[Ness1216]

Specifications
Engine Type - 2.0L Zetec I-4 iron block, aluminum head
Valvetrain - DOHC, 4 valves per cylinder
Valve Diameters (Int/Exh) - 1.260/1.100
Bore/Stroke (in/mm) - 3.339" x 3.465" (84.8 x 88.0)
Displacement (cu in/cc) - 121.3/1988
Connecting Rod Length - 5.3618"
Main journal Dia. - 2.2831"
Rod Journal Dia. - 1.8465"
Crankshaft Center Line to Deck - 8.378"
Compression Distance Pin to Top of Piston - 1.3012"
Compression Ratio - 9.6:1
Horsepower @ rpm - 125 @ 5500
Torque (lb-ft) @ rpm - 130 @ 4000
Recommended Fuel - 87 octane
Fuel System - Sequential multi-port electronic fuel injection
Oil Capacity - 4.5 quarts


Cat-Back Exhausts
Will improve whole powerband, will increase loudness.

Trubendz - The only company to make a Zetec Cougar kit, available in different sizes and mufflers.

Any exhaust shop should be able to make you a custom exhaust. In some places this is cheaper then others. This a great option if your area has cheap shop rates for this kind of thing.

Also any Duratec kit can be used but will need some modifying where it bolts to our flange.


Race Headers
Will drastically improve powerband in upper powerband, and moderate in lower powerband. Will also drastically increase engine noise.

ZXTuner - 4-2-1 design. Involves removing Catalytic Converter which is illegal in the United States but only matters if you have emissions testing. Ceramic Coated and comes with MIL eliminators.



Shorty Headers
Will improve upper powerband a little.

None available, any Zetec one will work but you will need a custom flange and downpipe to mate to your exhaust. The cougar has a unique pipe routing under the oil pan preventing any focus downpipes from fitting.


Underdrive Pulleys
You can expect slightly better acceleration and quicker engine response with one of these. Some have had major problems with them while others have not. Takes away harmonic balancer and can cause vibrations in the crank. Some have had them for 100,000 miles + and have had no problems.

Esslinger - Crank Pulley

ZXTuner - Crank Pulley

Focus Sport - Crank Pulley

Focus Central - Crank and Water Pulley

Ford Racing - Crank Pulley

AEM Alternator UDP - Only underdrives alternator (not recommended for those with stereo systems.)

AFX - 3 pc. pulley


Throttle Body
Will increase throttle response greatly, very little to no power gain.

Basically have 2 options, one is to send it to Buckshot Motorsports to optimize it

Or, there is the option of a Focus Central 65mm Throttle Body, I have in my possession a Focus Throttle Body that is identical to mine, but I have been unable to find which model Focus it came off of so I have not been able to tell which one works.


Intakes
Will improve power-band above ~3500, will increase engine noise.

CTA Motorsports - a good intake, easy to install but a horrible elbow design coming off the throttle body. Silicone coupler there is under stress and prone to rip. Elbow can also rub against hood. Other than that, flawless. Comes with 3" piping and a filter.

Weapon R - a good intake too, elbow design has no problems, but some have had problems with the filter. Some start deteriorating and can get sucked into the engine. Other than that, flawless.


Pistons
For when you need a stronger engine, or want to change compression.

JE

Focus Central

There are a lot more options to choose from as well. Focus pistons will fit our block


Rods
To strengthen the weak line of the engine.

Crower

Eagle

As with pistons,a a few more choices available. Focus rods fit our crank


Coil Pack and Wires
Will not really add any power but will smooth idle and acceleration.

Vitek Wires

Ford Racing Wires - 9mm wires

Magnecor Wires - 8.5mm wires

Accel Coil Pack

MSD Coil Pack

* Note that any of these aftermarket coil and wires have not been proven to be better then the stock unit. In fact the msd unit has been recorded as inferior to the stock coil from several turbo focus owners*

Spark Plugs
Need these to make engine work. Some work better than others.

Autolite Double Platinum APP5344

Motorcraft 417FE

Motorcraft AZFS22C (colder) - This is the OEM copper core plug for the svt focus

Denso Iridium ITV16

NGK 2467

Champion Double Platinum 7437


Intake Porting
You hear a lot of Focus owners wanting the early 2k intake manifolds... Reason is they were cast as 1 piece then, and are now done with 2 piece. Good news is that both 99-00 (not sure about 01-02) have the early design that flows better. Now to port this manifold you need to get out the dremel with a grinding bit and port the runners to just before where the gasket o-rings are. Just make it more smooth and open. Also if you do anything throttle body wise you should port-match the top opening of the manifold.


Adjustable Cam Gears
These help fine tune cam timing. On a cougar head we can only put an adjustable cam gear on the intake cam unless VCT is deleted (either via vct delete kit or focus head swap)

Esslinger
OBX
Focus Central
Focus Sport
Fidanza
Ford Racing
Unorthodox


Camshafts
Will drastically change power-band. Lose some low end to gain a lot of top end.

