[car home Engine Disassembly] Engine energy saving and emission reduction is the general trend. In order to comply with the trend, major automobile manufacturers around the world have introduced small-displacement turbocharged engines to win market opportunities. American manufacturers, who have always been regarded as keen on large-displacement engines, have also actively carried out research and development of small-displacement turbocharged engines in recent years. Ford is one of them, and its latest 1.5T EcoBoost engine (hereinafter referred to as "Ford 1.5T engine") is the first to be installed on the 2013 Changan Ford Mondeo. After the launch of Changan Ford Mondeo, the 1.5T engine was also mounted on the main models of Changan Ford such as Maverick, Focus and Taurus. What we are going to dismantle today is this Ford 1.5T small-displacement turbocharged in-cylinder direct injection engine. What kind of characteristics does it have? Let’s find out by disassembling it.
Low Ford 1.5T engine of those things.
European emission regulations have always been very strict, forcing manufacturers to improve their engine design to reduce emissions. Therefore, Ford European technical team has more mature experience in developing low-emission engines. The 1.5T engine to be dismantled today is a small-displacement turbocharged direct injection engine designed by Ford European technical team.
This Ford 1.5T engine is a global engine product, which means that its emission level can meet the emission targets of all countries in the world. When the engine is put into a specific market, it must be adjusted domestically to meet the local use environment. China has a vast territory, a large latitude span, and a large altitude difference and temperature difference. The engine engineer in charge of domestic adjustment must go to cold yakeshi, hot Hainan and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau with thin air to adjust the parameters of the engine management system accordingly, so as to ensure that the engine can work efficiently and stably anywhere in China.
The 1.6T engine is equipped with an external air-cooled intercooler, and the exhaust manifold is not integrated in the cylinder head. The 1.5T engine is more mainstream in configuration, adopting water-cooled intercooler integrated in the intake manifold and integrating the exhaust manifold into the cylinder head. This Ford 1.5T engine can be regarded as an improved model of 1.6T, adopting more mainstream technologies.
| Comparison Table of Parameters of Ford’s Two Small Displacement EcoBoost Engines (Parameters from Changan Ford Maverick) |
| project |
Ford 1.5T engine |
Ford 1.6T engine |
| displacement |
1499mL |
1596mL |
| Maximum power |
181 HP /6000rpm |
177 HP /5700rpm |
| Peak torque |
240 N m /2000-4500rpm |
240 N m /1750-4500rpm |
| Cylinder diameter x stroke |
79mm X 76.45mm |
79mm X 81.4mm |
The 1.5T engine reduces the displacement by 0.1L, but the power is increasing (the maximum power is increased by 4 HP, and the peak torque value remains unchanged). In China, the consumption tax on vehicles with 1.5T engines is 3%, while the consumption tax on vehicles with 1.6T engines is 5%. Without the 2% tax saved by 0.1L displacement, the Ford model with 1.5T engine has higher flexibility in pricing, which is conducive to improving the competitiveness of the model. It can be seen that Ford has already considered China’s tax policy when planning the engine product. (Vehicle consumption tax is included in the vehicle price and paid by the vehicle enterprise to the state)
Ford didn’t follow the Volkswagen who pushed the dual clutch. The 1.5T engine was matched with a 6-speed automatic gearbox, which is what I like to see. After all, with more products, consumers have more choices. Moreover, the performance and transmission efficiency of the mainstream 6-speed automatic gearbox are not low, and it has a good performance in shifting smoothness and durability, which is a recommended configuration.
In the same class with Ford 1.5T engine, there are not a few models with 1.4T, 1.5T and 1.6T engines. General 1.5T engine and Ford 1.5T engine are in direct competition because of their close displacement, while Volkswagen 1.4T engine and Citroen 1.6T engine are also two powerful competitors.
| Parameter comparison table of three mainstream 1.5T engines |
| name |
Ford 1.5T engine |
General 1.5T engine
（LFV） |
Volkswagen 1.4T engine
（EA211） |
Citroen 1.6T engine
（10UF01 5G02） |
| Cylinder number |
four |
four |
four |
four |
| displacement |
1499mL |
1490mL |
1395mL |
1598mL |
| Maximum power |
181 HP /6000rpm |
169 HP /5600rpm |
131 HP /5000rpm |
167 HP /6000rpm |
| Peak torque |
240 N m /2000-4500rpm |
250 N m /1700-4400rpm |
225 N m /1400-3500rpm |
245 N m /1400-4000rpm |
Ford 1.5T engine is more focused on power output. Compared with other manufacturers’ 1.4T, 1.5T and 1.6T engines, the power output of this engine has obvious advantages. In terms of torque output, the torque output of Ford 1.5T engine meets the standard of mainstream 1.5T engine.
The 1.5T engine mounted on Changan Ford is produced by Changan Ford Motor Co., Ltd.. The engine we disassembled this time is a teaching prototype, and some parts are slightly different from the mass production model. Before it’s too late, let’s completely disassemble this engine!
● Overhead direct injection system
Ford 1.5T engine adopts overhead in-cylinder direct injection system, and the high-pressure gasoline nozzle is located at the top of the combustion chamber. Unlike the side nozzle, the overhead nozzle will not spray gasoline on the cylinder wall, thus avoiding the "wet wall phenomenon". Wet wall phenomenon will lead to engine oil dilution, fuel economy decline and emission increase.
