[Mandroid]

The poor, poor SPI gets a bad wrap for its well known issue (valve seat failure).

i wanted to get a few things straight though, SPI stands for "split port induction" NOT "split port injection"! big difference. "The 2.0 L was introduced in the 1997 Escort (North American) sedan and wagon as SPI2000 (Split Port Induction). It now used split port induction (A type of VVT system)"- wikipedia, it has nothing to do with fuel injection.

I know that the SPI is a finicky little engine and if you don't take care of it or follow the service interval, you will pay.

"Despite its considerable shortcomings in terms of Noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH) and its intolerance of poor or neglected servicing, the CVH was regarded as being a very easy engine to tune, with many of its key components being considerably over-engineered." -wikipedia

"The CVH was notorious for turning its lubricating oil to sludge prematurely if the service schedule was skipped. This tended to cause top end oil starvation & the tortured mechanical noises these engines were known for. Timing belts frequently failed about 60,000–90,000 mi" -wikipedia

"Throughout its 20-year production life, the CVH had a reputation for being almost painfully coarse and noisy at high RPM (CVH, said some pundits, was an acronym for considerable vibration and harshness, other epithets include Clattery Vapid & Harsh ). Jeremy Clarkson famously said of the CVH-powered Escort that "it was powered by engines so rough, even Moulinex wouldn't use them". -wikipedia

like any other engine, if you take care of it, it should take care of you.


Sent from my N9810 using Tapatalk

 

[Jimmy]

I bought mine new on the lot Nov 2001 (2002 SE). Over the next 140k miles, I replaced the battery and fuel pump twice each, spark plugs/wires once. I bought a timing belt around 90k, but it was still in the box of random parts (non cruise steering wheel, old turn signals, radio, etc) when I sold it in Mar 2012. The only engine work it ever needed was about a week before I sold it, when #3 spark plug threads needed a helicoil. I guess I overtorqued it when I replaced the plugs.

It was a damn good car, and I actually looked at the '12 Focus when I was shopping to replace it. Unfortunately for Ford, a reasonably-equipped model had an MSRP about $1500 more than what I paid for a brand new Wrangler, which has a lot more utility for me, though I pay for it at the pump.

Not once did I regret getting an SPI instead of a Zetec. It seemed to take several years before the SPI's problems surfaced, while the Zetec forum/Team Tech were always full of people having sh***y mechanical issues.

 

[OmniFocus]

I don't mean to be "that guy", but Wikipedia has led you astray.

Induction is correct, but injection might as well be interchangeable since it is a port injected engine.

SPI is not in any way "a type of VVT system", but rather a method of increasing port velocity and low speed efficiency without crippling top end performance. Basically it has two intake ports leading to a single valve. The high-flow port is closed during low-speed operation.

The CVH was a basic, simple SOHC engine design, and the SPI head and manifold was just a last hurrah effort to bring it up to 21st century efficiency levels while keeping engineering and costs to a minimum.

The valve seat issue is just an unfortunate materials defect.

Personally, if I were a CVH enthusiast, I'd ditch the SPI head and run an older single port head.

 

[Saabafoo]

"Personally, if I were a CVH enthusiast, I'd ditch the SPI head and run an older single port head."

Omni, can you elaborate on why please?

 

[OmniFocus]

A few reasons:

1) Older heads don't have valve seat issues (though I believe you can peen the seats in place in an SPI head).
2) Simpler, less complicated inlet manifold.
3) Easier to enlarge inlet port for a nicely reworked head.

Basically... there is nothing wrong with keeping the SPI head, but I feel the SPI dual inlet port likely compromises ultimate performance in favor of efficiency.

Let's be clear here, I'm NOT a CVH expert, but I have a soft spot for simple SOHC engines.

 

[Mandroid]

A few reasons:

1) Older heads don't have valve seat issues (though I believe you can peen the seats in place in an SPI head).
2) Simpler, less complicated inlet manifold.
3) Easier to enlarge inlet port for a nicely reworked head.

Basically... there is nothing wrong with keeping the SPI head, but I feel the SPI dual inlet port likely compromises ultimate performance in favor of efficiency.

