Project mk1 FRS

[Krys_23]

Ok so i surprisingly bought one of these, absolutely without a doubt best car i have ever driven, tubular manifold, car was previously mapped to 298bhp supposedly, pulls like a train!

But there is some bad news, me and a friend did some very 'spirited' driving up the road ( 5hr journey ) all was well and i went to bed over the moon, but then a red light came on the dash today followed by EML, so i immediately pulled over turned the car off to notice there was very little if any water left in the cooling system so i let it cool down for 5 mins took it home very slow 1/2 mile, filled it up with water and it appears to be pouring out somewhere right in the back of the bay, its running down the back of the engine onto the gearbox it seems? Whats the likelyhood i could of damaged the engine in this period? Surely i've not killed it in 24 hrs

thanks for looking.

 

[Hodgins]

Heater matrix hoses are prone to fail?
could be those

 

[Krys_23]

I will be in the pit tomorrow to investigate, cars now running a bit 'lumpy' how easy to boil the head on one of these? Bearing in mnd its about 0 degrees but here in scotland just now on average.

 

[Hodgins]

As far as i know, there arent many cases of heads going, unless your chargecooler pump isnt working and the engine takes in silly heated charged air.

but right at the back would say heater matrix hoses, thermostat housings are also easy to crack and leak, but you would have spotted that straight away

 

[Krys_23]

But does that explain the EML? Is this due to the level sensor for the coolant? I could be talking crap but i heard they go into limp mode to try and protect the engines?

 

[Krys_23]

Oh and the chargecooler jet is absolutely spot on.

 

[Rubicon_]

Oh I like that, so much presence. I test drove a standard one before I got the 182 and even that felt quick!

 

[Stefan.]

Awesome cars!!

 

[Krys_23]

Cheers for the comments hoping to find the leaky culprit today

 

[Gib#244]

Two pipes for the heater matrix mate, these are the two… mrs had one go on her car

http://roosemotorsport.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=90

 

[Krys_23]

I found the pipe it runs from under the oil filter and goes in near the exhaust manifold ? Could quite possibly be the heater matrix

 

[Krys_23]

Gib244 you are correct it's a single heater matrix hose that has gone and the engine is safe i think!!

 

[George@RTR_Parts]

Look great these

Hope it is just a hose and you get it sorted easily

 

[rob_clio197rs]

Ive also had the heater matrix house fail on mine, it was the one that goes to the back of the thermostat housing, i changed both matrix hoses for roose and also changed the thermostat housing too as these are prone to crack

 

[Krys_23]

Its just a nightmare having no temp gauge in car as standard, its a bit of a guessing game on how hot the car is running!

How difficult did you find changing the hoses? Looks a pretty tight fit to get your hands in about, maybe i'll get a new thermostat aswell.

 

[matt_132]

I was about to ask if the red light was on the temp gauge, but if it hasn't got one I guess not!

Hope its nothing serious mate, awesome car.

 

[rob_clio197rs]

Its just a nightmare having no temp gauge in car as standard, its a bit of a guessing game on how hot the car is running!

How difficult did you find changing the hoses? Looks a pretty tight fit to get your hands in about, maybe i'll get a new thermostat aswell.

Not too bad tbh, little fiddly but not hard. I did the hoses under the car, there quite a bit of room when going from under it, thermostat housing is done from the top

 

[Krys_23]

I just ordered the roose ones little bit pricey but hey ho, i was under it today could hardly get my hands in anywhere! Lol
@Matt_132 there is a red coolant light just no gauge, the light did come on though! All seems ok though think the car stopped itself from killing the motor so new hoses fresh coolant and i'll be a very happy chappy

 

[Barron]

The best thing you can buy for a focus RS is a Scangauge. Sounds like you've been lucky, the red light normally comes on too late.

I would check the thermostat housing, the standard one is crap and will split.

 

[Jonff]

^^^ As above, Scangauge is a must with these so you can monitor the intake and water temps. Still unsure why Ford never bothered fitting a water temp gauge, especially considering how much of a weak point the charge cooler system is.

 

[Ph1 Tom]

The FRS runs a stupidly high temperature thermostat and fan switch. I'd replace these for some more sensible items plus get a scangauge.

The reason they have stat housing and hose issues is because of the high temps they run.

 

[Krys_23]

Any advice appreciated! Is it worthwhile me doing the thermo housing the same time as i do the matrix pipes?

 

[Krys_23]

 

[rob_clio197rs]

Any advice appreciated! Is it worthwhile me doing the thermo housing the same time as i do the matrix pipes?

Definatly, your coolant will already be out and one of the matrix hoses goes to it anyway, worst thing would be to put it all back together and then have the thermostat housing go, also worth changing the thermostat itself for the 88degree item from carpartsexpress

 

[_Tom]

Good god man clean it..

 

[Krys_23]

It was immaculate until a 6 hour journey through snow and salt.

 

[cat171]

I love these! I'd remove the window things though.

 

[Krys_23]

Scangauge II home just waiting for roose heater matrix hoses then we're back in business!

 

[bill]

This off eBay? Just having a noisy and think I spotted it, 298 bhp was the giveaway, nice motor, hope you get it sorted!

 

[Krys_23]

Think it was advertised a few places, dissapointed with roose motorsport wouldve had the car back on the road this weekend if it wasnt for them taking forever to deliver my matrix hoses, ordered this time last week took friday off work to do the job and they are still a no show will get vids up next weekend.

 

[rob_clio197rs]

Yeh i had to wait a while for mine, they told me they make them to order, so its not something they keep on the shelf

 

[Krys_23]

Will be majorly pissed if they dont show today! Itching for a blast in it!

 

[Krys_23]

Ok so fitted the roose motorsport matrix hoses no problemo, but the leak now lies at the new thermostat housing, where the rad hose goes into the open end of the thermo housing, the join appears to be leaking so have applied some loctite gasket ,

anyhow, how does one go about getting a hard pipe set up like this? You gotta bin the chargecooler?

 

[Krys_23]

Todays treats :

 

[Jonff]

The picture above, the charge cooler had been binned there. Worth getting rid of it tbh as it's weak point. I plan on ditching mine in the near future and going for an Air2Air set up.

 

[Krys_23]

So how does it work just remove everything involved with the chargecooler and replace it with fmic?

 

[Jonff]

Pretty much yeah, battery is relocated higher up to allow room for the pipe work. Although it's best to avoid the off the shelf kits as the pipework is really long and use huge intercoolers which causes turbo lag. There's a few kits about that require spinning the turbo housing to shorten the pipe work and use a smaller intercooler

 

[Krys_23]

Sounds.. Interesting, back on topic about thermo housings if you dont mind?

i can only see the one seal where it meets the flange before joining to the head, anyway there appears to be no leaks there but i see no gaskets involved in the rest of the fitment?

 

[Jonff]

The housing isn't split is it? Also are you on http://www.rsownersclub.co.uk ? If not it's well worth signing up and having a dig around on there

 

[Krys_23]

No its coming from the join where the plastic pipe is receiving the rad hose, has three screws on it but doesnt appear to want to seal without a gasket