My son and I have just transplanted the complete 1800 diesel power unit from a Sierra into his P100 pick up, including the power steering. It all works fine except the steering which is now heavier than it was when manual, except on full lock. It all appears to be working, the belt is not slipping and the engine slows when you turn the wheel. The only thing I can think of is that the rack ratio is different, but surly there should be some improvment. Can anyone help?
Thanks. Peter.N.
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Peter
I've done the same mod on my P100 [with a Mondeo unit, a cut-down XR shaft and an Escort pump.]
You'll need Granada track rods as the P100 is 2" wider than a Sierra. The power rack is much higher ratio than the manual one and transforms the whole feel of the vehicle.
Have you actually tried it on the road? The power rack feels very leaden and "damped" stationary, but you quickly get used to it. It's not featherweight like an XJ6 - the power goes into up-gearing, not lightening.
Alternatively; have you got all the air out - they can be tricky to bleed. Does the pressure relief hiss at full lock? What pressure are you running in the front tyres? Have the Hooke joint[s] seized in the steering shaft?
Edited by Screwloose on 16/04/2008 at 15:06
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Hi Screwloose
Thanks for the reply, interesting to know you have done the same. I didn't have any problem with the track rods, in fact the steering wheel was straight and the tracking spot on, which amazed me. The other problem we did have was not being able to slide the propshaft on because we had used the Sierra engine mounts which are over 1" shorter than the P100, so the angle of the tailshaft was wrong.
Yes, we have tried it on the road and my son remarked that apart from the heaviness the steering felt very positive, which he liked. The tyre pressure is good but the tyres are lacking somewhat in tread, I think a couple of new ones would make quite a difference.
We have used the steering column from the Sierra also, as the ignition lock was broken on the P100. The steering was fine on the sierra, I know that the P100 is heavier but I wouldn't have thought it would have made that much difference.
The performance at mid range is terrific compared to the old engine which makes me suspect that the turbo wasn't working. The seirra box seems to have longer gearing at least in first and as low speed torque is somewhat lacking, doesn't help pulling away with a load. The P100 had box suffered a broken selector rod, hence the change. Is there anything I can do to improve low down torque which doesn't involve in a lot of black smoke?
Edited by Peter.N. on 16/04/2008 at 22:36
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Peter
I'd be seriously concerned about using Sierra track rods as they only had about 3 threads engaged in the TREs before I changed mine to the longer ones.
Not sure about the gearing issue as I uprated the layshaft bearings on my existing TD box and left it be. To improve the bottom end, an intercooler would be my first choice. The Sierra unit also has EGR, which the P100 unit "lacks."
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Thanks again Screwloose
The track rod adjustment is just as I took it off the Sierra, which is why I was so amazed that it was in track.
We have an intercooler courtesy of ebay, which we had intended fitting but the low torque problem is below boost revs so I didn't think it would help a lot, but we will try anyway.
Are the gearbox parts fully interchangeable? If so I could use the selector shaft from the Sierra box, but I think the P100 box had a hard life and very little oil! The synchros were OK but the bearings sounded noisy.
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Strange? Even the manual P100 racks are 2" wider than Sierra ones - maybe Ford standardized on the Granada lay-out on later ones and changed the steering arms to suit? Might be worth marking a TRE and seeing how many turns are in there.
I recall that non-intercooled P100s are really flat off boost on hot days - hence the intercooler suggestion. Make sure that the pump is set and timed to perfection too - particularly the aneroid unit.
AFAIR the Sierra TD used the MT75 box [with syncro on reverse] and the P100 TD used the older, totally different, Transit/XR4i N-type box that eats the needle rollers on the front end of the layshaft.
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Thanks for saving me the trouble of stripping it down then.
The rack was from a Sierra estate, don't know if that makes any difference. Sierra was 'H' reg and P100 'K' reg
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P100 turbo was quoted at 70ps;the Escort turbo intercooled was quoted at 90ps.So should make a "little" difference.
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P100 also had bigger wheels than the equivalent car-this would raise the overall gearing.
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The easy way of course to tell which box type you have is by the position of reverse
Reverse next to 1st = Type N
Reverse next to 4th = MT75
Cheers
DP
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MT75 has lift up detent on gearknob;on the others,you lift up whole lever or push against spring.
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Both gearboxes have reverse next to first so they must be 'N' type
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