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My 5/8" Cooling Mod

musclemerc

Addict
Jan 6, 2010
554
0
I've seen 2 other wrenches make homemade cooling mods (Blown3.8/Zack). Finally, it's my turn to give it a shot. I went with the same expansion plug design with a few changes to make it my own. My cooling mod is 100% brass with 5/8" fittings and I made better use of the T adapter that ties the 2-cylinder banks together by putting it on the DS expansion plug where there is PLENTY room to accommodate it. Gates hose is a must have, it's been VERY reliable to me in the past so don't cheap out with no name heater hose.
001.jpg


Here is a side view of the modified expansion plugs. Notice the amount of solder I used; it almost fills the bowls on each expansion plug. If that wasn't enough I still soldered the bottom area under the plug. The extra time I spent doing this will ensure it will be leak free
002.jpg


To get started the remove the negative post from the battery, then start disconnecting the wire harness **use a precision screwdriver to remove the retainer clips, this will ensure you won't break any retainers**, after removing the connectors go ahead and remove the fuel feed using the correct disconnect tool
006.jpg


Now is a good time to spray the EGR pipe with a good penetrating oil and allow it to settle. After waiting break, it lose with a crescent wrench
005.jpg


Next, it's time to drain the radiator. What you think you're going to do a cooling mod and not change out the 9yo radiator coolant? NO!
Put a drip pan under the DS lower radiator area and remove the white drainplug then undo the cap on the overflow tank. Allow all the fluid to drain out of the radiator then move the drip pan under the thermostat housing then remove the hose connected to the bottom of the engine, and allow the engine to drain
015.jpg


You can now remove the alternator and set it aside, then remove the upper cross over tube. Place the COT in front of the timing cover so it's out of the way
019.jpg


Now comes the fun part, remove all the upper intake bolts and prepare to be shocked. This is what EVERY MM intake looks like, if your SC'ed your no exception, this is what your SC rotors/intercooler/lower intake will look like
009.jpg


Before attempting to remove the lower intake make sure you disconnect the wire harness from the back of the intake **this is a VERY important step**
016.jpg


The lower intake has a few ounces of wet oil pooled in the base. I tried to get a good pic but it's hard to get both the camera lense and the flash in such a small area. No amount of Seafoam will get this much oil/oil vapors cleaned out of the intake track
011.jpg


You can see the area where the heated pcv bung actually worked and where it didn't
012.jpg


Some of you would argue oil in the intake track won't harm a thing. I strongly disagree, the oil collected in the intake is a performance robber. It kills the airflow in the intake making the airstream more turbulent and as a worse case it will eventually make its way into the combustion chamber. Look at the oil buildup on the air passages in the cylinder heads. There is no doubt this MM smoked on startup
020.jpg


Make sure when you remove the lower intake you have a shop vac handy to get the debris on the cylinder heads. Afterwards tape them good
023.jpg


You will need to remove the wiper cowl to gain access to the expansion plug on the DS. Here is what the wiper cowl looked like on this MM. Wonder why the wipers quit working or go wacky on some cars?
025.jpg


Now you can knock out the stock expansion plugs with a hammer and chisel. If you need to hit it more than a few times you're doing it wrong. Here is a video:


After removing the stock expansion plugs be sure to remove the OEM sealer inside of the cylinder head, then clean them with alcohol, and finally apply a good thread sealer to both the cylinder head and the modified expansion plugs. The product I used dries but remains pliable.
024.jpg


Now you can drive the modified expansion plugs into the cylinder heads (the PS gets clocked at 12:00 the DS gets clocked at 10:00), connect the 5/8" hose and tie the 2-cylinder banks together. You will need to leave a length of hose to get to the return at the heater core. Notice I let the DS be the output to the water pump. I did this to avoid tight bends by connecting to the PS. Most all cooling mods use the PS as a feed.
027.jpg


Here is a pic with the lower intake installed
029.jpg


You will want to connect to the hose that goes to the pipe that runs under the lower intake to the back of the water pump. There is no need to touch the cross over tube with this design. To the layman its unseen
026.jpg


If you're considering a cooling mod try to find one that doesn't use the cross over tube as a return. My reason for this thinking is, if you look at all the external hose routing from both the heater core and the heated pcv bung they get fed from the crossover tube and return to the pipe that runs under the lower intake, directly to the back of the water pump. If you tap the crossover tube, you're taking the feed from the crossover tube and returning it to the crossover tube which makes no sense.

The last thing to do is to fill and burp the system
Ford 4.6L DOHC Coolant Refill & Burp Procedure by Reische Performance Products
 
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musclemerc

Addict
Jan 6, 2010
554
0
Is this mod Trilogy friendly?

Yes, it is :D :D :D :D :D

What happened to the picture you posted of your cooling mod Zack?