Let's be clear here, I'm NOT a CVH expert, but I have a soft spot for simple SOHC engines.

Unfortunately your first statement is incorrect. The cvh has had valve seat issues since the 1.9 sefi

 

[Sniper Focus]

Unfortunately your first statement is incorrect. The cvh has had valve seat issues since the 1.9 sefi

I had a second gen Escort 1.9 years ago (91-96) and they were notorious for valve seats. On the Escort forums people used to do 2.0 head/engine swaps because it was believed that the valve seat issue was resolved. Years later we find that it wasn't.

I can't remember if the very first gen was good or not....

 

[dfoulk]

I never had valve seat problems with the 1.9 CVHs I used in my 1988 Escort GT. The ones I had all came 88s or 89s. The original engine did burn an exhaust valve.

 

[amc49]

The guy who lived next door to me had a '93 escort 1.9 that dropped a seat, I diagnosed it for him.

 

[ToolMan1]

I have a 2002 Escort SE (2.0 SPI) that dropped it's # intake seat at 185'000 miles. Which, naturally, gave me the perfect excuse to rebuild it into a much more interesting machine. Starting with a rebuilt head with solid valve seats (as opposed the the Ford powdered steel seats), the entire upper end from the throttle body to the header was gasket matched and ported; total flow at the stock .402 valve lift was increased 15% with a dramatic increase in flow velocity. At .452 lift, total flow increased around 30% (the magic point for SPI valve lift is .440 or higher, as this gets the intake valve completely unshrouded and out of the "flow curtain area"). I installed Isky Cams grind number HR-876 to get .452 lift and 248* total duration (200* at .050 lift). The block was decked .010 and the head was decked .020, raising the compression to nearly 10:1. Tuning was done with an SCT XCal 2 (I have base tunes for 87 and 91 octane). The 91 octane tune makes about 135 HP at the wheels at 6200 RPM with about 160 ft/lb torque at 3800 RPM, with a virtually flat torque curve from about 2800 up to about 5200. This just happens to be the limit for the stock injectors and MAF sensor calibration. Its good for mid 15s in the quarter on good weather day. And still gets 25 mpg in town and 35 mpg at 70 on the highway. Just thought I would let you guys know what is possible with the 2.0 SPI.

 

[Jimmy]

That's pretty damn impressive. Out of curiosity, do you have a ballpark figure of how much you invested in that?

 

[ToolMan1]

That's pretty damn impressive. Out of curiosity, do you have a ballpark figure of how much you invested in that?

Well, to start, I can tell you that it would have damned sight less expensive if I had done it before the #4 intake seat dropped!
But, let's see if I can remember to ballpark accuracy. (this was 2008) Also, I had zero labor expense (except for machine work) because I do my own wrenching.
1) refurbished replacement head: $200ish
2) four each, new OEM piston/rod assemblies (fully assembled, included new rod bearings and rings): $450ish total
3) Full gasket set: $150ish
4) Timing belt/tensioner/water pump/serpentine belt/tensioner/thermostat/all hoses/and everything else that is a wear item that was easy to get to because all the engine crap was out of the way: $400ish (omit doing these things at your own peril)
5) three flow bench sessions on the upper end assembly (throttle body/intake manifold/IMRC assembly/cylinder head) $150ish
6) Block and head truing and decking/three angle valve and seat cut $150ish
7) Isky cam regrind (I actually have no memory the actual cost on that, but Ima estimate) $150ish
8) eight new lifters: $150ish
9) eight new Ford 2.3 SOHC springs $50ish
10) SCT Xcal tuner with base tunes from (ironically) Focus Power: $350ish
11) Pace Setter header: $130ish (I know, I know, it is far from the ideal design but, it still flows a bazillion times better than that horridly restrictive stock manifold, and it was the quickest available)
12) Magnaflow metal matrix performance catalytic converter: I have no idea now $200ish?
13) custom bent 2-1/4 inch exhaust $120ish?
14) Flowmaster Series 40 Deltaflow muffler: $50ish? and a 20 inch glass pack $30ish
There were probably more odds and ends, but this is what I can remember for sure. So, this totals: $2600ish. If you haven't trashed the motor with a dropped valve seat yet, you can knock off about $600 or $700 worth of replacement parts.
Was it worth it? Hellz yeah, it was worth it! So it's only a 15 second car. That is still 3 full seconds quicker than when it was new. And its quick enough that I can get the jump on unsuspecting "real performance car" drivers and keep ahead of them long enough to claim a kill. It is quick enough that people disbelieve their own eyes. Oh, and it looks kinda like a POS right now, to make it even better:evilgrin:

