Justin: The Mishimoto Performance Intercooler shown here in silver will be for the 2015
and newer 2.7 and 3.5-liter EcoBoost owners who are looking to keep charge temps down
and performance up by going with one of the largest options available to fit in the factory
location.
Now, this particular option will feature that sleek silver finish again all for the mid
$800 price point.
Install, according to the site, guys, is gonna get a middle of the road three out of three
wrenches on the difficulty meter here and a couple of hours or so to complete from start
to finish.
But if you hang out with me for a little bit we'll show you how it's done.
So right off the bat here guys I'm gonna tell you that one of the best things I personally
have done with my EcoBoost powered truck was replace the undersized wimpy factory intercooler
with a much larger unit.
Now, we even did some back to back testing on the dyno and found that with that larger
intercooler in place those charge temps remained consistently lower and as a result, the power
didn't fall off dramatically like it did with that stock intercooler which got heat soaked
as they are notorious to do.
Let's get into some of the finer details here with the Mishimoto option in regards to your
build and benefit.
And right up front guys you are gonna be replacing again that stock smaller core and plastic
end tank setup with a 100% aluminum TIG welded intercooler finished in the sleek silver option.
Keep in mind guys there is also a stealth black option available from Mishimoto here
on the site, can be had for roughly the same price as this.
Now, the Mishi is going to increase your finned surface area, that's basically this area right
here, by roughly 163% and will increase your internal cooler volume by 77%.
This puppy is big.
Now, as a result, guys, this will drop the ambient air temps or intake temps at roughly
10 degrees and it's also gonna prove to be less prone to heat soak like that factory
option we just talked about.
I'm also really digging the fact that Mishi has included a quarter inch NPT drain plug
here on the bottom that is gonna help eliminate the sometimes problematic occurrence of condensation
building up in the stock intercooler, I should say, and that has led to random misfire issues
mainly on the earlier EcoBoost trucks.
But, you know, certainly, newer guys aren't immune to it either.
Now, this guy does mount in the factory location here gang so there's nothing crazy needed
for the installation.
However, one thing I do wanna point out is that owners who might be considering a winch
mount or winch mount bumper this intercooler might not be the best way to roll because
it will inevitably be in the way of the factory or Mishimoto intercooler here.
And if that is the case you might wanna consider a different intercooler option that's going
to move the intercooler itself from the factory location down in the bumper up into the upper
grille area which you can find a few here on the site.
I also wanna point out that the Mishimoto intercooler is designed to work with the factory
hot and cold side piping without issue in addition to Mishimoto's hot and cold side
piping as well and you can use this thing both with your factory bypass or blow off
valve in addition to an aftermarket option that installs in the factory manner.
Finally here, the Mishimoto is backed by a limited lifetime warranty in case you run
into any issues and does not require a tune to be installed.
But now let's touch on the installation as promised earlier and, again, the site is gonna
go soft two out of three wrenches on the difficulty meter here and about two hours or so to complete
from start to finish.
But to give you a better idea of how this thing all comes together, here's my buddy
Andrew with the detailed walkthrough, along with a quick tool breakdown.
Andrew: Tools required for this job: three-eighths inch ratchet, quarter-inch ratchet, 10-millimeter
wrench, 13-millimeter socket, 10-millimeter socket, 8-millimeter socket, 7-millimeter
socket, trim panel removal tool, flathead, extension, quarter inch extension, and optional
are a three-eighths impact.
All right, so your first step is to remove your intercooler boots from the hot side of
the intercooler and these are held on by 7-millimeter worm gear type clamps.
Loosen them up move them towards the middle of the boot.
And we're gonna pop this boot off as well.
We're gonna move on the other side of the intercooler.
So now we're gonna be removing this clip that's holding on your charge pipe that goes into
the intake at the cold side of the intercooler.
And it should just pop right out.
And then after that, we're gonna be taking off the clamp that's holding onto your factory
blow off valve.
Just twist it and pull back.
And then the last step is to unplug your electrical connection right here.
Now you're ready to remove your 13-millimeter bolts that are underneath holding your intercooler
core in, All right, so there are a couple of clips holding the wiring harness on to
the radiator, just use a panel removal tool or a flathead and just get behind it and pry
up.
Now we're ready to transfer some parts over to our new intercooler.
All right, so the next step is to move a couple of our factory parts over to our new Mishimoto
intercooler.
To start with we're gonna be moving our rubber bushings in the top over to the new one and
over here to that one.
Then we're gonna flip it upside down, take out our bracket.
Remove these guys.
Put them on our new one followed by our bracket.
All right, so the next step is to remove our factory blow off valve.
It's on there by an 8-millimeter bolt, just one.
And then take it off and make sure you still have your O-ring in there.
And we're gonna move this over the new intercooler.
And it kinda threads on there as well.
You'll see the threads and you'll see where it locks into place.
Just find that detent or hole.
And I'll go just like that.
Now, before we do that there is a bracket we have to install from Mishimoto.
All right, so next we're gonna be installing the bracket for our factory blow off valve.
These are two 10-millimeter bolts.
It is threaded on the intercooler side.
And I'm gonna loosely put these on to ensure that I'm able to line up the bracket on the
other side for the blow off valve.
So we're gonna be using this inside hole.
Then on the back side put a lock washer and nut.
Use a 10-mil wrench on the bottom and a 10-mil socket on the top.
Don't go too hard because this is aluminum.
Okay.
So the next step is to remove this outer piece of the grille vent because your Mishimoto
intercooler is a little bit larger than stock.
Now, what I found is if you just pull up a little bit and put your fingers behind here,
you'll be able to pop these clips right out.
Now there are a couple on the side here.
And that's gonna give you all the room you need for your new intercooler.
All right guys, now it's time to install it.
Be a little patient, there are those existing pipes in the way.
They may trip you up a little bit but you'll get it.
All right, so now that you have your intercooler in place we're going to start reconnecting
our charge pipe, blow off valve, electrical connection over there, and the hot side on
the other side.
All right, and just reconnect your electric connection here.
All right, now we can work on our hot side and get our boots back on.
I'm gonna push these stock pipes that are coming off the turbo out of the way.
Now, you're gonna wanna make sure you clock your hose clamp the right way so you can take
it on and off easy for maintenance down the road or replacement.
All right, and I like to start from the top to the bottom just to make your life a little
easier and give you some room.
Now we're gonna tighten the intercooler side down.
And move over to our pipe coming from the turbo.
This one may be a little tougher to get on, with little finesse you can get it.
Just go ahead and tighten it down and repeat the process for the other turbo.
All right, so now that we're on the bottom side, again, put the bottom intercooler piping
on.
And then you're gonna wanna tighten these down.
All right, that's gonna wrap up my install of the Mishimoto Performance Intercooler.
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