Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Zetec Maintenance Contour/Mondeo Zetec engines different?

I'm contacting your from Santiago, Chile where I have recently built 2 small sports cars called Fisher Fury imported as kits from England – one to use, one to sell. I can't attach a photo but there plenty on www.fury.cl if you're interested. Two 2 litre Mondeo Zetec engines made around 1995 were imported with them with all their original Ford Mondeo injection, EGR, Pulse air, and ECU computers.
Unfortunately, one of the engines had a problem and I had to replace it. The only replacement I could find here was from a 1995 Ford Contour. The engine fitted easily and we kept all the Mondeo systems mentioned above.
Both cars run very well and are fast (the Fury only weighs 1475 pounds), but the car with the Mondeo engine is quicker. The Mondeo engine pulls harder at higher revs right through to 6,000 rpm by when it's time to change up because its peak power is rated at 5,700 rpm. The Contour engine doesn't feel as willing to rev and although the car is still fast (0-60 in 6.5 seconds) it doesn't feel as hungry for revs as the Mondeo one.
I have found it difficult to track down the specifications for the 1995 Contour with a Zetec engine. The only source I could find was in the Edmund's used car buying guide and I'm not sure how reliable it is. The spec that I have for the Mondeo engine are:
Mondeo
Capacity: 1998 cc
Bore: 84.8 mm
Stroke: 88.0 mm
Compression ratio: 10.0:1
Power output: 96kW (125 Hp) @ 5,700 rpm
Torque: ? @ ? rpm
I was hoping someone could let me know what the original specification for the Contour would have been when it left the factory.
I'd also be really interested to know if were any design differences between the Mondeo and Contour Zetec engines – different pistons?, different compression ratios?, different camshafts? ...Or anything else that might explain the difference in performance.

Thanks for any help

Early 2L mondy's were 136 BHP standard. Engine is the same other than some extra emissions stuff in the UK. Main difference is in the EEC units idle and WOT mapping

Lots of spec and info on my web site (details below)

Those are some sweet A$$ cars. The U.S. Zetec out of 1995 Contour had 125hp from the factory.

First of all, glad to know that the wonderful Zetec is spreading down to our S. American brethren. OK, you want specs...I got your specs.

1. The US Contour Zetec(1995 non-VCT, OBD-I):
Displacement:1988cc
bore: 84.8mm
Stroke: 88.0mm
Comp. Ratio: 9.6:1
Specific Output: 125HP 135ft/lbs torque
This is the easiest of the US Zetecs to modify, because of the combination of NON-VCT and the simpler OBD-I system. Any and all of the UK mondeo componentry our performance parts will bolt right in. The only Real difference is a slightly smaller combustion chamber on the UK models for a higher Comp. Ratio and a few more ponies. Other than that the differences between you two engines could be explainable by the fact that even to identical engines that rolled of the line right after each other(not to mention months apart)will perform somewhat differently.

I just came back from my vacation in Brazil, and actually I believe they have more ZETECS down there than we have... that's because their market is dictated by the european markeet....

They have the complete "Zetec family" over there...

Thanks you guys

Mad Mole -Good to hear from a fellow Brit – liked the look of your site I'll go through it in more detail later. I confess I took the spec figures I put in my initial message from the front of the Haynes manual for Mondeo 93 to 99 – probably not the most reliable source, but all I had to hand. The original Mondeo air boxes I got with the engines had “2.0 litre 136PS” stickers on them. Er..are PS the same as hp?
I imagine the ECU set-up programs are quite different for Contour and Mondeo what with different emissions test and driving characteristics etc on each side of the Atlantic. Both engines I'm running use EECIV computers (one is code DEWY and one is code DEEP) so have the same Idle and WOT set-ups I assume.

OhSigmaChi, thanks for the specs. What rpm is the 125hp produced at? I was really interested to see there seems to be a difference in compression ratio from the specs you sent for the 95 Contour Zetec. If the ratio is only 9.6:1 in the Contour Zetec engine as opposed to 10:1 in the Mondeo one, then even thought the ECUs etc I'm using are the same the Contour Zetec engine will always be slower. Right?
So the compression ratio is different; the UK models had a smaller combustion chamber. Do you know if that is produced by the pistons being different (taller) or changes in the block, cylinder head or head gasket? I'm trying to figure out what work we'd have to do to put the Contour Zetec engine the same spec as the Mondeo one.

Escort 1991, thanks for the positive comments about the Fury. It is indeed a sweet looking car and always raises a lot of attention wherever I go in it.

BBorges, South America is a big place and each market is a bit different. In Chile the market is a mixture of european cars, american (mainly pickups and SUVs), and cheap asian brands. In all that the Ford Zetec engined cars are pretty thin on the ground. More as time goes on, but unfortunately nowhere near as popular as in europe - or Brazil by the sound of it.

This Saturday we're going racing at a drag racing event that's being organized on an airport runway near the coast. Should be fun and I hope to be able to sign future mails with some interesting ¼ mile figures.

Ok, the combustion chamber I refered to is in thecylinder head, where the intake and exhaust valves live. The US head has a slightly larger combustion chamber; other than that I think every thing else internally is exactly the same. IMHO the way to make the US engine run as fast as the UK counterpart, might lie in the ignition timing. Because of the higher comp. ratio the initial timing on the UK is **should** be a little further retarded than the US model, so if you bolted up the stock UK ECU this might explain why it is not quite as peppy as your mondeo motor. As to how much the timing would need to be advanced I don't have the foggiest idea, maybe Terry Haines could help you out there.

I would like to know more about how compression differences affect things, because my engine repair had the side effect of boosting my compression above 10:1, and I was told this would give it some extra power (and better mileage) but I have not seen these gains. In fact the power and mileage are gradually dropping. I should find out what's wrong with the mileage (I suspect O2 sensors), and fix it, before I compare the power... but I'm wondering if the stock computer is incompatible with that high compression and if a custom programmed Diablosport chip is the only answer.

According to the manual I've got, the EECIV Mondeo ECU doesn't allow for adjustment of the timing. That being the case, I'm more interested in looking at the mechanical changes to the Contour engine that we could carry out to bring it up to Mondeo spec.
So if we switch the cylinder head from the original Mondeo engine (which we still have) to the Contour engine it would bring the compression ratio of that hybred engine up to the same 10:1 as the Mondeo engine. Doesn't sound too complicated except I'm not too sure how healthy the old Mondeo head is.
The other option would be to skim the Contour head. Anyone have any idea by how much? I calculated roughly that if the cylinder head had a simple flat top and vertical sides we would need to skim off 0.45mm. However the real cylinder head cavity isn't that shape, sooo....?
Any further help much apreciated.

Are you sure about the Mondeo ECU?, IIRC Madmole has a custom burned chip, I would be pretty sure that any chip would involve tweeking the timing. Besides switching heads or shaving the block; JE pistons, BAT, Burton Power, and (I think) Need for speed, sell piston sets that would up your Comp. Ratio.

EDIT: I left one company out, Dunnel Engines also makes piston for the Zetec.