 

[Jimmy]

That's actually quite a bit less than I expected. Nice work.

 

[ToolMan1]

That's actually quite a bit less than I expected. Nice work.

At the time, I worked part-time at AutoZone as a second job, so that helped a bit. I did forget to mention 2 dyno tuning sessions in the total. Don't really remember what that came to, but it is absolutely required to make all that additional flow run properly and get best power and efficiency. I think i will leave it looking like a pile of crap for now, since I am using it again as my daily driver for now (my older daughter has had it for the last 5 years, and I just got it back from her in May. I think that girl could ruin a Match Box car!!!). Any ricer who fails to notice the Falken RT615K tires, or doesn't realize what they hint at, is in for an embarrassment. I'm actually beginning to collect parts to build it into an SCCA ITC road racer. The cam regrind and port work are technically not allowed in IT classes, but Escorts hardly ever get tech challenged by the brand snobs; they would prefer to believe they were out-driven rather than out-performed by "just an Escort". Need a 6-point cage, K-Sport coilovers, 15x6 lightweight rims (biggest size allowed for IT "C" class cars), some Mazda MX-3 suspension and brake bits (they are direct bolt-ons, so they are allowed), approved racing seat, harness, strip the interior to bare metal, and try to get the race weight down to 2400 lb with driver and full fuel. And, NOT tell my insurance company that I will be racing it in sanctioned events, because I will be keeping it insured and tagged so I can drive it to autocross events, and occasionally harass the unsuspecting "real performance cars" on the street. This is going to be fun.

 

[bustonit]

The SPI....the next frontier. Why the hell not. Every freakin thing else has been done. How about a 5 speed SPI wagon build....I don't know. trying not to be bored.

 

[ToolMan1]

The SPI....the next frontier. Why the hell not. Every freakin thing else has been done. How about a 5 speed SPI wagon build....I don't know. trying not to be bored.

The fastest street legal SPI car on the planet was built by a guy that goes by the screen name of "foundnemo25". It's a '95 Escort. 2.0 block bored out to 2.2, custom Ztec length rods on custom pistons, stock crank (shot peened for sress relief), ported/flowbenched upper end, Isky custom ground cam, and making about 10.2:1 static compression, and lots of custom tranny work to keep it together. I don't remember what turbo he is using, but he has tuned it at high as 22psi on unleaded race gas. On 22psi both the torque and horsepower are nearly 450. His best 1/4 mile, last I remember, was a 11.12 at 128 mph. With a 6-point cage, FULL interior, and a big sub-woofer box in the back. He may have gone high 10s by now if ever stripped the interior. Lesson: creativity and desire can nearly always trump ready-made off-the-shelf Honda parts that were bought on mommy's credit card. Yes, there are plenty of 400-plus Hp Hondas and Toyotas etc. running around, but NONE of them come anywhere near 450 ft-lb of torque! And the torque curve on this SPI mini monster is nearly a flat line from about 2800 to about 5800 rpm.

 

[TSI_Focus]

Well built Zetec's can do the same thing no problem. DOHC means better head flow and less turbo lag. It's a nice idea and can be done, but it's hard to deny the disadvantages. There is wicked fast SN-95 Stangs as well, but the DOHC mod motors after them are cheaper to get the same numbers from.

 

[Jimmy]

There's something to be said for originality of a project, too. I'd rather build something unique than show up to a show with an engine identical to everyone else there, which is what you get at many import shows. I'd rather mod an SPI just for the hell of it than a Zetec.