water rail/pump

[debushau]

Does anyone have experience with the Raceline water rail for the Zetec engine? Does it work well?

 

Is the water pump for the 1.8L Zetec engine exchangeable for 2.0L unit? I have some clearance problems with 2.0 unit and the steering column on my Caterham (the outlet on the 1.8 comes out at a different angle).

 

 

[Michael Peterson]

You need to speak to Brent Chiswick, who frequents this site. He has such a beast, and I know he has sourced parts (sump etc.) from Raceline. I have visited their humble shop and was impressed with parts we were shown. A friendly lot. Try them by phone or web.

 

Cheers!

 

Michael

[julians]

I have a 2.0 zetec with the raceline water rail, and its hasnt given me any problems.

 

Not sure about the water pump though.

 

Julian

 

Edited by - julians on 1 Sep 2001 10:51:55

[Steve W]

Check with Raceline but I think you may need the 1.8 water pump. I have the Raceline water rail on my 2.0 zetec but I'm sure it has the 1.8 water pump. Something about the 1.8 pump runs in the opposite direction?

[allen]

Steve is right, 2L in standard aplication uses a very serpentine belt and runs in the other direction. I believe it can still work quite well but idealy the 1800 is the one to have.

 

Raceline water rail is a nice looking piece of kit and I am sure it works well too, it is hardly essential and there are cheaper alternatives (try James Whiting).

 

Regards

 

allen

 

1800 Zetec - home grown water rail

[metal mickey]

Study the water rail closely and you will see that the thermostat is at the opposite end of the engine to the actual outlet from the block. This is exactly opposite to the original set up on the zetec engine and far from ideal. On start up this means the water/engine warms up quickly, nothing wrong with that but the stat doesn,t open until hot water eventually reaches it and then floods the system with cold water. Not ideal and can be avoided with other systems.

[Fast Westie]

The water rail is quite good, but you will need to drill a small (approx 2mm) in the thermostat to ensure there is some water circulation past it. If you don't the temperature shoots up to over 120C when the engine is warming up.

 

You need awater pump from the 1800cc engine when fitting a 2L to a Caterham - the 2L pump runs the wrong way.

 

The car in front is a Westfie1d wink.gif

[debushau]

I spoke to Raceline and they do an extension which apparently allows the 2L water pump to be used with their water rail. The standard setup and for pre 1998 Zetec engines is the 1.8L water pump. The 1.8L water pump can be used on a new Zetec engine by reversing the drive with some pulley mods. As far as I could gather from Raceline the water rail and the related silicone hose cooling kit they supply are primarily cosmetic in nature.

 

The system does away with the expansion tank and routes from the rail through the thermostat (crossflow style) to the upper radiator hose. The lower hose goes to the waterpump and seems to connect to the rail also (via a junction at the lower hose).

 

My motivation was to get rid of the ungainly long hoses and tubes from the back of the engine and to get some clearance near the water pump (lhd cars have the steering column on that side). Can anyone confirm that the 1.8L water pump has a different angle than the 2L pump?