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powerstroke

  1. Old Dog, New Tricks - Intercooler R&D, Part 2: Plans & Prototypes

    Old Dog, New Tricks - Intercooler R&D, Part 2: Plans & Prototypes

    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
    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

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  2. Ford 7.3 Power Stroke Aluminum Expansion Tank R&D Part 1 - Stock Review and Design Plans

    Ford 7.3 Power Stroke Aluminum Expansion Tank R&D Part 1 - Stock Review and Design Plans

    When it comes to the icon of reliability, durability, and longevity in the automotive world, all eyes are on the diesel powertrain. The recognizable chugging sound of a diesel engine has become synonymous with the thought of tractor trailers, incredible fuel economy, and reaching 300,000 miles with ease. "Built Ford Tough" reigns true for all the general features of the diesel platform, the Powerstroke. Giving our loaner F-250 a look over, it's easy to see why. Everything incorporated into the design was done so with the intent to develop an invincible machine. Everything except for the expansion tank, it seems.

    Our spare stock tank gets a light coating in preparation for it's 3D scan.
    Our spare stock tank gets a light coating in preparation
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  3. Old Dog, New Tricks - Intercooler R&D, Post 1: A Core Review

    Old Dog, New Tricks - Intercooler R&D, Post 1: A Core Review

    Everything about Ford's Super Duty Powerstroke brand screams, well, Super Duty. It has done so since they were first put in the Econoline Vans in the mid "90's. Our 2011 is equipped with the 6.7L turbodiesel V8 engine, and it's clear Ford has engineers who really took the Super Duty term to heart. There are two batteries, two radiators, two thermostats, two coolant expansion tanks, an engine oil cooler, a transmission oil cooler, an EGR cooler - this truck even has a fuel cooler. Just looking at the engine bay of this monster can be a bit daunting, especially to a guy used to dealing with smaller, beat up, four-cylinder engines. Fortunately, our engineers are well-versed in the nuances of this truck, as we already have many items out on the market for this application including a full charge pipe

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  4. Quick Release! - Ford 7.3L Powerstroke Transmission Cooler Kit

    Quick Release! - Ford 7.3L Powerstroke Transmission Cooler Kit

    Sometimes there are products we can't wait to get on the market. The sense of urgency follows positive feedback after a release or hinting at a recently started project. There's pride in giving people what they want, what they need. When our 2003-2007 6.0L Powerstroke Transmission Cooler Kit was released, the question that kept coming was if it would fit the 7.3L. What followed was a "no, sorry." That didn't sit well with us. The efforts grew exponentially as more questions surfaced about fitment, and as the number of requests to make a direct fit kit increased.

    In retrospect, it would have been best to provide all you 7.3L owners with upgraded cooling when the transmission cooler first launched. The reason why our 6.0L kit wasn't on option then was due to the hose routing. The lines are different. The 6.0L already has hoses that can adapt to our cooler without the necessity of lines from us. The inlets and outlets are in different spots here, so we needed to carefully design hoses that

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  5. American Workhorse - Part 2: Putting Innovation to the Test

    American Workhorse - Part 2: Putting Innovation to the Test

    Welcome to the second blog post detailing the development of the Mishimoto 6.4L Powerstroke upper radiator support bar. Last time, we looked at why front-end chassis flex in the 6.4 Super Duty has the potential to exceed a safe magnitude, using our advanced American architecture as a comparison. We learned that too much flex spells possible consequences, so we made it our goal to stiffen things up. But how did we do it?

    We did it in the most American way possible - through innovation.

    The Mishimoto 6.4 not only serves as an engineering platform, but also as a useful tool during construction of our new R&D center.
    The Mishimoto 6.4 not only served as a great testing and engineering platform, but also as a useful tool
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  6. American Workhorse - Part 1: Minimizing Chassis Flex

    American Workhorse - Part 1: Minimizing Chassis Flex

    As a proud American company, Mishimoto is dedicated to supporting our workforce and ensuring that, from a vehicular perspective, we've got the best tools possible to stay tough and work hard. That's why we've been hard at work developing a sturdy, heavy-duty upper radiator support bar for the Ford 6.4L Powerstroke truck in hopes that it can still live up to its reputation as the workhorse of America.

