Turbo FAQ

[Seawulf]

Creating a turbo for any car is fairly easy, at least in theory. All you have to do is hook up the turbo to the exhaust, hook up the turbo to the intake and then to the throttle body. Add a front mount intercooler for looks and viola!

In reality it's somewhat more difficult. It took my Father over 7 weeks to make my initial setup and then another two
weeks of shake down. Then when I upgraded the turbo and downpipe the car was down for another three weeks but only the last week was full time 8hrs a day with me working on the car.

OK, what's a turbocharger and what does it do?

For basic turbo theory, click here:

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/turbo.htm

After reading that your ready to proceed, why turbo?

Well, nitrous is ok(I have some) and cheaper in the short run, but if you run it all the time eventually you'll eat up the savings having to refil the bottle every time you fill the gas. Also you can't really run more than a 50shot as just a bolt-on. There's some concern whether our manifolds can flow more than a 50hp wet shot. If you try to run a 75shot you may have to pull timing and the risk of a backfire out the intake is greater. Then there's a supercharger. Well for a V8 or V6, they might be OK, but on an I4 they start to come up short. Especially for our I4's.

First of all they don't even make a supercharger kit for our I4's, you'd have to buy one for a Focus and then figure out how to modify it for our engines, and even then it's no guarantee it'll fit. Secondly, there's only two avaliable at this writing and the Jackson Racing kit is crap(sorry my opinion). It can barely do 150whp and a pathetic 130wtq. The Vortech is only slightly better at 195 Crank HP and 170 Crank Tq. I haven't read any posts on any forum from a guy with a Vortech installed but all the Jackson Racing kits are way underpowered and the supercharger itself is too small for more than 9psi and can't be intercooled without serious modding. Some of you may have read how some Ford magazine got a supercharged Focus to run 200+whp but that was with a custom job with custom intake manifold and the charger unit from the SVT kit.

Secondly, turbo's have less lag than a supercharger. I know what you're saying, "Less Lag?" Aren't superchargers driven off the crank and therefore have boost constantly? Yes and no, granted they work off the crank and can put out some boost instantly but it won't give you full boost instantly. A SC won't give you full boost till near the redline, but a properly sized turbo once you're above the boost threshold, you'll have full boost as soon as you step on the throttle. The big tip off of this is looking at a SC's TQ numbers. If you look at a SC'd Zetec dyno chart, you'll see that the TQ is low and that shows that the full boost doesn't kick in till the higher RPMs. If you look at a dyno chart of a turbo'd Zetec, you'll see the TQ numbers jump up suddenly in the low rpms, this shows when boost starts to kick in. Ultimately the only thing a SC has over a turbo is emissions friendlier install, since you have to remove the stock cat to make a turbo fit. After this, if you want to make a custom supercharger, you're on your own.

Now, any turbo kits avaliable for us?

No. TurboTom has been looking for some I4 Cougars for his http://www.focus-power.com zetec turbo kit, but so far no takers. The main problem with his kit is it costs over $5k. It is however the most complete kit for the Zetec engine yet made and he's one of the best zetec tuners in the US, if not the best. His posts on the Focaljet were one of the inspirations for me in turboing my car and showed that the stock Zetec engine could do 300whp with proper tuning and race gas and just over 200whp on street gas with no problem.

You could get a Focus turbo kit and try to make it work, but it would be cheaper overall to just make your own custom kit from scratch, unless you can get a deal on a used kit or find a new kit real cheap on ebay. Also be warry of those kits on ebay that just have a manifold and a few ubends and maybe some injectors. They say complete, yet you still pretty much have to figure out how to fit everything from scratch anyway. Don't pay any money for one of those kits.

So, can the Zetec take boost?

It was pretty common knowledge for a while that any more than 7psi and the block was toast. This was because everybody pushing more than 7psi didn't know jack about engine tuning and didn't keep detonation in check. Granted our rods aren't that strong, but they have been show to hold up to the forces of 300whp(totally stock rods) if deto is kept in check(with tuning and racing gas) and you don't push a higher redline. The forces that affect the rods are way worse at the higher rpms, than they are at low rpms. That's why turbo's are good, since a properly sized turbo will put out it's full boost at a low rpm and have all the extra stress when the rods can handle them easier. And the forces that affect the rods under deto are even worse. The rods won't last long under deto and the only warning you may get is the boom of one going through the block, I know from experience.