You need a passenger side fitting like this to work with an Eaton Lower Manifold:
2011-06-15_08-13-41_77.jpg

Not true my kit fits both Trilogys and Eatons

This is a kit I made for a Trilogy owner and there was NO issues at all with the fit.
This is all 5/8" I.D. connections not 1/2" I.D. connections like every other cooling mod on the market. My cooling mod will allow more coolant to enter/exit the rear cylinders

Picture036-1.jpg


Picture035-1.jpg



Picture038-1.jpg
 
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taemian

Member
Dec 8, 2011
5
0
Dont forget to mention how much money he saved you for a BETTER product. :hail:

That's bang on. Once I get my fuel issues sorted out for a decent tune, I'll start logging temps. Travis seemed to drop off the map for a bit, and then when my work got busy, so did I. Hope to see him active around here, I think he was banned from both MM boards? I was close at MM as well because I shared my experiences honestly. Go figure.
 

musclemerc

Addict
Jan 6, 2010
554
0
Ian, I'm here and yes I did get banned from BOTH Marauder boards. It seems I've been a bad boy!

Calling DR out on MM.net. Then for calling bullshit on Mike @ MCM. It seems at one site you get the boot for pissing on DR then the other you dare not question Trilogy.

I haven't dropped off, just busy with my real job. The Marauder stuff is now secondary.
 

Siege

Big Brother
Mar 18, 2012
11
0
Bel Air, MD
I have been researching the Marauder cooling system while I wait for my MuscleMerc Cooling Mod to arrive and had a question for the experts here.

Obviously the primary difference between the Marauder and Mustang cooling system is that the heater core inlet comes from the cross-over tube on the Marauder vs. a rear passenger-side fitting on the Mustang.

The first picture shows the cooling mod T-eed into the outlet of the heater core. With the additional flow of coolant leaving both cylinder heads couldn't this extra flow introduced into the return inhibit flow through the heater core?

It seems like a better flow path would be to delete the heater core feed from the cross-over tube and instead run the outlet line from the cylinder head cooling mod to the inlet of the heater core.

This way replicates the factory coolant flow design of the Mustang while eliminating the long heater hose run from the COT to the heater core without having a possible impact on flow through the heater circuit.

IB :gives:
 

Zack

4 Doors 4 Life
Mar 21, 2004
6,297
20
NW Indiana
I have been researching the Marauder cooling system while I wait for my MuscleMerc Cooling Mod to arrive and had a question for the experts here.

Obviously the primary difference between the Marauder and Mustang cooling system is that the heater core inlet comes from the cross-over tube on the Marauder vs. a rear passenger-side fitting on the Mustang.

The first picture shows the cooling mod T-eed into the outlet of the heater core. With the additional flow of coolant leaving both cylinder heads couldn't this extra flow introduced into the return inhibit flow through the heater core?

It seems like a better flow path would be to delete the heater core feed from the cross-over tube and instead run the outlet line from the cylinder head cooling mod to the inlet of the heater core.

This way replicates the factory coolant flow design of the Mustang while eliminating the long heater hose run from the COT to the heater core without having a possible impact on flow through the heater circuit.

IB :gives:

Are your ears smoking? Seriously you are thinking way too hard....the heater gets as hot as it should with the cooling mod plumbed as-pictured.
 

Siege

Big Brother
Mar 18, 2012
11
0
Bel Air, MD
Are your ears smoking? Seriously you are thinking way too hard....the heater gets as hot as it should with the cooling mod plumbed as-pictured.

Thanks for the response!

Of course it works as Travis assembled it. I just think the system could be simplified and possibly have its performance improved via the modification I described.

Can you see any reason why feeding the heater core from the heads and capping off the COT nipple wouldn't work?
 

musclemerc

Addict
Jan 6, 2010
554
0
I can appreciate your thought on the Mustang~VS~Marauder coolant flow but in my opinion it wont make any diffrence. The added flow with the cooling mod is NOT going to impede the flow into the heater core.

The whole purpose of any cooling mod is to improve flow from the rear cylinder heads back to the coolant system.

However if you want to feed the cooling mod from the COT and remove a rear expansion plug to feed the heater core you can but in the end its the same thing. Just a diffrent path, and you will need to remove the transmission to knock out the rear expansion plug.
 

Siege

Big Brother
Mar 18, 2012
11
0
Bel Air, MD
However if you want to feed the cooling mod from the COT and remove a rear expansion plug to feed the heater core you can but in the end its the same thing. Just a diffrent path, and you will need to remove the transmission to knock out the rear expansion plug.

Thanks for chiming in Travis. Actually the only thing I wanted to do with the COT was cap the stock outlet for the heater core. The heater core would then be fed by your cooling mod instead of it being plumbed into the heater core outlet.

It seems redundant to pipe coolant directly from the COT to the heater core when the cooling mod adds a water outlet in the rear of the engine.
 

Zack

4 Doors 4 Life
Mar 21, 2004
6,297
20
NW Indiana
Thanks for chiming in Travis. Actually the only thing I wanted to do with the COT was cap the stock outlet for the heater core. The heater core would then be fed by your cooling mod instead of it being plumbed into the heater core outlet.

It seems redundant to pipe coolant directly from the COT to the heater core when the cooling mod adds a water outlet in the rear of the engine.

LOL.

I dont think you know how the cooling system works.

Id be happy to explain it to you if you dont figure it out first. :drums:
 
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