Web Cams

Any Focus Intake Cam will work, Exhaust will not work unless VCT is eliminated.


Valve-train
Crower offers Titanium Valves and Retainers to be able to rev higher without valve float.

Focus Valves, springs and retainers all fit our head.

Head
The Ford Racing Head available for the focus can bolt onto our block. This requires custom tuning and a bit of work. It eliminates VCT, so you need a focus exhaust cam. The cam position sensor will also be bypassed as the signal will come from the opposite cam.
I believe this head is now out of production and only available used.

Motor Mounts
Same as the duratec equipped cars, can use Energy Suspension inserts up front. Fill the rears with Polyurethane.


Differences between Non-VCT Zetecs and normal Zetecs
So far I have found this:

Coolant Temperature Sensor is mounted differently.
Cam Position Sensor is on exhaust side on VCT motors, on intake for normal zetecs. Different Part numbers.
Shortblock is same part number. Same block.
Head gasket same part number as SVT Focus, Fel-pro lists universal gasket for all zetecs.
Same Head Bolts
VCT exhaust cam is larger diameter than that of non VCT Zetec cam.
Cannot use Cougar intake cam on Focus due to cam having no key for cam position sensor.
More to come, hopefully not, should be doing FR Head swap soon.


Stroker Kits
Crower makes Stroker Kits to make your zetec any size up to 2.3l, adverse effects may include, but not necessarily lower Rev limit.

 

[azbobbybooshay10]

This one probably isn't too far down, but since its an FAQ, I'll bump it up so that it can be re-stickied.

 

[Seawulf]

Sorry for the long absence, but my hard drive crashed and it took a while to get setup and then I also switched email programs so I could have missed the email to switch addresses, so I kept going to the old site that wasn't there and just thought the forums were down again.

I'll sticky this now.

 

[peanuts_parts]

U should add a lot to that.

Eletronics;
SCT tunes
enlarged MAF, wouldn't go any bigger than 70MM though.
"black box" from ZXtuner or POTS mod..
disable VSS-(vechile speed sesnor)= no governor! but will cause check engine light to come on, so just put on a toggle switch.

Intake manifolds;
FC intake manifold-(very rare though)
Focus SVT "DSI"-(dual Stage Intake manifold) great for N/A cars, but a lot of factors for conversion. Requires custom tuning and rpm activated window switch to activate
Ford Racing intake manifold-will have to re-dril bolt for TB and to fit flushly against the head.
Or make ur own.........

Throttle body;
FC 65mm
Jackson Racing 65mm
BBK 65mm
all will work, just need the TPS from a earlier Focus and spice the wires..


Fuel pumps;
Stock Focus, SVT Focus, or Mustng V6 fuel pump. Will provide better fuel pressure for high fuel demands. (marginal difference here)

Ford GT supercar pump- the ford GT fuel pump is the highest capacity fuel pump I've come across. Fits into stock fuel basket with minimal modification.
The ford GT pump is a walbro Part number F10000128 info on the pump is here. View attachment F10000128.pdf

Fuel Rails;
STR (can be converted from a Focus, email for details)
ealry ZX2 with Fuel pressure snout for N02 hook up.

Adjustable Cam Gears;
AEM
Crower
STR

Lighten Flywheel;
Fidanza

Clutches;
SPEC
Clutchnet
(many more just can't remember)

Valvetrain;
Ford Racing will fit
Crower
Esslinger
Ferra

After market ignitions;
MSD DIS-2

Ported head options;
Esslinger
Gude-(they have a head package that will also include better cams, same as Esslinger)
Focus Sport
Ford Racing
(now to install a non-VCT head on a VCT engine, u will need to get new cams, a Focus cam sensor, and some VCT tuning...)

 

[Great1h98]

does anyone know where to find the throttle body for the i4 cougar... a 65mm body off a focus, but which one is the proper fit?

 

[peanuts_parts]

Ebay, but throttle cable bracket will need modification

 

[diddy]

hey ness, don't forget to add that VCT adds a ton of hp to the coug :rofl:

 

[cougarprophet]

engine options



1st choice: 1998-2000 Contour/Cougar/Mystique Zetec with an auto trans.
why? the motor will be less beat on since the crankshaft loads from shift transitions are more dampened, and little old lady drivers probably treated their car to less abuse than a alpha type MTX owner. also, it's going to be a simple slam dunk fit w/o any real install headaches.

2nd choice: same as above except w/ a manual trans.
why? all of the 1st choice except the little old lady part.

3rd choice: 1998-2003 ZX2 w/ auto trans.
why? the altenator/power steering/ ac compressor mounting / oil pan / flywheel/flex plate timing cover / front engine mount / throttle body is different enough not to fit. you'll need all those parts from your mystique.

