Puma 1.7 VCT from Portugal

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FastLee

Member
Joined
Dec 20, 2017
Messages
38
Location
Lisbon, Portugal
Well.
This will be the thread for all the progress of my Puma 1.7. I Had other fun cars in the past but i wanted a Puma for a while.

Produced in October 1997 , License Plate from January 1998
65000 kms on the clock, from the 1st, 2nd, 3rd turn? Who knows. It feels like a 165000 km car by the way it sits. Probably that's the mileage.

Compared to the Puma prices over here it was really cheap.

The problems:
Blown Head Gasket
Missing interior light
Only has standard key, no Remote Key FOB
Parcel Shelf broken
Boot Struts are only decorative
Originally Cuirass Gray but the previous owner used Matte Gray Liquid Vinyl Paint on It.

Something to be removed in the future but first let's get it running and MOT'd

Some pics

20171222_120633_1.jpg



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20171222_120650_1.jpg
 
I just took it for a half a mile drive here on the street to get a little feel of it. Will start the repairs asap.

Even with the blown head gasket the car seems to run smoothly. I suspect that the thermostat was removed to try to disguise the gasket failure in the past.

The brakes felt quite hard. Don't know if they are like that or not. But something to be checked. I Had several Peugeots 106 Rallye and a GTi and this brakes feel completely different.
The gearbox seems not to like quick shifting. It grinds slightly. Will replace the fluids later on to see if it gets better. Probably the sinchronizer rings already had better days.

Will post the progress over here :D
 
Welcome, conterrâneo!
Glad to have another Portuguese here xD aqui, no meio dos bifes, lol
Okay, first time I heard about a vct with blew up head gasket.
You really sure?
Common problems on these cars are usually the hcv valve that may cause overheating and blow only hot or cold. (válvula da sofagem)
Another usual problem is the valve rocker cover gasket that leaks. (junta da tampa das válvulas. Há de ver se não tem de rever o nível de óleo e se não tem o motor cagado atrás)

Be free to check my topic too
 
Forgot to add: check the servo. Our cars from the first series have servo problems.
About the shifting, while mine shifts well, but slips clutch, yours may have problem in the pressure plate, not de clutching totally.
Better check that too, these cars like to eat clutch kits for breakfast.
If yours still the original, it's due a change. Is the grab point too high and the pedal hard to press?
 
Hi there ;)

The oil filler cap has some mayo and the water expansion tank gets pressure. The car runs smooth but when it starts to heat there is a bit of steam out of the exhaust. I really suspect that there is no thermostat present but still didn't had chance to confirm that.
About the other issues will check that later. According to the last owner the clutch disk is new but have no info about the bearing and clutch press.
The rocker cover leaks. Checked that. But looking from the outside the head gasket also has some oil around it. It is noticeable just behind the intake manifold.

For our local prices the car was really cheap (less than a purple bill :D ) So there's some budget for repairs.
 
Vivas,

I saw the ad for that car and i also saw a bargain right there.
Good Luck :grin:
 
Oh well, first case I'm hearing about.
I wonder how they managed that. Maybe they had a big failure like the hcv or loosing all coolant and didn't noticed it...
I just hope you find a trusty garage and that they will use good parts.
These cars are amazing
 
Well ..

The trusty garage will be my garage. It just depends of my free time.
The goal is to take the car to a track day at Portimao later in next year so i think i will have enough time to fix it. :D
 
Well. Finally i had some time to do something in the garage. wanted to test the car better, as i really did not spend much time with it.

20180104_100003.jpg


Top engine cover has a big leak. Typical as i read. Time for some cleaning.

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Then, first use of the cheap endoscopic camera. Not bad

20180104_110622.jpg


And a cold compression test

20180104_114033.jpg


Then. fitted the spark plugs. Started great. Left it running and just near the middle of the temp gauge i saw a little bit of steam out of the exhaust.

Hot temp compression test revealed cylinder 1 and 4 around 10 bar and 2 and 3 around 9 bar. The leakage is somewhere between them. Used the camera again and found some liquid on the 3rd cylinder ( oil or water )

Car runs great but the compression values look too low for what Audata says they should be (it says 12,4 bar. Really? Is this the expected? I think this number is too high, but not sure)

After this, i need to decide what to go for.
Changing piston rings etc etc i'm not in the mood for it. The piston rings themselves, as far as i know, cost almost what i paid for the car.
Head gasket, valve rotation, valve seals, will this restore some of the lost compression?

Or should i put some connections @UK to work and sort out a good 1.7 VCT engine...

Let's see...
 
Hello,

i have these compressions in my engine just after i buy it .... (engine have 142 000 km when i test it, and run fine)

0770b9549cff7708e2807aa36d63f8f9
 
Wild E. Coyote said:
[post]366962[/post] The compression test value of 12,4 bar at starter speed (and warm engine) is correct.

Thank you for your reply.

So i presume that either piston rings or valves may be responsible for these lower results.
 
Well ...

Some progress is being made.

The engine is half way to get out.

Fiddling with some quite rusty bolts and a left side driveshaft that is stuck in the hub, but things are moving.

Hope to get this done in the next few days.
 
So .. today was the day... engine out

Alone, checking every bolt location.

Fords are a bit diferent from PSA's.. those i already knew every bolt.

But it's out.

tomorrow probably i will put the engine in the stand to start stripping it out.

26992040_10209228447822793_7664638701068868063_n.jpg
 
So. Cylinder Head is out

The head gasket is a Goetze, without markings. Will this still be the original? It's a german brand. Could be OEM supplier.

Visually it looks that there is a leak in the cylinder #3 and probably #2 both from the exhaust side.

Pictures below

20180127_124712.jpg


20180127_124725.jpg


The engine block has some wear. I notice it passing the finger in the top part of the cylinder. But no scratches on the walls.

To those that may know this better than me. Opinions?
 
Passing finger at top and feeling something is normal. That is the TDC area where piston stops and starts going down again. That will be the burned oil. Clean it with something soft (a rag!). Clean the bores but don't scratch them. Just use compressed air and some degreaser and then try again. From experience, nikasil bores are very hard and you should see the honing marks on them.
To be able to do that, you should dismantle the bottom end. Regarding the parts needed for the overhaul there are options, but not from Ford.
I would just warn you about the set of piston rings on ebay advertised as for puma. They are not for puma, but for honda accord A18 engine. The first compression ring on that set is Chromed and I had my doubts about it so I sent email to Mahle since they invented nikasil and here is their response C/P:

'Hello Mr. Tkalcevic,

thank you for your email and your interest for our MAHLE products.

In this case you could take any piston ring, but no ring with the coating: Chrom !
That mean - Nikasil is a very hard coating, so you could'nt use also any "hard - strong ring coating" !

Nevertheless for your Puma engine we have no information about piston -, liner - and ring material - coating.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen / Kind regards

Peter Gann
MAHLE Aftermarket GmbH
Product Management Engine Systems and Components (MDE)'

There is work around that setback explained on other threads on this forum.
 

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