Helping The little DOHC I4 out
 

I have The DOHC i4 130hp motor in the Escort And all I've done is chip it. I tried mom's K&N air filter off her 95 3.0 ranger and it made 0 diffrence which did serperise me because when we put it on mom's truck she got a 2mpg increase and a noticable increase in power which the previous wix only had 5k on the air filterWhat "other" bolt on's are thier I'm not into the SC or nitrus thing as the girl in the grand am burned up her transmission and she canciled the race.. by the grace of god from what you'all tell me. I thought my Zx2 was a resonably quick car but I'm told diffrent on the site. BTF I just did a 0-60 run in 8.1 sec and I "don't think" that is slow but you'all have me really depressed and disappionted in my little car :-huh :-huh :-huh :-huh :-huh :-huh :-huh Later
Dustin

A good underdrive pulley has shown 4-6 ft/lbs and a few horsepower on the dyno. Check out the headers that fit the ZX2, I have seen 7-10 HP gained from them. If you still have the stock intake assembly, remove the 2 resonators and replace with exhaust pipe for a LOT more sound and a little power too. Look around for a ZX2 S/R in the junkyards and take the catback exhaust, or make your own. Zetecs sound pretty good with Magnaflow muffers and resonators. Cam gears make a world of difference, but only if tuned on a dyno. The reason being, Ford only "ballparked" the cam timing on the Zetecs, since there are no timing marks on the factory gears. Since no 2 are timed alike, the only way to truly know if they are tuned right is with some dyno time. IIRC, SCC magazine got 12 HP at the wheels just by retiming the cams on a Focus. Yes, the timing can be that far off.

After you are done modding, send that chip out to be reprogrammed to work with the mods you installed. You will notice the difference.

Check out contour.org, ZX2.com, the Focus and the 99-02 Cougar sites for a lot more info on modding the Zetec. They all share the same engine, except only the Contour/Cougar has VCT (Variable Cam Timing- its not for performance, only for emmissions) unlike the Focus.

Your ZX2 is a pretty quick car, it will hold its own against quite a few of its competitors, except of course the factory turbo'ed cars. With a 5 speed, they have great torque for a 2.0 liter engine. Having an auto tranny absolutely kills them.

What are resonators?? Where exactly are they located?

Resonators remove certain sounds and noises to make the car quieter. Similar to mufflers, but they are only meant for certain frequences and pitches.

There are 2 on your intake. The 1st is just before the throttle body. Its a box in the intake tube that points toward the windshield. Basically take an exhaust pipe or some other tubing the right size and replace it. Its almost too easy because the resonator is between 2 screw clamps, you dont even have to cut anything. I cant remember exactly where the other one is, it should be between the 1st one and the airbox, and it looks the same. You will get more sound (I think the Zetec sounds great) and a nice improvement in throttle response. Dont expect huge power gains, but the engine will get more air. Air=power

Also check this out- http://www.zx2racing.com/store/thumbnail.asp?cid=30
The upper intake (Z0007-Z) is a good piece.

The exhaust resonator looks like the muffler, and should be under the middle of the car. Your true muffler is at the very back, under the bumper. For a really cheap mod, have a muffler shop replace the res with a straight pipe and you will get a little more sound and power. Some places will do the job for $30-$50. Shop around.

Should I have my chip reprogramed? Is thier an intake out thier that is just flat black and not all "riced" out chrome or blue as i'm not into that I want it to look somewhat factory? What about spark plugs are the factory motorcraft a good replacement as my plugs have 80K miles on them wouldI see a performance or a milage boost if I replaced them?
Thanks you've been really helpful kens64

You can put together something like this. The links for the silicone couplers are about the cheapest you can find. Paint the couplers or get some in black, and it will almost look factory. Total pirce with a K&N filter is under $100, which is far cheaper than any aftermarket kit and flows just as good.

The pic is here- http://www.contour.org/carprofile/fi...gine_bay_5.jpg

The thread is here- http://www.contour.org/ubbthreads/sh...5&o=31&fpart=1

The best plugs for the Zetec are Motorcraft double platinum. It doesnt seem to like much else. Unless your stockers are crap and worn out, you will not see a boost of any kind, except mabye faster starting, and smoother running.

The chip should be reprogrammed after you are done with all the mods you are going to do. Then you tell the reprogrammer what you have done, and he can rework the chip to work with all the aftermarket parts.