Monthly Archives: August 2014

Interested in purchasing our 6.7L Powerstroke radiator? Check out our product page for more information!

Mishimoto Ford 6.7L Powerstroke Aluminum Radiator

Time to put some numbers behind the effort our team has put forth on this project! As mentioned in the last post, we would be collecting real-world driving data to analyze the effectiveness of our performance aluminum radiator against the factory unit. To prepare for this, we attached our temperature sensors to both the inlet and outlet of the radiator. This would allow us to analyze the efficiency of the radiator by comparing the reduction in temperature from inlet to outlet. Check out these sensors attached to the factory radiator.

Temperature sensors installed with factory radiator

Now that we had everything installed and the cooling system was bled of any air bubbles, we could begin to collect the necessary data. To keep things consistent, identical testing conditions were used to ensure that this was as close to apples-to-apples

Interested in purchasing this E46 oil cooler? Check out our product page for more information!

Mishimoto BMW E46 M3 Oil Cooler Kit

The BMW S54 won the "International Engine of the Year" award at its inception in 2001 and was consistently on "Ward's 10 Best Engines" list for four years. It's hard to argue against the E46, an 8,000 rpm, 3.2L straight-6 producing over 330 hp and 260 ft-lb of torque, with a competent chassis, an exhaust note that straightens the neck hair of all within earshot, and a body styling that is unmatched in uniqueness. Although my opinion is slightly skewed, being a fan of most BMW products, many would agree that the E46 was a fantastic vehicle for the street and even better for the track. E46 M3 pricing has trickled downward over the past few years, meaning that even those on a tighter budget can find their way into the cockpit of one of BMW's finest. We are seeing these vehicles at track days, drift events, parking lot autocross battles, and at the drag strip.

Many

Interested in purchasing our 6.7L Powerstroke radiator? Check out our product page for more information!

Mishimoto Ford 6.7L Powerstroke Aluminum Radiator

Now that the prototype was complete and all dimensions checked out with our drawings, it was time to drop this into a truck to ensure that fitment was spot on with all engine bay components. To give you an idea of the scale, take a look at this unit next to one of our Subaru WRX aluminum radiators.

Mishimoto 6.7L Size comparison of Powerstroke prototype radiator (left) and Subaru WRX aluminum radiator

Mishimoto 6.7L Size comparison of Powerstroke prototype radiator (left) and Subaru WRX aluminum radiator

Now we can shoehorn this monster into the engine compartment to check fitment of the brackets, mounting points, and engine bay components. Below you can see the radiator mostly installed. We needed to remove numerous components before we could access the factory radiator.

Mishimoto 6.7L Powerstroke prototype radiator installation

The

Interested in purchasing our 6.7L Powerstroke radiator? Check out our product page for more information!

Mishimoto Ford 6.7L Powerstroke Aluminum Radiator

Time to design a new radiator! Now that we had the factory radiator removed and the engine bay dimensions documented, we needed to determine the individual dimensions of the factory radiator. We set the radiator up on our Romer arm to begin drawing this component in 3D. Check it out!

6.7L Powerstroke factory radiator modeling

This tool allows our engineers to capture dimensions in a controlled environment. The radiator is secured to the table, while the arm is used to note the position of critical points. When complete, the engineers can use these points to develop a full model of the radiator.

Once we had the radiator prototype modeled, we developed a prototype unit to test fit into a truck. This would help us ensure that we reached our first goal, perfect fitment. Check out a few shots of our prototype unit!

Mishimoto 6.7L Powerstroke

Interested in purchasing our 6.7L Powerstroke radiator? Check out our product page for more information!

Mishimoto Ford 6.7L Powerstroke Aluminum Radiator

The Ford Powerstroke 6.4L has not had a fantastic reputation for radiator reliability. Radiator failures are nearly a guarantee, with many vehicle owners experiencing frequent failures in an extremely short time frame. Ford began tackling the problem with a variety of Technical Service Bulletins for coolant system upgrades to remedy the issues. To provide even more protection, the team at Mishimoto developed a very successful bolt-in radiator for the 6.4L that eliminates several common failure points in the factory unit: the plastic material used in the end tanks, and the crimp connection of the core to the tanks. We also investigated the reasoning for frequent failures in certain trucks, and we identified several factors that would have an impact on overall radiator longevity. These include coolant system components such as the degas

Interested in purchasing our WRX catch can kit? Check out more details on our product page linked below!

