Page 3 - F-Series Super Duty

It wasn't too long ago that we saw our 2011-2017 Ford Powerstroke 6.7L air-to-water intercooler on the flow bench. We talked about flow rates, and pressure drop, and learned that our intercooler flows air about 22% better than the stock cooler. Soon, we'll see how that increased flow translates into power on the Dynapacks. But first, I wanted to circle back to our original goal for this project: make the intercooler stronger.

We started this project over a year ago after finding reports of owners and shops chasing disappearing coolant. Further inspection would show that the stock intercoolers were leaking internally, and the coolant was making its way into the engine. While we didn't see a massive amount of these cases, there were enough reports for us to investigate further. After looking at our own 6.7L shop truck, we determined that we could make a stronger intercooler with a bar-and-plate core and cast end-tanks. We were also confident that the truck would make more power with

Intercooler design is a delicate balance of pressure and flow. Too much flow means that the charge air does not stay in the core long enough to transfer heat. Too little flow, and too much pressure, means all the work your turbo or supercharger has been doing is wasted on forcing the air through the cooler instead of into the cylinders. Heat transfer happens rapidly inside an intercooler, so it's difficult to make an intercooler core that has good flow. That doesn't mean we could use just any core in our 2011-2017 6.7L Powerstroke intercooler. Like all our products, this intercooler needed to be extensively tested before it finds its way into our customers' trucks.

In our last post, we looked at our prototype with its 3D-printed end tanks and aluminum bar core. In this post, we'll test real cores with production end tanks to get the most accurate results.

This 2003-2007 Ford 6.0L Direct-Fit Baffled Oil Catch Can Kit is now on pre-sale! Check it out here!

Even if you're good at it, science often takes a long time. It seems like every year we hear about a new scientific discovery that's going to change our lives forever. Within a few months' time, the wonder has faded, and the world has moved on to the next amazing discovery. But science marches on behind the scenes and those wonders live in the shadows until the spotlight is shined on them once again.

Mishimoto isn't immune to the often-sluggish pace of science, but we stick to the age-old adage that if you're going to do something, it's best to take your time and do it right. Better to toil in the shadows than be lazy in the light. After over a year of testing, adjusting, and going back to the drawing board a few times, we finally have a product that we're proud to sell.

Few activities in the automotive world are less fun than trying to gauge the fluid level inside an aging coolant tank. Like cleaning a bathroom drain, it's a not-so-subtle reminder that no matter how clean you keep the outside, there's something nasty happening inside. In the case of the 6.4L Powerstroke engine, the cast iron block and porous plastic tank mean that a grungy brown blob inhabiting your engine bay is inevitable. Oxides and other contaminates will eventually enter the coolant and be spread across the inside of the degas tank.

Considering even the newest 6.4L is eight years old, cracking and leaks may soon become more pressing issues than just being ugly. We've learned from other vehicles that plastic is a cost-effective and acceptable material for most components in the engine bay; but

It's been over a decade since the last 1999-2003 7.3L Powerstroke rolled off the assembly line. A lot can happen to a vehicle in that much time. And, if you're like many 7.3L Powerstroke owners, you've been through more than one degas tank. Over time, the stock plastic tank becomes brittle and cloudy, making it prone to leaks and impossible to see the coolant level. Luckily, Mishimoto has a solution that will look and function in 15 years just as well as it does today.

When we last saw our 7.3L Powerstroke degas tank, we had a sleek design that fit perfectly in the engine bay, but it was formed from bright-orange plastic. Eager to banish as much plastic from the truck as possible, we began our production sample. You would think that after

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As Dan inched our 6.7L F-350 onto the trailer, the October sun beat down onto the black asphalt. It wasn't even 11:00AM and the thermometer read almost 80°F; hot for October in Delaware, but perfect for transmission cooler testing. I climbed into our 6.0L F-250 follow vehicle while Dan cranked down the straps on the trailer and we set out for an afternoon filled with hills and valleys.

Our last look at the 6.4L Powerstroke transmission cooler revealed something a bit out of the ordinary for our blogs. Instead of highlighting all the failures of the stock transmission cooler, we shared that there really aren't many, yet. Yes, the stock 6.4L trans cooler is good enough. Good enough for a stock truck.

What defines a limit? In the English language, a limit is "a restriction on the size or amount of something permissible or possible." In practice, however, limits are not always as rigid. Anybody who's ever mastered a sport or skill will tell you, limits are made to be pushed and broken. A limit is only as defined as one's willingness to accept it. In the automotive industry, limits are often found by exceeding them. We push our cars and trucks until flaws appear, then step back and find a way to make them better.

Physics tells us that almost everything has limits, whether or not we've found them yet. Air at a certain temperature can only absorb so much heat energy, and transmission fluid loses its ability to lubricate beyond a specified temperature. Add a transmission cooler between the two, and you have hundreds of variables that will decide the limits of what's possible for your truck. In the case of the Ford 6.4L Powerstroke, the limits have yet to be defined.

Tucked between the battery and the radiator, buried beneath a tangle of coolant hoses, lies the heart of the Ford Powerstroke 6.7L charge air cooling system.  This chunk of aluminum, the air-to-water intercooler, is responsible for keeping your workhorse breathing easy.

A freshly cut, $500 intercooler. Not a bad Tuesday

When we looked at this project last, we outlined what makes air-to-water intercoolers different from your typical air-to-air intercooler and why they're used in heavy-duty applications.  We also took our waterjet cutter to our brand-new OEM intercooler to see what was going on beyond the bland exterior.  Once we had evaluated the stock intercooler's strong