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Zetec Swap Write Up

75K views 161 replies 37 participants last post by  Kiwiblue 
#1 · (Edited)
Ok I'm gonna make one of these cause I can't seem to find one. If I seach I just find threads started by someone and all the do is say use the search function. Truth be told the tread doesn't exist.




I'm in the prosess of doing this so I'll post up as I go.

This is a 2002 auto SPI going to a 2002 auto zetec.




What you need if the cars are the same year.

For Zetec:

-Complete engine harness (goes back to fuel pump)
-Engine computer
-Exhaust manifold and flex pipe
-Alternator
-Coolant hoses
-fuel rail fuel line
-Intake tube
-Key reprogrammed (reflashed) required after install
-passengerside engine mount and bracket
-ATX harness
-power steering line and pump
-throttle cable and cruise control cable
-Positive and negative cables
-A/C compressor
-Flex plate




What you can reuse from your SPI:

-Driver side engine mount
-A/C lines
-Transmisson (auto trans is the same, but it is geared different)
-radiator
-axles if not switching from auto to five speed or vise versa.
-coolant tank
-MAF sensor
-air box













What I have now.

2.0 SPI SOHC



This is the donor car I'm taking the parts from.





2.0 Zetec.



Zetec wire harness


Zetec ecu that matches transmission


Zetec alternator


It don't hurt to change the timing belt while the engine is out. plus throttle body seal.


Zetec throttle body and throttle cable


Zetec power steering line.


Zetec engine mount and braket.


zetec water pipe.


Lower zetec water line.












Engine is in now for a test fit and to see what needs to be done with the coolant lines, and harness.
















 
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#29 ·
I own a 2003 Focus LX with manual transmission that a prior owner put a Zetec into - and from the paint marks on the engine, I think that engine came out of a wrecked 2000 Focus. The only way you can tell the swap was done is if you know the LX never came with a Zetec, or you plug into the engine computer and compare the VIN in the engine computer with the VIN on the dashboard.

It's a shame that Ford didn't put the Zetec into all of it's Focuses of those years.
 
#30 ·
Hi All, new to forum. I have joined the 2001 SHOC dropped valve seat club- # 3 intake. 150K mi -been idling wierd when warm for a year. I was the wife's car and nobody including Ford would say why it idled wierd. There is a lot of denial at my Ford dealer; but, they really worked at it to put us in a new one with iffy credit.

Is the Vin 3 2001 donor a suitable vehicle for the swap? After pulling the head and seeing the mess, piston head removed freely, rod bent and 1/8" or more cylinder gouge. Junk. Head looks rebuildable but why? Its quandry: buy a crate remanufactured SOHC and drive it till it drops. The car does'nt have a scratch or even a paint pit. I can wrench at middle skill level, have a degree in electronics and have swapped out big blocks in roomy places... This looks tiny and zero working space. I have fat fingers!

So if this is a suitable donor, what do you folks recommend? The wife bought a new one and this one is just sitting. Now its ok to wrench without potential castration ;-^) It has a year on the tags, a new battery and fuel pump. Inside is clean. What would you do that have swapped em or did a R&R? Thanks much. Jim
 
#31 ·
Vin 3 just means it a zetec that has nothing else to do with any thing. Yea, the closer the years the better. Both being 2001 it the best way to go. Just make sure the transmissions are the same. If yours is auto make sure the zetec donor is auto vise versa if its a manual.

If you buy a remanufactured engine, it will usually tell you if the valve seats have been replaced correctly. It is rebuildable. If the head had been replaced before it dropped it would have also been fine. Most people don't know about the problem till its too late. But all after market and rebuildable company's do and they sell the required heads and engines to make sure your good to go.

Sent from 34.0764° N, 118.4296° W
 
#32 ·
wavetuner, you should have started a new discussion I think since your just asking for an opinion, this thread is more for how to do it and the pitfalls, than an opinion on whether or not to do it.

But I will give an answer with some things to consider:

Cheapest and easiest by far will be a crate SOHC you will not have to mess with the computer or electricals or any of that - plus the wrecking yards are stuffed full of parts for SOHCs. If you are looking towards resale then a completely stock vehicle will fetch the highest price. And really, these engines are light weight so you can easily pull the engine and trans as a unit and put them back in - that is after all how the factory did it.

But, the SOHC is underpowered compared to the Zetec. If your used to your LX with the SOHC and you put a Zetec in it you will likely feel like your holding the car back, the car wants to run. It's a lot more fun to drive.

And now you see why people do these swaps. Your basically trading up from a pedestrian inexpensive grocery getter to a sports car on the cheap. That is what makes the economic sense of it.

And this is where the power train matters. I personally feel if your going to spend the money and time and effort to do the Zetec swap, your wasting your time to do it on an automatic. I find nothing at all sporty about an automatic - others may disagree - but automatics are for soccer moms and old people who can't work the gearshift and mail carriers and other delivery drivers who are concentrating on other things than driving.

So, if I were you and my SOHC was an automatic I'd just sell it, why bother. I might look around for a wrecking yard SOHC - good luck on that - and if I was lucky enough to find one if the price was right I might fix it - then sell it. Some of the SOHC's in wrecking yards do have rebuilt heads - and many rebuilders will tag their heads and it's easy to tell if you know what to look for.

If I had a 17 year old kid that I knew was going to need a car then I might do the crate engine thing and just give him the automatic. I'd rather put a 20 something boy child into an automatic - I know he's going to race the dang thing, do stupid stuff and all of that - might as well make it harder for him to kill himself.

