jeffw
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| posted on 30/4/14 at 05:24 AM |
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Raceline Zetec Water Rail - Expansion Tank
I'm considering removing my expansion tank from the cooling circuit on the Zetec. Raceline say that you don't need it but I wondered if
anyone on here was running without an expansion tank and if so if they had had any issues?
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DavidW
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| posted on 30/4/14 at 06:42 AM |
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I'm running the water rail without an expansion tank and have no issues on road or track.
David
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jeffw
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| posted on 30/4/14 at 07:25 AM |
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Thanks....have you plumbed it like this
Water pump to bottom of Rad
Water rail to top of Rad
bleed/overflow of water rail to same on rad
?
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britishtrident
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| posted on 30/4/14 at 07:42 AM |
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It is a bad idea to have two expansion caps on a system, but you need an expansion space and Raceline water rails have a reputation on this forum
for causing overheating.
If you want a cooling system that won't cause issues if you have sufficient space at the rear of the cylinder head I would get rid of the water
rail and refit a syandard housing with by-pass.
If you do decide to retain the water rail make sure you have drilled the thermostat and tapped the the water rail on the hot side of the thermostat
to providedsome sort of by-pass flow.
The standard Zetec thermostat housing may not be bling but the thermostat is a very clever bit of design, in contrast the Raceline water rail has
design flaws that have caused over heating problems for a lot of forum members
[Edited on 30/4/14 by britishtrident]
[I] “ What use our work, Bennet, if we cannot care for those we love? .”
― From BBC TV/Amazon's Ripper Street.
[/I]
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snakebelly
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| posted on 30/4/14 at 08:38 AM |
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Never had a problem in about 3 years on our race Zetec using the Raceline water rail installed exactly as suggested by Raceline.
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jeffw
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| posted on 30/4/14 at 09:03 AM |
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The stat is drilled already so no issue there.
I appreciate your dislike for the design BT...
quote:
Never had a problem in about 3 years on our race Zetec using the Raceline water rail installed exactly as suggested by Raceline.
Which is?
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big_wasa
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| posted on 30/4/14 at 09:25 AM |
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Never did a lot of road miles but it wasn't as stable as the oem stat'.
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DavidW
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| posted on 30/4/14 at 10:18 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by jeffw
Thanks....have you plumbed it like this
Water pump to bottom of Rad
Water rail to top of Rad
bleed/overflow of water rail to same on rad
?
Almost, I have it as follows (as per race line instructions which I think are on their website somewhere?)
Water pump to bottom of Rad
Water rail to top of Rad
bleed/overflow at thermostat housing into vented catch bottle.
Once the system has got hot and expelled it's water and found it's level it's it seems to stay static.
I have about a 4mm hole through the stat to help warm up and only one pressure cap in the system which is on the water rail.
Temp seems stable on mine.
[Edited on 30/4/14 by DavidW]
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jeffw
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| posted on 30/4/14 at 10:29 AM |
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I guess you must of capped the bleed on the rad?
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DavidW
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| posted on 30/4/14 at 10:45 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by jeffw
I guess you must of capped the bleed on the rad?
Sorry, forgot that, yes I did.
David
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Paul Turner
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| posted on 30/4/14 at 11:24 AM |
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When I fitted the Zetec in my car in 2001 I did not use forums, I did the research the old fashioned way i.e. speaking to other users and
suppliers.
People who used the Raceline Water rail appeared to fall into 2 camps those who were happy and those who could not wait to junk it next winter. It
certainly looked the part but many owners were having issues with it. Some appeared happy after drilling the holes in the thermostat but that is a
bodge, others were happy after fitting a header tank even though Raceline said it was unnecessary.
People using the original Ford stat housing were a happy bunch once they had sorted the plumbing. Looked at several installs and studied the original
Ford plumbing and it made sense to me. Ford would not have not spent millions developing the cooling system on the engine if a simple system had
worked correctly so why replace what Ford had developed. The bypass circuit allows the engine to flow water whilst it is heating up, the Raceline has
no bypass circuit and can cause problems down the line.
In the 13 years the Zetec has been in the car I have never regretted the decision to use the Ford system. The only changes I have made have been to
replace the plastic stat housing with a cost alloy one off an early Orion Ghia and add a bleed to the radiator.
The temps remain rock solid in all conditions just as Ford intended.
Here are a couple of photo's and a diagram showing the pipework.
[img]
 
[/img]
[img]
[/img]
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jeffw
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| posted on 30/4/14 at 11:37 AM |
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Thanks for that Paul. I've already got a water rail on the car and it has been there for 5 years so I fall into the 'like' camp. I
was just interested in running without a expansion tank, I'm certainly not going back to the stock Ford items.
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snakebelly
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| posted on 30/4/14 at 06:08 PM |
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Full install instructions here:
http://www.raceline.co.uk/uploads/product_images/Instruct%20-%20Water%20Rail%20Fitting.doc
HTH
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jeffw
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| posted on 30/4/14 at 06:18 PM |
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Thanks
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