on only 174.5bhp and the car was a completely different animal! As Nigel said figures are one thing, how it feels is another.

OK time to leave the maps alone and load one of the ones I sent to you, unaltered. On the live screen when you turn it over, check you are registering a sensible rpm. Have you used shielded cable ion the crank sensor? Also check water temp and air temp sensors are reading correctly. Are the plugs wet when you take them out? The plugs are incredibly sensitive. Are injectors definitely working correctly? Check throttle pot is working correctly, and is it calibrated? Are all butterflies opening fully? Are throttle bodies balanced and the small air inlets blocked or connected to each other? Don't blame the engine yet, I'm sure its fine, it is a trying process to get the Emerald and Zetec working but we're all here to help and offer suggestions and its worth it in the end. Just wish I was closer for a home visit!

I built one of those Banham's years ago for a bit of a laugh......turned out to be an absolute nightmare. Finish was so poor it was incredibly difficult to get looking right and panel gaps were variable to say the least! Good fun and cheap though, £2.5k saw you on the road.

All good advice before - actually I've just weakened my map on cold start ups by 30% as it was running like a bag of spanners for the first few minutes and its made a huge difference. Definitely don't have the lambda feedback on. I'll drop the program to you on email.

Yep no worries should be able to come round tonight or Thurs - lets speak later and sort a time. Cheers