KNOW THIS: Duratec HE tuning guide
How to get more power out of Ford’s modern 16-valver — and fit one, too.
The Duratec HE I- 4 is Ford’s 2-litre-based inline four-cylinder engine — in fact, it’s often simply called an I- 4, but in Ford-speak that’s actually a generic term meaning inline four. Luckily, everyone else knows it as a Duratec — but HE to distinguish it from everything else. Ford loves a bit of engine-naming confusion!
The Duratec HE replaced the Zetec in the Mondeo in 2001; breaking tradition in that it doesn’t actually derive from Ford. It has an enormous amount of Japanese influence — it’s efficient, light, free-revving, has the crank sited up in the block, and so on. But we’ll come on to these in more detail.
The Japanese characteristics are because the Duratec’s roots are in Mazda engines — Ford bought the company, therefore the use of a ‘world’ engine to power everything in its range makes sound economic sense. However, due to this the engine doesn’t have Ford-pattern anything — for example the bellhousing is completely different. So it could be argued that the Zetec was the last true Ford engine. Furthermore, this could well be one of the last ‘larger’ mainstream engines because the world now favours smaller units with turbos, so make the most of it!
You’re likely to find a donor Duratec HE in a Mk3 Mondeo, Mk2 Focus and Mk5 Fiesta ST150, plus there’s a 2.3-litre version available in the States. It’s easier to find and base a build on a 2-litre, although greater gains can be had if you put the effort into sourcing the larger unit.
The engine is excellent, and there have been very few basic revisions — the main being a slightly revised-port cylinder head in the 2008-on engine, worth around 10 bhp at higher levels of tune. Here’s what you need to know.
INTERNALS
The crank is immensely strong being Spheroidal Graphite (SG) and will rev to 8000 rpm, although it’s the usual story that the rod bolts should be changed as a matter of increased insurance.The bearings are of tin aluminium alloy, meant for cruising rather than performance — they’re best changed, too.
Like the crank, the rods are extremely svelte, albeit a bit boxy in appearance, yet they too will rev to a similar level. They conform to current design criteria, being ‘broken’ construction, which is efficient in production.They’re made in one-piece, laser scored and then control-broken, making the perfect mating surface in one easy operation. Pistons also resemble race ‘slipper’ pistons with slim skirts and Fluorocarbon coating — these too are cast and have a restricted level of duty.
In terms of revs the limit is about 8000 rpm, which equates to around 220-240 bhp of tune. After this, all the bottom end components become redundant; dictating the use of steel rods and crank, and forged pistons. These will also serve to up the compression ratio to achieve higher rates of tune — if you require it.
Plenty of components are available from the Duratec specialists — SBD Motorsport, Burton Power, Dunnell Engines; the list is extensive. However, each has their own tried and tested upgrade combinations, which apply to all areas of this engine. It is unwise to mix-and-match since unpredictable results may occur. It’s not unknown for standard-based engines to produce the aforementioned power levels, while the top end is 300+bhp — and that’s still NA power!