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swaping to a 2000 focus 2.0L engine

J

jtmccann81

CEG'er
Joined
Jul 4, 2005
Messages
30
Location
alabama
I did do the search for my questions but was still left confused. Please help me with my search for the answers to my questions.

What parts are needed to swap to the focus engine?

I know I will need the computer, cat, and all the sensors.

What parts off our engines will fit the focus engine?
I am looking at doing a complete build up from the block up. Will our block fit the focus head and the focus accessories or will I just need to go with a complete engine package to do the swap?
 
Thanks for the help James I didn't know where to begin. this Idea is still on the drawing board and not sure if it will work or be worth the expense either.
 
in theory you should be able to take a focus longblock and bolt all the contour accessories including manifolds and engine mount up to it.
 
What are your intentions with the focus engine and what type of setup are you planning on running?

I bought a used VCT Zetec engine and had it rebuilt with forged pistons, Eagle rods, and billet main caps. It would have been about the same price for me to just buy a built short-block and the work would probablly be done by people with lots of experience with Zetecs.

The focus head will fit on our block: http://www.contour.org/ceg-vb/showthread.php?t=7165

You don't need a focus computer if you're planning on flashing or chipping it.
 
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It's all based on intentions like cbman said, if your going stock then that site will help you through the whole process but if your going for aftermarket power than I'd listen to cbman. All in what you want. hope that helps and have a good one
 
I am looking at flashing the computer and for better over all performance. I have rebuilt the I4 engine that is currently in my car. It was rebuilt stock with only necessary updates that ford had required since it was built in 1999. I am looking for a bit more power but still trying to keep the I4 setup.
I have put a svt radiator in the car, replaced all ground wires with a thicker grounding cable, and I use a k&n reusable air filter and a separate filter for the breather.
This spring I am having the exhaust replaced with a 2.5 in mandrel bent exhaust, doing the drum to disk conversion and upgrading the rear sway bar to a 21mm bat bar and changing the rear sub frame when I do the sway bar. I will also be using polyurethane bushings and using polyurethane engine mounts. That and some other suspension work.
 
You should check out the stickied thread "Zetec Mods Dyno Comparison" if you haven't already. The next step from there would either be Forced Induction or an "all motor" setup with higher compression.

If you're not pushing 250HP you don't really need a "built" motor. If you just rebuilt yours why are you looking into a built focus engine?
 
I had reused almost all of the old components other than the oil pump and the 2 cam shafts that broke due to their bearings cracking and shaving them to point of breakage. I didn't have the money to do the power build up at the time of the forced rebuild.
 
except that the 2.3 is a duratec not a zetec it wont bolt up to our trans or directly into the engine bay without custom mounts
 
striker2 said:
except that the 2.3 is a duratec not a zetec it wont bolt up to our trans or directly into the engine bay without custom mounts
Click to expand...

Duratec is not some magic animal. It's just a label. The Duratec in the Contour & other cars is a V-6, the 2.3 is a 4 banger just like the Zetec. The 2.5 D'tec has chain driven cams, like other V-6 D'tecs, the 2.3 has a belt driven cam system, like the Zetec.... Seems to have more in common with the Zetec.

If the 2.0 bolts into the Focus and then into the Contour with minimal mods, and the 2.3 bolts into the Focus... Stands to reason that it should go into a Contour engine bay without too much trouble. Aren't the mounting points from 2.0 to 2.3 about the same?? They don't use a whole new chassis for the Focus ST do they?? So MAYBE you'd have to mod or fab some engine mounts.