So how much boost?

Typically the numbers are around 8-10psi on street gas and 15-17psi on racing gas on a stock block. This will give you between 200-230whp on the street and 300+whp on the track. So it's pretty common knowledge now, for those in the know anyway, that a stock block zetec will do 200whp easy. With proper tuning, that's the big qualifier.

So, how do you tune the Zetec?

Here comes the hard part. As I said, the reason why a lot of tuners were blowing engines is they had no idea how to tune the zetec. To be fair, it's not that easy. Ford didn't make it easy on us with a returnless fuel system. Until recently there has been no cheap way to tune the zetec. Some would say just use a Apexi AFC and a timing retard box like the MSD and that's all you need. Just swap in bigger injectors and MAF and you're all set. No, while it's true you can run this way, it's not ideal. Also it's been said that the Ford ECU has a learning mode that will unlearn the changes you make in it using a piggy back box like that, so... The best tuning method is bigger injectors(to support the fuel you need), a bigger MAF(to support the extra air you need) and a chip to fix the timing and fuel issues associated with a injector/maf combo(more on that later).

Why is that? Well stock injectors and MAF will only support around 150hp and that's naturally aspirated. Also the MAF has a voltage range it's set for. It goes from 0-5volts. At 5volts it either CUTS fuel or the fuel system is maxed out. This means you can only run around 5-7psi within the range of the stock MAF and you still need more fuel than the stock injectors can support. You might be able to get upto 150-170whp on the stock MAF with properly sized injectors but to get higher than that you need a bigger MAF. The type of MAF is dependent on your tuning solution. If you're gonna go to a tuning shop and get it done on the dyno, get what they recommend, as it will make their tuning easier. If you're gonna tune it yourself, you have several options. One is a stock Ford Mustang GT, or Cobra, or Lightning MAF. TurboTom recommends a Pro-M 70mm MAF calibrated for 42lb/hr injectors or specificly a COB30 tune, he said the Pro-M people would know what that means.

So basically until recently there has been no affordible at-home tuning solution for the Zetec. You either had to go to a shop that would be willing to tune your car on the dyno for a good price or try some piggy back trickery, or go to TurboTom's and spend $5k+. While Tom's is the best solution, not many people have the cash or the desire to drive to North Carolina. Enter Superchips and the SCT tuning software. The SCT sofware has been getting a lot of play on the Focus boards and is considered the best tuning solution for the do-it-yourselfer. They have one version where they can reflash your stock ECU and one where you can add a chip and tune the chip yourself. Their tuning software is supposed to be the most user friendly software out there. If you're gonna go turbo, look into it.

What's the timing issue on the Zetec?

To finally answer that, you can tell I'm just writing this out as I think of stuff. The timing issue is that the ECU see's the MAF voltage signal as it's main timing guide. So when you add a bigger MAF, you've now thrown your stock timing off, depending on your injectors, WAY off. Remember I said the MAF has a voltage range of 0-5volts? That's how the ECU determins the load the engine is under and how much timing to give. Typically a naturally aspirated zetec will see around high 3s to low 4volts under WOT. A 70mm MAF calibrated for 42lb injectors will cause the ECU to think you're pulling in halfs the air you were doing and will never pull timing properly and give you around 30* spark advance constantly, even at 1/4 throttle. This is bad. That's why you need a chip, to properly fix that problem.

Now, Finally, how do you make a custom turbo setup.
FIGURE IT OUT YOURSELF! Dear lord, haven't I done enough already. I'm not gonna give you an exact how-to with pictures, or a parts list of everythng you need with part numbers and where to order them. I don't want to be a dick about it, and while I am proud of what me and my dad were able to acomplish with my car, ultimately we figured it out on our own. I spent months surfing turbo websites and the Focus forums looking for turbo info. Seeing what other people had done and followed their examples. Granted my dad was a mechanic with over 25yrs experience, he had zero turbo expeience before starting this project. He just read my research and dove in. That is important, either have some mechanical knowledge or have a friend or relative who has some to help you out. That will make things easier. If you have no engine experience you don't want to tackle this kind of project on your own.