4th choice: 1998-2003 ZX2 w/ man trans
why? see #2

5th choice: 2000-2004 Focus zetec w/ auto trans (tuner's #1 choice)
why? much of the same parts need to be replaced like the zx2. this is a good choice for an engine buildup, but if you were going to go gung-ho on the driveline i'd recommend finding a MTX-75 tranny to go with it (cougar or contique trans is preferred for the 4.06:1 ratio vs the taller focus ratios). the focus motor does not have vct (duh) so you'll need to burn a custom SCT chip to turn off the vct capabilities inside the mystiques's pcm. i'd recommend using the mystique's manifolds to make the egr pipe and exhaust system bolt up unless you plan on upgrading the intake manifolds and exhaust as well (smog check be damned)

*note that if you go with an engine out of an auto and maintain a manual trans you NEED to switch the Crank position Sensor Mount from the manual car* the mount bolts on behind the flywheel
this picture shows both mounts: (sorry about the tag at the bottom)

 

[CincyZetec]

i was looking to upgrade my coil and plug wires. does anyone who has done that got an msd or accel part number for the coil and the wires? i'm not sure exactly which one to get and i don't want to get one that doesn't fit.

 

[james99]

i was looking to upgrade my coil and plug wires. does anyone who has done that got an msd or accel part number for the coil and the wires? i'm not sure exactly which one to get and i don't want to get one that doesn't fit.

zxtuner.com has the msd coil and plug wires. i think its about 140 for the set....

 

[gamiller]

Here's a document that lists how much various machine-shop services for the Zetec cost around the US:
http://www.enginebuildermag.com/Content/Site302/Articles/05_01_2008/5220Ford20Lpdf_00000007265.pdf

 

[ThrashmatiK]

I argued with an Eclipse geek who said I couldn't do ANYTHING to the Zetec besides a cold-air intake. Thank you for proving my point.

 

[TRAViS]

What about the '02-'04 SVT Focus motor and Getrag 6-spd? Is that a possibility?

 

[iceberg65]

What about the '02-'04 SVT Focus motor and Getrag 6-spd? Is that a possibility?

its just not worth it. you can build a zetec up to svt power levels for less then it would cost to get an svt running in a different car. The getrag is a good transmission; but the mtx75 is known to be stronger. The biggest advantage of the svt block is that it has oil squirters for better lubrication.

what makes the swap so expensive is the ecu controls; it has vct like ours but its on the opposite cam, and it has a dual stage intake (like our 2.5's).

this has been discussed alot on the focus forums. The svt's power comes mainly from the head; it raises the compression and flows very well. the pistons are stronger and it has forged rods as well (these can be fitted onto our crank); an SVT head swap can be performed; but it is extremly involved as well; and you need the svt intake manifold or the runners wont line up quite right (different ports); Since you would need the svt intake mani. you would need some kind of rpm switch to activate the IMRC.

 

[TRAViS]

Thank you

 

[kpeeks]

You could get the SVT short block & IM & bolt everything up to our head...then you'd be roughly running about the same level of power. Mind you, there's head work involved.

The only thing good about the svt is as iceberg said...the block. It gives you the oil squirters & a oil cooler sandwich plate. The IM flows less than ours so you'd actually be taking a step back just to get the extra I believe 5hp it gives you, plus its prone to breaking or you have to get the little clips replaced cause its a 2 or 3 piece design.

 

[iceberg65]

Oil squirters can be added to our block by a machiene shop. I have read that putting the svt pistons and rods in a zetec only bumps the compression by .1; the additional compression is mostly in the svt head. For our motors you could probably get close to svt power levels with a milled and ported ford racing head and a tune.

* just found a post on focaljet; looks like the oil squirters are around $50 each plus a machiene shop would have to install them. It can be done, but the cost would add up. So if someone finds a good price on a svt block it would be a great starting point.

 

[kpeeks]

$50 for each squirter? That seems a little high as last time I checked its was like $50-80 total for all 4. You can usually pick up an SVT block for a little more than just a plain zetec block. I've seen them from $130-$300. Just depends on the mileage & whats included.

 

[iceberg65]

agreed; $50 seems high; I just found another post claiming they are around $20 each. I've also found some posts claiming that the squirters really aren't necessary. The zetec doesn't have any oiling issues even at pretty high power levels. The more I read about it the more I dont see the point in going with svt stuff. The rods are stronger but they can Only be used with the pistons that come with them which aren't any stronger then the regular zetec pistons (according to tom on Focusfanatics). The head is where the extra power is made; but a good few things need to be changed to make it work properly, and there is a ford racing head that bolts on and all you need to do is get rid of vct in the tune.

 

[kpeeks]

Yep, very true. Honestly the only reason you should ever get the svt block is just as an added security to motor longevity. I'd bet it would be good for those of us that run our cars in high heat areas though.