They're both 4 bangers, so the only problem I can forsee is if the firing order is different, and that can be fixed by swapping leads at the coil, I think... Do they put a whole different wiring harness & PCM setup in the ST? I dunno, I'm askin'...
 
when they began putting the duratec 2.0 in the focus they didnt put the zetec in. the mounts are way different (although that could be fabbed). the wiring harness and PCM is different (again easy enough). the trans is different (now you need the whole subframe which doesnt bolt into the contour). the intake and exhaust manifolds are switched. actually firing order is the same IIRC. they use coil-on-plug, zetecs use a coil-pack. its like trying to put a 2.5 into a zetec. there is so much different that its just not worth it. plus the 2.0 thats in the focus from 06 on is not really any more powerful than the zetec. ive raced my friends 06 focus and i beat him (mines not stock his focus his, but mine has 236xxx miles on it).

the differences are so much and you would gain so little that its just not worth it. for the amount of money that you would spend putting in the 2.0/2.3 you can go FI and have more power.


edit: also the 2.3 doesnt breath a whole lot better if any. my VE (volumetric efficiancy) is about 95%. that means it breaths execptionally well.
 
Dropping a Focus Zetec into a 98+ Contour will be cake. The only thing that you will have to swap is the oilpan.

Also, to avoid headaches, use all of the Contour electronics. Harness, PCM, MAF, TPS, IAT, everything.

You may have to swap the power steering pump/alternator too but I doubt it. I think they are identical.

HTH,
BP
 
ButtonPuncher said:
Dropping a Focus Zetec into a 98+ Contour will be cake. The only thing that you will have to swap is the oilpan.

Also, to avoid headaches, use all of the Contour electronics. Harness, PCM, MAF, TPS, IAT, everything.

You may have to swap the power steering pump/alternator too but I doubt it. I think they are identical.

HTH,
BP
Click to expand...

Thanks ButtonPuncher. That's pretty much what I had gathered from the link where the guy did the swap in a '96 Mystique. My question was about the 2.3. Since the 2.0 and 2.3 both fit in the Focus, I was wondering if the 2.3 could be made to work in the Contour as well. I'm not at all familiar with the 2.3 and Striker2 brought up some interesting points such as the intake being up front & the exhaust at the firewall side of the engine (I've always wondered why all transverse mounted 4 bangers didn't have this setup from the get-go). So I guess a 2.3 Contour is potentially another pipe-dream. Still, if it uses the same mounting points as the Zetec, I'm thinkin' it might not be all that difficult - just some extensions for the sensor wiring, maybe. Does the 2.3 have intake VVT?? That could be a potential deal killer.
 
striker2 said:
edit: also the 2.3 doesnt breath a whole lot better if any. my VE (volumetric efficiancy) is about 95%. that means it breaths execptionally well.
Click to expand...

From what I've read the 2.3 breaths a lot better than the Zetec simply because of the head & valve design improvements. The valves are a LOT larger from what I read of the 2.3. Of course that was pre-production information I had, so maybe that changed, but I doubt it.

At any rate, you are probably right about it being too much effort to gain 25 ponies or so from the 2.3. I wondered if the engine mounting hardware would have been similar or not & didn't realize the intake/exhaust had been swapped to opposite sides of the engine - I recall reading that somewhere but it just slipped my mind as being unimportant at the time, I guess. Was fun thinkin' about it though!
 
I've gotta agree with striker. The passenger motor mount and driver's side tranny mount might line up, but the front and rear mounts would be a problem. You'd have to have access to a 2.3L Focus or have an entire front clip so that you could measure/fab the mounts.

You'd also need the entire harness and PCM. Plus you'd have to fab your own gauge cluster. The OBD-II ver 2.0 PCM's talk to the gauge cluster over the OBD bus. There isn't seperate speed and tech lines.

It'd be one helluva project considering all of the Costworth goodies. 200HP would be a breeze.

Stick with a Focus Zetec with a FRPP head. A fraction of the cost and you still have the option for boost later on.

HTH,
BP
 
ButtonPuncher said:
You'd also need the entire harness and PCM. Plus you'd have to fab your own gauge cluster. The OBD-II ver 2.0 PCM's talk to the gauge cluster over the OBD bus. There isn't seperate speed and tech lines.
Click to expand...

I wonder if you could simply extending the sensor, injector wiring so you could keep the Contour PCM? Guess I've got a lot to learn about the 2.3. I'm surprised that those things would be required. Is the ST really that different from the other Focus models?
 
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