I'm in the process of replumbing my zetec and was wondering if it's possible to ditch the oil/air separator on the side of the crankcase and use only the cam cover breather? I think the blowby should be low enough to not cause a problem but I'm not sure how much oil carry over there usually is on a zetec. Would forcing all the vent gases up the head drains pick up too much oil? Any help greatly appreciated.

Cheers, James.

thats what I've done, Blanked off the oil breather on the side with a 3mm plate and got an oil breather on the rocker cover, I've done about 500 miles with no problems

ATB

Mark

I've got both breathers connected to an oil catch tank and to date have had NO oil in the tank to drain off just a bit of condensation

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Originally posted by Markp
thats what I've done, Blanked off the oil breather on the side with a 3mm plate and got an oil breather on the rocker cover, I've done about 500 miles with no problems

ATB

Mark

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How you plumbed a catch pot in???

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How you plumbed a catch pot in???

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doing mine this way

I tried to explain, I've done exactly like big_wasa.

Mark

Cheers chaps - blanking plate looks like the answer.

Just out of interest, is that a raceline water rail on Big Wasa's engine?

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Originally posted by jhiggi10


Just out of interest, is that a raceline water rail on Big Wasa's engine?

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Hi as said use blanking plate.And also as said race line warter rail has no benifit as it still has to be plumbed with a header tank and then still gives some problems on some cars but once removed problems also dissapear.

cheers matt

I would bow to your experience Matt as I haven’t actually run it yet.

But.

Raceline recommend NOT using a header tank. And im not running a heater. This should give a very easy connection to the rad. Ie water pump to the bottom of the rad and the stat housing to the top of the rad.

I hope not to get problems with localised over heating in the head as there is a bypass in the thermostat.

Raceline blurb
"Raceline use and recommend the 1800 Zetec water pump for all its engine conversions, and when the Raceline water rail is used in conjunction with a 1800 water pump the system operates as follows: the water pump draws coolant from the radiator and pumps it into the water jacket, and as the coolant absorbs heat from the engine it flows back and up into the Raceline water rail at the rear of the cylinder head, where the Ford thermostat housing was previously mounted. Coolant then passes forward along the water rail towards the thermostat housing. From there, it returns to the radiator, provided the thermostat is open. During the warm-up phase a small by-pass hole in the thermostat allows some water flow, so preventing local overheating.

The Raceline water rail is designed for use without a header tank, although it is possible to incorporate one in the cooling system if preferred. We prefer the inherent simplicity and efficiency of running the cooling system without a header tank, the only disadvantage being that the coolant level can not be monitored at a glance as it can with the semi-transparent header tank common to most such systems. Therefore the cooling system must be checked and topped up regularly, and as the coolant heats up and expands the excess will be expelled, allowing the system to find its own level".

Price wise, I would bet there isn’t a lot init if you shelled out on a set of Samco silicon hoses.

Time will tell if its crap

IMHO the water rail is absolutely unecessary except in cases where bulkhead clearance is a problem. I do not think it is a good idea having the thermostat mounted so far away from the cylinder head even with a very small bleed through it, it is much easier to use the Ford system & a length of stainless or ally tube.
Regds
Ian

My raceline water rail has never given me any trouble, car heats up quickly to 90 degrees and more or less stays there (84 degree stat with a single 3mm hole drilled in it). Much simpler pumbing. All I have is the rail and a small pipe connected to the thermostat housing which is connected to a nissan micra "K type" overflow bottle mounted in the nose cone (not a pressurised expansion bottle). When the car is hot the pressure cap opens on the thermostat housing and ther coolant is able to expand into the bottle as it cools down it is drawn back into the engine.

works for me

Hi as i said some cars get problems not all but it is always the warter rail at fault .As when it's removed problem is also gone. If you do some research on the wscc site you will find that the one cure is to fit a header tank and if that don't cure it then remove the rail. Hence the reason there is so many seconhand ones around.

cheers matt