Intercooler upgrade

[Doyouevenboost]

Pulled the trigger on the mishimoto intercooler. Direct bolt in. Also popped out the intercooler shutters while I had it out.
Special thanks to Frank at stage3 for the hookup.

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[DBL R]

Im just gonna be contrarian here and say (as a result of lots of tuning and testing and running 3 different aftermarket intercoolers on 3 different ecoboost F150’s)

The OEM intercooler sees more gains by locking open the shutters, than replacing the intercooler itself. Strange but true.

When tuning the 3.5’s I own, we found 90% of the gains from swapping the IC could be had by opening unplugging the intercooler shutters. Try it and log it and you’ll see.

Any pictures or details with a quick how to?

 

[Polo08816]

Pulled the trigger on the mishimoto intercooler. Direct bolt in. Also popped out the intercooler shutters while I had it out.
Special thanks to Frank at stage3 for the hookup.

Looks great.

Are there any high flow cats or catless downpipes for the 3.5 L EcoBoost for 2021+ trucks yet?

 

[isthatahemi]

Son of bitch. The truck is supposed to be the daily, and the other for speed.

Now this thread has my gears turning.

Ya, my wife daily’s our truck that runs 11.8 - stay out of the throttle and it drives normal. Partly because the Raptor T-Case in 4 auto all the time.

 

[isthatahemi]

Any pictures or details with a quick how to?

Sorry, no.
There’s a plug on the passenger side of the shutters. Unplug it and tape up both sides of the connection to keep it clean for future use.

 

[itsdchz]

Pulled the trigger on the mishimoto intercooler. Direct bolt in. Also popped out the intercooler shutters while I had it out.
Special thanks to Frank at stage3 for the hookup.

Any info on the cupcakes would be great. Where you get them, how much, are they as good as they look.. etc.. any info would be great!

 

[Icecoldak]

Sorry, no.
There’s a plug on the passenger side of the shutters. Unplug it and tape up both sides of the connection to keep it clean for future use.

Does that throw a code for the shudders when you unplug them?

 

[Doyouevenboost]

Does that throw a code for the shudders when you unplug them?

I can’t speak for “unplugging” the shutters, I removed them from the housing and it does have a stored code.

 

[isthatahemi]

I can’t speak for “unplugging” the shutters, I removed them from the housing and it does have a stored code.

It throws a “soft code”, no CEL, with shutter unplugged.

 

[Iluv2fly]

Im just gonna be contrarian here and say (as a result of lots of tuning and testing and running 3 different aftermarket intercoolers on 3 different ecoboost F150’s)

The OEM intercooler sees more gains by locking open the shutters, than replacing the intercooler itself. Strange but true.

When tuning the 3.5’s I own, we found 90% of the gains from swapping the IC could be had by opening unplugging the intercooler shutters. Try it and log it and you’ll see.

Just driving around that might be true but on a 80-90 degree day towing 8000lbs that stock thing heat soaks fast. The much larger more efficient aftermarket ones will keep the air cooler and enable you to hold power due to timing not being pulled and a colder charge air. I am a big believer in swapping out the stock one for towing especially here in the rockies.

 

[isthatahemi]

The shutters are the main reason for that heat soak, unplug then and take some datalogs.

But yes, larger intercoolers do help when towing.

 

[ROBB1]

The shutters are the main reason for that heat soak, unplug then and take some datalogs.

But yes, larger intercoolers do help when towing.

The interesting thing about the shutters is they are closed the majority of the time. They seem to only open at near max boost, then close almost immediately after you back off (confirmed via data logging). They are definitely contributing to the retained heat. I have been testing with just the top slat removed and getting some decent results so far. No DTC since everything is still connected, but getting decent cooling after high boost. Still need to test in summer though.

 

[Static]

The interesting thing about the shutters is they are closed the majority of the time. They seem to only open at near max boost, then close almost immediately after you back off (confirmed via data logging). They are definitely contributing to the retained heat. I have been testing with just the top slat removed and getting some decent results so far. No DTC since everything is still connected, but getting decent cooling after high boost. Still need to test in summer though.

Could this be a strategy to protect the intercooler from damage?

 

[ROBB1]

Could this be a strategy to protect the intercooler from damage?

Possibly, but it seems way over aggressive to me if that is the case. Having them operate in stages similar to radiator would make more sense. Having them default to say 20% would seem to offer both protection and cooling. The radiator operates with a lot more thought and logic.

However, I believe removing the top slat works out well, since there is not a direct path for road debris, but ram effect is going to force a lot of air through the opening.

In normal drive mode (I haven’t logged other drive modes yet) they are closed fully 99% of the time. You really have to get into it for them to open.

 

[isthatahemi]

As stated, I’ve done all the testing, the shutters are the cause of most of the heat soak. The main downside of the factory intercooler is lack of thermal mass.

The temps climb fast when under full boost, with the shutters locked out or removed, the temps drop right away, it’s completely workable.

I have a huge intercooler on one truck, OEM intercooler on the other….both 2020 tuned 3.5’s

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