Evening track day at Brands Hatch 19th August 2009. I'm in my mk5 Ford Escort RS2000 and I had this green Fiesta on my tail for a couple of laps, so I thought i'd let him pass and see if I can keep up with him.... My car's spec is: 2.0L 16v engine on motorbike throttle bodies making 180bhp, coil over suspension, bigger brakes with uprated pads, R888 track tyres and the car has been fully stripped and rollcaged. Green Fiesta's spec is: 2.0L 16v duratec engine on Titan rollerbearing throttle bodies making 180bhp, coilovers, stripped, caged and on road tyres
Since the cooling system needs to be flushed before fitting a new heater valve I decided to change the thermostat as well. As you may have seen in my other videos regarding thermostat housing leaks on the Fiesta and Ka, these Endura-E OHV engines are reliable but only with regular servicing - and that includes coolant level checks and two year change intervals. The Endura-E is basically a tweaked version of Fords ancient pushrod OHV lump which means an iron block and head. This is why coolant of the correct specification and strength needs to be used to prevent scale and rust build up within the cooling channels and radiator. Fiestas and Ka's from mid nineties up to 2002 need the long life orange coloured antifreeze. (Check your manual for exact type). In the video you can see how gunged up the thermostat was plus it was leaking past the housing and onto number one spark plug which can rust solid into the head if not sorted out. In the next video I will show the installati on of the thermostat AND the new heater valve and refilling & bleeding the cooling system. Stay tuned for more videos coming soon. Video Rating: 5 / 5