more on the ford Ka's stupid lack of temp guage

try maplins for a temp gauge, otherwise the custom places

Yes the 1.3 duratec is now a chain cam unit, based on a slimmed down, modded and girdled CVH bottom end with a simplex chain driving a very light weight valve train, known as the RoCam and developed bby some part of Ford in South Africa. (there is also a 95bhp 1.6 unit too)

There is no tensioner, just guides, and only time will tell how they handle being poorly serviced with lack of oil changes. Having said that, it is a low cost, simple, relatively keen working and quiet powerplant with very good low end torque.

Tim..

alec wrote :-

fitted with a temp guage .... and I just hate > > going on long hot journeys= in the thing 'waiting for the red light to> > come on'.

ing that will do the job ? .... something transponderish (a 'sender') in the= coolant at the engine end and a guage to fit on a bracket on the dash and h= eld by a self tapper ? =A0Come time to sell the thing I'd just strip the dev= ice out again.

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---------- my reply------------------- Yeah well ? .... and thats it is it ? .... just buying any old temp guage and nailing it to the dash .... BUT WHERE DO WE GO FROM THERE my friend ? Has anybody hereabouts done it ? In the old days, when you could easy get at stuff (and when it would not have been necessary anyway) a sender probe could have been easily installed on the output side of the thermostat housing (a lug ally welded on and then drilled and tapped one-eighth or larger gas etc) : now, of course, I'd have to half dismantle the damned engine to get at the stat (must admit tho', I have yet to look under the bonnet :-)) Tapped hole done, it'd then have been a bit of trial and error to find the right matching combination of sender and guage ... BUT NOW ...well, for starters I'd say it's not just a case of sending off for a guage as you'd have it ... the main problem is to where locate the 'sender' .... OR, alternatively, suss out if the present sender to the warning light would be of any use - but it won't be as it will be either ON/OFF and not progressively analogue ; whereby a necessarily ever increasing voltage is passed to the guage as the temp rises). alec

On 20 Feb, 17:28, "Tim.." wrote: alec wrote :-

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------my reply----------- Thanks tim .... a bit of good info there ... you seem to know your engines ... no tensioner eh ... now that is a cheapo stunt - there's nothing wrong with a good oil pressured tensioner ... Yes, plenty of torque to shoot you up to 50 smartly ... above 70 pretty useless though (and that's if you can stand the ride above 75 ?) .... What do you mean Tim by 'very light weight valve train' ... meaning the set-up is not overly robust or what ? Another thought ! ... why the 1.3 engine in the lighter Ka and only a 1.25 engine in the basic heavier Fiesta ?... why not just one really good engine in the both of them ? - which begs another question ... which of these two basic engines is the best and most powerfull ? ... and what are the main differences between them ? thanks .... alec

heavier Fiesta ?... why not just one really good engine in the both of them ? - which begs another question ... which of these two basic engines is the best and most powerfull ? ... and what are the main differences between them ? thanks .... alec

1.25 is 16v more bhp and much revvier, I prefer it.

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------my reply----------- Thanks tim .... a bit of good info there ... you seem to know your engines ... no tensioner eh ... now that is a cheapo stunt - there's nothing wrong with a good oil pressured tensioner ... Yes, plenty of torque to shoot you up to 50 smartly ... above 70 pretty useless though (and that's if you can stand the ride above 75 ?) .... What do you mean Tim by 'very light weight valve train' ... meaning the set-up is not overly robust or what ? Another thought ! ... why the 1.3 engine in the lighter Ka and only a 1.25 engine in the basic heavier Fiesta ?... why not just one really good engine in the both of them ? - which begs another question ... which of these two basic engines is the best and most powerfull ? ... and what are the main differences between them ?

Well 5bhp and another 8 valves for starters.

Alas the 16v 1.25 wont fit inder the Ka's bonnet, and if it did, they'd have to raise the price to buy it!

The RoCam has a hollow camshaft, lightweight valve springs and shim tappets which are acted on directly by the cam.

Tim..

----reply-----------> Yes the 1.3 duratec is now a chain cam unit, based on a slimmed down,> > modded

------my reply-----------

------------Tim said----------------- Well 5bhp and another 8 valves for starters. Alas the 16v 1.25 wont fit inder the Ka's bonnet, and if it did, they'd have to raise the price to buy it! The RoCam has a hollow camshaft, lightweight valve springs and shim tappets which are acted on directly by the cam. Tim..

---------my reply-------------- Oh dear ! .... I think you are meaning it has NOT got hydraulic self- adjusting tappets .... correct ?? If so that's bloody pathetic .... back 30 years to Ford Anglia days, every 6 month adjusting tappets. Off course I could have found all this out for myself by just buying a Haynes .... but when a motor has been in production for 10 years or more, you're just buying a load of pages of old dross (enginewise) that's not got anything to do with the latter models i.e. duratec engine Another thought... if there is no timing chain tensioner ... then that is yet another reason not to let the engine overheat. When the engine is newish the chain will probably be quite taut when the engine is cold .... so overheating will cause engine and head expansion etc .... radically increasing the crankshaft/camshaft centres - putting great strain on the front camshaft bearing... therefore imperative good oil used and changed regularly. cheers alec PS .... all the above quite academic of course .... another year and it will be traded in for the new style Ka ... or a Fiesta ?

trouble is most motorists are pretty stupid - why fit expensive gauges, lets fit important stuff like mp3 connectors or bluetooth - all the under

35s in the office thought that the oil pressure warning light was the oil level indicator (?)

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Almost no car needs a coolant temperature gauge because the system just works. Yes, it would be nice to see a potential problem, but modern gauges merely tell you what the ECU wants to tell you, so they invariably only show "cold," "warming up," "normal," "overheat" and "call recovery service" anyway.

I wasn't entirely comfortable with the level of trust involved with our Ka, but after many hours of OBD-II temperature logging, some under quite extremes (track days, high ambient air temperatures, hill climbs, that sort of thing) the cooling system was very robust. It just worked.

Oil temperature would be far more relevant.

But anyway, I'd recommend an OBD-II scanner as a short term solution. Slapping in an aftermarket gauge will look pikey and ruin the elegance of a simple dashboard.

My car has no gauge - just a light. But it also has a level warning light, which seems to be a rather useful thing to have - it tells you you've got a leak before it starts affecting the engine, so you can do something about it.

cheers, clive

Yes: the 9-3 will also tell you if the coolant level is low. And if it's overheating. Thinking about it, not only is there a coolant gauge, but the computer will interrupt you to tell you.

Really, the coolant gauge could be replaced with a "cold engine" light and rev / load limiter... :)

Gauge, light and level sensor on the 75.

Almost every sensor appears to have separate sensors for gauge and light on that car.

SteveH ( snipped-for-privacy@italiancar.co.uk (SteveH)) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

Mmm. I miss the level sensor from the XM & CX. Both of which had gauges and lights. The Saab just has a gauge.

Italian Electrics...