● Turbocharging system
The turbocharger used in Ford’s 1.5T engine is provided by Borg Warner, and the maximum speed can reach 150,000 rpm. The maximum pressurization pressure of the turbocharging system of the engine can reach 1.5Bar. Like Volkswagen 1.4TSI engine and general 1.4T engine, this engine adopts an integrated exhaust manifold which can improve the thermal efficiency of the engine.
Compared with the turbocharging system, the overhead direct injection system of Ford 1.5T engine has more "gold content". Geometric modeling of piston crown, angle of oil jet from nozzle, position of spark plug, organization of intake and exhaust airflow and later verification of combustion system all need a lot of time and rich experience.
● Variable intake and exhaust valve timing system
The advantage of variable intake and exhaust valve timing technology is that the combustion exhaust gas can be removed from the cylinder by fresh air through the overlapping angle of intake and exhaust valves with a large angle to improve combustion efficiency and power output. The application of large-angle overlap angle of intake and exhaust valves in manifold injection engine may lead to the waste of fuel and increase fuel consumption. However, the in-cylinder direct injection engine does not have the above concerns, and can control the fuel injection timing and not inject fuel during scavenging, so that the gas used for scavenging is fresh compressed air without gasoline, and the fuel consumption is not increased while the combustion exhaust gas is removed. This is also one of the reasons why the mainstream direct injection engine is fuel-efficient now.
● Valve drive structure with simple structure
Ford 1.5T engine does not adopt roller rocker valve drive structure with complicated structure but lower friction coefficient, but adopts valve top cylinder drive structure with relatively simple structure. However, through the optimization design of camshaft, this valve drive system effectively meets the corresponding design objectives and realizes the balance between cost and benefit.
The use of timing belt is beneficial to reduce engine noise. The engine adopts a simple top cylinder valve drive structure, but some designs are adopted on the cam and valve seat ring to reduce friction and improve durability. The adoption of variable intake and exhaust valve timing system enables the engine to flexibly control the overlap angle of intake and exhaust valves, which makes the engine exhaust more smoothly under high load, and at the same time, the fresh air entering from the intake valve can completely "clean" the exhaust gas in the cylinder, which improves the efficiency of the engine.
● Reinforcing structure of cylinder block/cylinder head
Some structural designs are adopted on Ford 1.5T engine to strengthen the strength of cylinder block. The improvement of the overall strength of the engine not only improves the service life of the engine, but also has certain benefits for the NVH characteristics of the engine.
● Unique coolant tank, cylinder net pattern and oil nozzle.
In addition to the above-mentioned cylinder reinforcement structure, the cylinder of Ford 1.5T engine has more unique designs, and the shallow groove between the cylinders is one of them.
● Integrated intercooler
The first step of engine operation is to inhale air from the environment, and for turbocharged engines, the air from the environment will be turbocharged first, and then it will be sent to the cylinder after the air pressure is increased. The blades on the turbine compressor do work on the air, which will increase the air temperature. In order to further improve the density of compressed air, increase the amount of oxygen entering the cylinder and increase the output power of the engine, there will be a device called "intercooler" in the intake system of turbocharged engine, and its function is to cool the pressurized air. According to statistics, under the same air-fuel ratio, the engine power can be increased by 3% ~ 5% for every 10 degrees Celsius drop in the temperature of pressurized air.
A large number of reinforcing structures are adopted on the cylinder head and cylinder block of Ford 1.5T engine to enhance the overall strength of the engine. However, the coolant tank between the cylinders and the crankshaft bearing cover bracket are very special, which are rare in other engines of the same class.
● Vacuum pressure storage tank for start-stop system.
We saw a box as shown above the intake manifold of Ford 1.5T engine. This box is actually a vacuum pressure storage tank, which is connected with a vacuum pump to store the negative pressure required by the brake booster pump. Then why do other models rarely see this device?
● Mechanical variable displacement oil pump
Ford 1.5T engine uses a mechanical variable displacement oil pump, which realizes two-stage variable displacement through internal mechanical structure. At low speed, the displacement of oil pump is kept at a low level to reduce power loss; At the middle and high speed, the displacement of the oil pump reaches the maximum, providing sufficient lubrication for each friction pair of the engine.
● Breaking connecting rod and casting crankshaft.
Like the engines of many mainstream joint ventures that we have dismantled, the Ford 1.5T engine uses a high-cost expansion-breaking connecting rod. The crankshaft is made of cast crankshaft, and in order to realize light weight, only four balance weights are designed.
Full text summary:
This 1.5T engine, developed by Ford’s European team, has undergone various bench tests and hundreds of thousands of kilometers of road tests before it is put into production in China, which ensures the high stability of the engine in extreme use environments such as high temperature, cold and high altitude, so as to meet the complex vehicle environment in China. Matching with this Ford 1.5T engine is a 6-speed automatic gearbox, which has a good performance in shifting smoothness and durability, and also meets the higher requirements of China consumers on comfort and product durability. (Photo/Text/Photo by Chang Qinglin, car home)
Related reading:
1.5T is very eye-catching! Comparative test of Mondeo 1.5T/2.0T
http://www.autohome.com.cn/drive/201312/687786.html
