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Probe Racing Pistons

S

striker2

Official CEG Vendor
Joined
Mar 15, 2004
Messages
7,903
Location
Arvada, CO
Do not buy Probe Racing brand pistons for the zetec. this is what happend to mine and why i ended up parting the zetec.

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Thankfully it looks like the Eagle rods are still usable, although i will have to take the one rod to a machine shop and get their opinion on it. It looks like its just aluminum melted onto the rod from the piston and it should come off without any issues.
 
Whenever I'm talking to people about building a Zetec, they always want to cheap out and go to the probes because they are $150 less. I always try to explain that in the grand scheme of a $1000 shortblock, 15% more price is worth brand names that are proven, imho.

I have seen one of these threads on basically every site that incorporates a zetec tuning section now, pretty sure.
 
well, at the time i bought them i hadnt read anything bad about the probe pistons in the Zetec. then shortly after this happened, back in April, i read lots of threads on the Focus boards about other people having the same kind of problem with their Probe pistons.
 
Yep. Price is appealing. Results are not.

This guy on TeamZx2 has a hugggeee build going. Hes looking for 350+ whp.

He's doing a great job but he doomed himself from the begining. He's using Probe pistons.

I wish him luck but I have seen this thread way too much to ever go near those things.
 
what sucks is alot of companies build their performance short blocks using Probe pistons. Makes it hard to buy a good short block for a decent price.

next time i build a zetec i will probably go with the Supertech pistons.
 
Yeah. Anything but Probe basically.

I am using Diamond pistons in my build. They were pretty pricey but at the same time the extra $150 is well worth it in my book.

One thing I don't get is everybody buying Crower rods. I have never heard of a problem with a JE but all these people go out and spend over twice as much on just the rods. :shrug:
 
I was using probe pistons on my old build, but I'm pretty sure that the deburring/coating probably added some durability. One thing I noted right out of the box on the probe's was that the machining was extremely sharp. The edges of the valve reliefs was so sharp you could almost cut yourself! This leads to serious hots spot on the piston crown and of course that leads to failure...having the crowns polished and the relief edges "dulled", plus a coating like Swaintech offers should combat this effectively.
 
If all you're going to do is bash the Zetec, then don't post :idea:

And a motorcycle? Seriously? I'm pretty sure every motorcycle in existence is faster than any Contour (with some slight exaggeration) :rolleyes:

People want to mod their cars mostly for personal reasons. Let them be. And besides, a beefed up Zetec will be faster than a beefed up Duratec, so I don't really see what your point is.
 
andreslobo said:
For the amount of money and time, you could buy a 4 or 5 year old stock sport motorcycle that will turn in the 11's with no mods and beat just about any car on the road.
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that is one of the dumbest comparisons ever. you can't compare a car to a bike, they're two completely different vehicles. so comparing that the bike is faster is a stupid comment.

and a zetec might be all that someone has to work with, or hell, maybe they just want to do it to do it. some people like being different and don't go out and buy a bike because they don't want to put the work, effort, or research in to make their car fast enough. :rolleyes:
 
Coming from someone who race both cars and bikes.

It's 100% not the same. No comparison whatsoever.

I love my 4 cylinder Zetec.
 
andreslobo said:
Guys

Why would youse guys try to hop up a 4 cyl in the first place. I just don't get it. Pour alot of time and money into it and you just end up with a faster slow car with a shorter fuse.

No matter how much lipstick you put on that pig of a motor, it will never the a beauty.

For the amount of money and time, you could buy a 4 or 5 year old stock sport motorcycle that will turn in the 11's with no mods and beat just about any car on the road. And riding is alot more fun than driving.
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honestly, go away...If you were on fire I probably wouldn't urinate on you to put you out.

I can tell by your sig that you have probably never contributed anything useful to this board...
 
Thin Skins

Thin Skins

Gentlemen

Such thin skins here. What is the goal here? To make a fast car or to pour money into a slow car to make it a little faster?

Trust me there are much better ways to spend your money. A car is a depreciating asset (some say liability) and while it does help out the economy when you buy anything, it does nothing for your bank account.

The comment on motorcycles was from my own experience, I could go much faster and have much more fun on a motorcycle for much less money. But I see an alarming trend amongst youse guys. It appears that motorcycles either frighten of motorcycles or they are below you.
 
What I really object to was that this thread was a some what informative posting about a certain type of part that a contour zetec owner could use if the wished. You (andreslobo) turned it into some kind of moral diatribe about how we shouldn't pursue a hobby we enjoy, because you can't see how our choices are rational or "profitable". Then you went on some kind of tangent about bikes and how they are faster...No s..t sherlock, IF I wanted a bike I could go out and buy one today. I don't, so I won't... hell, I don't even own a contour anymore, but I don't come on here and spooge about how everyone on here should get rid of their contours and get a Jag, or Volvo, or WRX, or whatever else all of us former contour owners presently drive.

Like I said previously, just go away and let all the starry eyed contour zetec lovers "waste " our money.
 
andreslobo said:
Trust me there are much better ways to spend your money. A car is a depreciating asset (some say liability) and while it does help out the economy when you buy anything, it does nothing for your bank account.
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If a car is such a depreciating asset, then WHY would you want a newer, more expensive car that would be worth less than half what it is now in a year? Might as well start with an old, cheap car, like a Zetec, and throw in a grand or so and have a halfway decent/somewhat quick car :shrug:. Your logic is seriously flawed.
 
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