Subaru WRX Baffled Oil Catch Can System

The final kit is ready for installation! After months of development and test fitting, we finally had our completed prototype components ready for fitment verification prior to mass production. Check out all of the components below!

First, the passenger side catch can bracket for the PCV system.

Final PCV catch can bracket

Next up is the finished version of our dual port catch can!

Final catch can

A cool shot of the internal components of the catch can.

Final catch can internal components

And finally we have the catch cans and both brackets included in this kit. The black finish is subtle and works well with the WRX engine bay.

Kit catch cans and brackets

We then attached the brackets to the cans in preparation for the full kit installation.

Catch cans with brackets installed

Now that we had all of the components ready to go, we performed one final

Interested in purchasing our 2015 WRX aluminum radiator? Check out our product page for more information!

Mishimoto Subaru WRX Performance Aluminum Radiator

Now that we had a finalized prototype, it was time to test this component to ensure that our improvements over the stock unit resulted in real-world advantages for our customers. An aluminum radiator provides the instantaneous benefit of increased reliability over the stock plastic unit. Despite this, cooling performance is always our primary goal with a heat exchanger.

Prior to actual road testing, our engineering team put together a few charts illustrating the improvements over the stock radiator.

Comparison of coolant surface area in Mishimoto and stock radiators

Coolant surface area refers to the space occupied by the tubes in the radiator. The amount of coolant surface area affects both fluid capacity and overall heat transfer contact points. A larger coolant surface area results in greater heat transfer and lower temperature.

Interested in purchasing our WRX catch can kit? Check out more details on our product page linked below!

Subaru WRX Baffled Oil Catch Can System

Time to start designing brackets! After a quick recap of the project goals, our creative engineering team began brainstorming. First, they selected a location for the catch can on the PCV valve side. It would need body mounting points for the can bracket, and preferably a short route for the hose so as not to complicate the engine bay. Our goal is a clean installation that appears stock-like, not a medusa of hoses routed about the engine bay.

The PCV valve on the 2015 WRX is located under the intercooler toward the rear of the engine block. You can see it in the image below, taken during a later stage of development of this kit.

2015 Subaru WRX PCV valve

We also needed to consider the differences between the RHD and LHD vehicles. In our US spec LHD model, both the brake booster and master cylinder are located on the left side of the engine bay.

Interested in purchasing our 2015 WRX aluminum radiator? Check out our product page for more information!

Mishimoto Subaru WRX Performance Aluminum Radiator

No need for an introduction, let's check out our second prototype!

Mishimoto prototype 2 radiator

Mishimoto prototype 2 radiator

Mishimoto prototype 2 radiator

So what can we tell from these images? The unit as a whole is very precise, and the TIG-welding is straight and accurate. All mounting points and adjustments to the previous version should make this a drop-in fit. One major difference you will notice from the GR radiator is the lack of an overflow port on the passenger top tank. On the previous generation, this line would run to the expansion tank located on the intake manifold. The FA20 does not utilize such a reservoir, so this port is removed.

Let's take a closer look at the core of this prototype!

Mishimoto prototype 2 radiator core evaluation

Mishimoto prototype 2 radiator core evaluation

The fin height is a touch shorter

Interested in purchasing our WRX catch can kit? Check out more details on our product page linked below!

Subaru WRX Baffled Oil Catch Can System

If you follow our engineering blog or are involved with any of our social media outlets, you should be well aware of the new baffled oil catch can we recently released. This new product features a much smaller footprint compared to our existing catch can, allowing for fitment in tighter engine bays.

While developing this catch can, we wondered about using it in direct-fit kits for popular vehicles. For most drivers, a catch can is a DIY project requiring only the routing of hoses and fabrication of brackets for mounting the can. Installing a DIY setup that appears like it was made for the vehicle can be quite a challenge. This is where we come in, to take the guesswork out of a catch can installation. We are planning to provide mounting brackets, hardware, silicone lines, and a detailed installation guide for these kits.

Our shop vehicle would