2.0 Ecoboost to RWD, A Brief How-To
Posted by Robert Culbertson
Out of this dumpster fire Ultra Moderator Join Date: 08/15/2010 Posts: 1,236 |
I'm going to try and keep this short and to the point. There will be many different cars this swap will fit into, and each of those will have their own unique issues. I will add a few specifics when it comes to the Merkur XR4TI, as that is what I was working on. The swap to a modern powertrain in The New and Improved Merkur came about after a simple cost/benefit analysis. The stock 2.3 motors are cheap, but this particular car had 3 engine failures (and resulting DNFs) in one season. There was a hole in a piston, a blown head gasket, and a blown turbo. All of the issues happened at lower than stock boost. The cost to build up a better performing 2.3 engine started to get a little spendy with new pistons, aluminum head with a proper camshaft, and an aftermarket ECU that was properly tuned for the engine and power levels desired. This was in the range of $7-8K with all new parts including the ECU. The Ford Duratec/Mazda L engine is used in a wide range of vehicles from Ford, Mazda, and Volvo. The displacement in the US ranges from 2.0L to 2.5L with forced induction varieties at 2.0 and 2.3L. From what I can tell, the bell housing bolt patterns are all the same. There are slight variations in motor mount locations. RWD transmissions for the Duratec/Mazda L (available in NA) are mainly the Ranger 5spd, and the NC Miata 5/6spd transmissions. The NC/duratec Miata places it on the left hand side, where the NB miata places the starter on the right side of the engine (which will not work on a Duratec engine). A quick break down of the costs associated with the 2.0 Ecoboost swap; -2.0 Ecoboost $1000-$6600. This engine is used in the Focus ST, Edge, Escape, etc. Car-part.com lists prices from $1000-3000 for a used engine with varying amounts of mileage. I was able to find a VERY low miles engine, complete with the full intake system, wiring harness, ECU, exhaust down pipe, and catalytic converter. - 5 or 6spd transmission from a NC Miata ($300-$1300, car-part). This is the part that makes the swap easy. -NC Miata clutch kit $850. Steel flywheel, 6-puck ceramic sprung disk, heavier pressure plate, and slave cylinder. This was all sourced from Goodwin Racing. -Mazda trans to 7260 slip yolk, $51. Fort Wayne Clutch -NC Miata starter $50 from Ebay. -Ford Ecoboost Controls pack $1500-$1650 from various sources. -Gauges are done with a 7in Samsung tablet and a OBD2Link Bluetooth adapter -Custom Oil Pan $400. The stock NC Miata pan may work, but it's cast aluminum and that scared us. Luckily, there was/is a guy over on the turboranger forums making rear sump turbo duratec oil pans. The sump has to be modified slightly to clear the XR cross member. You could also move the engine back another 1-4 inches as well. I had a few of the welds weep a bit of oil, which will someday get fixed. XR Specific changes: The firewall has to be modified to clear the water outlet on the rear of the engine, and to allow for the sump to sit behind the cross member. After some measuring, I was able to place the output of the transmission in the same spot as the T5 that was in there. This allowed me to use a conversion u-joint and retain a stock driveline. By adding some clearance room, the heater needed to be relocated. Which is good, because the blower bearings fail more than an old Volvo, and they are impossible to find rebuilt. A universal Summit Racing heater box was used. They are ~$150, and are amazing. Motor mounts were fabricated. Typical motorsports-style tube mounts. The mounting ears are low on the frame horns which make servicing the engine much easier over the mounts that were originally in the car. Note to others: the kit from retro-ford.uk will mostly fit. The tubes are too short and the right side engine plate will not fit. Nice kit otherwise though. Air intake tract is straight forward. There are 2 ( I can't stress this enough!) air temp sensors that must be used. I was able to scavenge these from the intake system that came with the engine. One sensor is just post the airfilter, the other is post intercooler. I did have to lengthen one of the sensor leads to reach to the front right corner of the car. There are weld in bungs available for this sensor ($20), but I machined some. The ECU uses a MAP based tuning strategy, which works pretty good when you blow your intercooler plumbing apart or if you have an old leaking Volvo intercooler 
One hurdle is the coolant lines. This was remedied by a quick trip down to the local autoparts store. I'll grab the hose numbers off the car when I get a chance. Wiring up the controls pack is pretty straight forward. The manual from Ford is not finished yet, but if you bug them they'll send you a pre-release version. One note on that: the starter relay is powered through the electric fan lead. This was the source of a few hours of confusion until I was able to get a full pinout for the ECU and the Controls Pack from Ford. Hydraulic power steering is retained by using a Ford Ranger power steering pump on a custom bracket to allow belt tensioning. A stock ranger high-pressure hose with a #6 JIC fitting TIG welded to the hard line. The mounting bracket is not the best solution, but it does work. I tried to find a decent spring loaded tensioner, but I just could find much that would work. Also, there is a engine mounting boss on the front of the timing cover that interferes with the stock Ranger pulley. So the timing cover would also need to be swapped out, or spacers used for the pump. If anyone figures out a decent electro-assist column, I think that would be a good solution. Hopefully this helps those that are looking at doing a swap in the future. If you have any questions, ask away and I will try and answer them as best I can. I also added a dyno graph of the stock ST ecoboost and what they are tuned for with the Ecoboost controls pack. 350 ft-lbs -> mmmmmmmmm... torque. Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/05/2015 06:46PM by Robert Culbertson. |
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