But if my SOHC was a stick shift then I would definitely look at the Zetec swap. I might go so far as to get a crate engine Zetec then haunt the pick-n-pulls for the remaining pieces if I wanted to keep it for a long time.
 
#33 ·
Actually its cheaper to swap to a zetec than to buy a refurbished SPI. That's the reason I did it. If you can get a parts car or a yard willing to let you pick everything you need from a complete car then go for it. I couldn't find a spi under $2300 before shipping, I did the complete zetec swap for $1300 that is with the cost of renting space in a co-workers garage. So technically it was only $800 for the swap. It is very time consuming and can be a bit tedious at times when it comes to the harness. but if you run the main harness with the engine out of the car it makes things a lot easier. I know people who can do the swap over the weekend it took me and a friend a week working on it a couple hours every morning. That includes sourcing parts as I went.

You can easily convert a auto spi, to a manual zetec. No reason to sell it if its a auto. But you will need much more parts.

.
Sent from 34.0764° N, 118.4296° W
 
#34 ·
Btw if you can afford a creat zetec engine then sure go for it. But be aware they won't come complete and you will need a boat load of parts to do a swap. I'm not really sure -most people- actually know how much is needed or envolved to get the swap done, especially doing a five speed swap, weather the car was a five speed originally or not. You will need a complete zetec donor car to pick from reguardless or have a ton of money sat aside. Like 3 to 4 grand if you go the create engine path. But then ask your self is that really worth it. You can buy a nice ZTS for that much.

Sent from 34.0764° N, 118.4296° W
 
#35 ·
Your right in that a used Zetec is cheaper than a SOHC crate, I should have worded that differently - I meant that a SOHC crate is cheaper than a Zetec crate. He was talking about looking at crate engines.

Of course, going for a used engine is much cheaper than crate, but I can't say much about a used SOHC vs used Zetec, I haven't priced something like that. My gut instinct is that finding a used SOHC worth fooling around with would be a lot harder than finding a used Zetec.

Just curious what criteria did you look for when you bought your Zetec?
 
#36 ·
A complete car. Needed to be the same year, and needs to be the same transmission. In order for the ecu to swap easier.

Also keep in mind if going from auto to auto you don't need to swap out the trans. You just pull the block and head and harness. Don't even need to remove the hood.

Sent from 34.0764° N, 118.4296° W
 
#39 ·
I bought a doner car a couple if weeks ago. I had my buddy come over to look at it and he said it would be easier to fix the doner than do the swap. But we like doing body work more than anything else. But I paid 500 for my doner with a clear title. As long as you do all of your own work it shouldn't cost an arm and a leg
 
#40 ·
If I could have found a descent zetec powered focus. I mean descent as in better than mine. I would have been more than happy to swap things over. I had already done a lot of work to my car and did want to see it go, plus I couldn't find a zetec powered car four under 3 grand. The swap was the cheaper choice for me. If I was you and you found a nice focus if not in better shape than what your current focus is then yea I would just fix the zetec donor car.

Sent from 34.0764° N, 118.4296° W
 
#41 ·
Yeah I only had my focus for a month when I blew the engine. Then I found out that the spi engines were junk. So I started looking for a zetec. When I found one I couldn't refuse I picked it up. I won't have very much time to work on it for about a month. But that's a good thing too cuz the weather will warm up a little bit by then
 
#44 ·
Yes.

FYI: 2000-2004 zx3, zx5, sedan and wagons all have the same wheel base.

2000-2004 Zx3, zx5, sedans and wagons are all the same from the bumper to the rear doors. The wagons have different rear doors and different rear suspension.



Sent from 34.0764° N, 118.4296° W
 
#46 ·
I did cut but only to make it easier to swap it in. But no it would have been the same length. Because to swap the harness requires droping the gas tank I didn't want to drop the tank so I spiced wires. The harness is the same from passenger seat back to the tank is the same. Colors and everything so I spliced into there. They both the spi and zetec use the same fuel pump, filter, ect.

A two door focus is the same length from the front bumper to the rear wheels as a sedan.

Sent from 34.0764° N, 118.4296° W
 
#47 · (Edited)
possible spi to zetec swap

I have recently come across a beautiful first gen focus se automatic that has just dropped a valve seat. I know the owner and they are willing to sell for around $400, nothing else is wrong with the car, it has new tires/brakes. my plan is do buy it to repair and sell. I already have replaced a piston and head on my old spi last summer. and it is still running strong. there is a parts zx3 5 speed with 100k on it nearby that I could get my hands on, they are willing to sell the engine and trans + wires for around $800, the problem is that the se is auto and the donor is mtx75. what's my best option? get the zetec? or buy a head + piston like last time. it was about $800 to get my old car running again so its really a matter of difficulty and what is worth the time. I have access to a garage, any ideas? opinions?
 
#49 ·
I have an 02 focus sedan.. and as you might well know the seats fell out of my sohc. My husband and i have done the zetec swap and thankfully i already had the mtx. The issue we have now is that it wont start. Will i need the ecu from a engine that had a 5spd? And what about the p.a.t.s. ring? Could i get the ecu ring and keys from the same car and save the hassle (and expense) of reprogramming?
 
#50 ·
You will most definitely need a ecu from that engine. I'm not completely sure on the pats system. Because it would be hard to find keys from a junk yard car where you might be pulling the ecu from. It would be much easier to just have the current keys reprogrammed. You need to take the whole car in to the ford dealer to have it done. I had mine done for $60 but I've heard others as high as $100. I would call around first.
 
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