Here are some links that are must reads that will make your job a little easier. I've only touched on the tip of the iceberg, but I think I've answered most of the commonly asked questions and given you a good starting point to learn on your own.

http://www.focaljet.com/ubbthreads/s...p;Number=80602 6&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=& am p;fpart=1
A post on the Focaljet with a list of what you'd need to turbo your car. Not an exact listing but pretty close.

http://www.jgstools.com/turbo/index2.html
They sell turbo headers and header kits, they have one for the Zetec but you gotta look for it. Either the ZX2 or ZX3 kit will work but ZX2 is closer to our manifold.

http://www.rceng.com/technical.htm#WORKSHEET
This site has a calculator you can use to figure out what size injectors you need for a given HP on a engine. You'll need 42lb/hr injectors to run more than 200whp on our engines.

http://www.sdsefi.com/techheader.htm
This site tells how how to make a custom turbo manifold. This was the most important site for me, without it I wouldn't have known how to make a custom manifold. Though don't make it like they did, not much room for a long header design, it will need to be a log manifold.

http://www.superchipscustom.com/
Home of the SCT software.

Also do a search of my past posts, I've written a bit about my setup. Also do a searh for posts by another member named Afterhours, he's just finished his own custom turbo setup and has made some posts about it. Here's a few must read posts.

http://www.fastcougar.com/forums/mes...threadid=90748
A post of my most recent Dyno charts.

http://www.fastcougar.com/forums/mes...d=85973&FT VAR_MSGDBTABLE=
A little disscussion on custom turbo setups.

http://www.fastcougar.com/forums/mes...d=88713&FT VAR_MSGDBTABLE=
A discussion on the oil separator and turbo exhaust and downpipe.

http://www.fastcougar.com/forums/mes...threadid=92751
A post about the SCT and my timing.

http://www.fastcougar.com/forums/mes...threadid=92273
Afterhours talking about his turbo setup and why you shouldn't coat the turbo manifold with something not designed for the heat a turbo puts out.

http://www.fastcougar.com/forums/mes...d=90418&FT VAR_MSGDBTABLE=
A discussion on intake manifolds and other odds and ends.

http://www.fastcougar.com/forums/mes...d=90664&FT VAR_MSGDBTABLE=
Oil tap points.

http://www.fastcougar.com/forums/mes...d=91001&FT VAR_MSGDBTABLE=
A discussion on turbo's vs super's.

http://www.fastcougar.com/forums/mes...d=91016&FT VAR_MSGDBTABLE=
A little injector/MAF post.

http://www.fastcougar.com/forums/mes...d=91401&FT VAR_MSGDBTABLE=
Another discussion about fueling.

That's it for now. Good luck.

EDIT: All the links to the old forum are gone so don't bother clicking them. Also the Focaljet links don't work anymore.

Turbo Tom is no more. He retired and quit the business. His reputation had also been tarnished a bit because of his online attitude. He was a pioneer though and contributed a lot to the general knowledge of the Zetec Turbo world.

Also when it comes to a MAF, just get any ford MAF off a v8 or bigger and use that. SCT will have values for virtually any Ford OEM MAF. Before his retirement, Tom started doing blow thru MAF setups and that's a whole other can of worms we won't get into.

Post any further questions in this topic.

[skull_heaven]

good info

[Jrik23]

About how much did all your modifications cost?

[Seawulf]

I never kept serious tabs, but total mods on just the turbo setup probably cost me around $2500.

You look on ebay right now and there are hundreds of intercooler kits costing much less than when I was looking 4 years ago. Turbo's, though still haven't gotten much cheaper.

[scrupul0us]

nice... now if someone includes info for the V6 and adds working links then this would be a 5-star post!

[unkmstq]

ok i have pretty much everything figured out as to how to set up my turbo except for where and how to hook up the oil lines Can anyone help me out??

[cougarprophet]

the oilpan

[unkmstq]

ok i hook my oil feed up to the sending unit around the oil pressure sensor and the my drain gets tapped into the oil pan.....but what type fitting do i weld in the oil pan????

[unkmstq]

and my last question on this is where can i find an intake and filter to go on the turbo??

[cougarprophet]

question 1 : dont have a clue ......dont have a turbo haha


question 2: ebay