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    A View From Above

    Industry, manufacturing, and innovation are the driving forces that made our United States of America so grand. Hard work, great design, and our invaluable freedom to innovate planted the seeds that sprouted into our wonderfully advanced society. There is, perhaps, no better place to observe

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  7. It Takes Two! - Secondary Radiator R&D, Part 1: Factory Review and 3D Models

    It Takes Two! - Secondary Radiator R&D, Part 1: Factory Review and 3D Models

    Whether we're talking about turbochargers on an F-150 EcoBoost, V8 engines in an offshore powerboat, drummers in the Allman Brothers Band, or pieces of Carvel™ Ice Cream Cake for dessert on my birthday, sometimes two is a better option than one. This was very much the school of thought that Ford's engineers adopted when designing the cooling system on the 2011+ F-Series Super Duty trucks, including the F-350, F-450, and F-550. These trucks feature two systems that work in parallel to handle all of the cooling needs in your truck, and both are equally important.

    Our engineers at Mishimoto also see the value in the "two can be better than one" mindset. When we bought our Mustang GT, we didn't stop there - we bought a turbo model, too. Many of you may know that we have already released a

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  8. A More Durable Degas. Mishimoto's Ford Powerstroke 6.0L Aluminum Degas Bottle R&D, Part 3: 3D-Printed Prototypes

    A More Durable Degas. Mishimoto's Ford Powerstroke 6.0L Aluminum Degas Bottle R&D, Part 3: 3D-Printed Prototypes

    With a rough 3D model in place, we started constructing our 3D-printed prototypes to finalize our 6.0L degas bottle design and to refine any areas where adjustments are needed.

    Due to the large size of this degas unit, we printed the bottle in multiple sections and then attached each portion together.

    Below is a look at our first 3D print fitted into place on our 6.0L.

    3D-printed 6.0 Powerstroke degas bottle
    3D-printed 6.0 Powerstroke degas bottle

    3D-Printed 6.0 Powerstroke degas bottle
    3D-Printed 6.0 Powerstroke degas bottle
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  9. A More Durable Degas. Mishimoto's Ford Powerstroke 6.0L Aluminum Degas Bottle R&D, Part 2: Initial 3D Models

    A More Durable Degas. Mishimoto's Ford Powerstroke 6.0L Aluminum Degas Bottle R&D, Part 2: Initial 3D Models

    Quick update for this awesome degas bottle project! Our engineering team has been working to construct an aluminum degas bottle design for the 6.0, using our 3D-modeling software. We've incorporated some neat features, and we've included factory-style hose connection points and bottle mounts.

    Let's take a look!

    Mishimoto 6.0 Powerstroke degas bottle 3D model
    Mishimoto 6.0 Powerstroke degas bottle 3D model

    In this model you can see our plans for maintaining an appropriate fluid level. A simple sight tube will do the trick for our bottle design. You can also see the machined cap threads that we designed to function with the factory cap.

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  10. A More Durable Degas. Ford Powerstroke 6.0L Aluminum Degas Bottle R&D, Part 1: Factory Bottle Evaluation

    A More Durable Degas. Ford Powerstroke 6.0L Aluminum Degas Bottle R&D, Part 1: Factory Bottle Evaluation

    We're back for some new 6.0L product development! It has been a few months since the release of our recent intake elbow and thermostat housing, and our team is itching to start a new project on our 6.0L Powerstroke shop truck. This time, we're aiming to create an aluminum degas bottle that would provide additional cooling system reliability. Within the past year, we've increased our focus on development of aluminum expansion tanks, and we've brought to market some unique tanks that provide improved durability and style.

    One of our recent projects was a tank for the 2015+ Ford Mustang, which features some unique internal baffling to emulate the functionality of the stock tank.

    Mishimoto's 2015+ Mustang aluminum expansion tank
    Mishimoto's 2015+ Mustang
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