goatherder
no trepidation
Ok, so I got a 2004 E-450 6.0L short bus. In current form weighs 12500lbs w/ full fuel and water. I made some engine mods that I can highly recommend to anybody else with a similar vehicle. And I'm a cheap bastard, so I look for economical ways to do things.
I dug into the motor, changed out the oil cooler (probably didn't need to), cleaned and got the stuck turbo working again, TIG welded the EGR cooler and reinstalled it, added the blue fuel pressure spring. New belt, hoses, water pump, Tstat, etc while I was in there. Drove it like that and it ran OK but was a real pig out on the road. So I started to think about how it breathes...
Pulled out the cat, looked thru the pipe at all those tiny little holes...and got out a chunk of pipe and a sledgehammer. Stood the exhaust on a block if wood and proceeded to beat the guts out of the converter, using the chunk of pipe as a chisel. Reinstalled the empty converter and gained a some power. At least I could hear the turbo, and my Torque app was showing 20psi max boost. Next I replaced the stock muffler with a Walker BTM muffler (21470 - $52 on Amazon). Now I have essentially a straight pipe that's not loud. A bit more power gain too.
Last thing was to buy a used SCT Flash Tuner from Franchi Motorsports on Ebay. $306 shipped. Comes preloaded with a few different tunes. I installed the 65hp towing tune w/ CT Lockup and WHOA - what a difference. Bus is no longer a pig on the highway, engine runs smoother and trans works better. Torque app shows lower trans temps. YUGE inprovement. Also, the SCT allows you the option of disabling the EGR, for no CEL on the dash.
So, if you do what I did, you won't spend alot and you'll probably be pretty happy with the result.
https://www.amazon.com/Walker-21470-Muffler/dp/B0017LWGMQ
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Unlocked-SCT-X4-7015-tuner-programmer-for-Ford-with-preloaded-SCT-tunes-/253106366421?vxp=mtr
I dug into the motor, changed out the oil cooler (probably didn't need to), cleaned and got the stuck turbo working again, TIG welded the EGR cooler and reinstalled it, added the blue fuel pressure spring. New belt, hoses, water pump, Tstat, etc while I was in there. Drove it like that and it ran OK but was a real pig out on the road. So I started to think about how it breathes...
Pulled out the cat, looked thru the pipe at all those tiny little holes...and got out a chunk of pipe and a sledgehammer. Stood the exhaust on a block if wood and proceeded to beat the guts out of the converter, using the chunk of pipe as a chisel. Reinstalled the empty converter and gained a some power. At least I could hear the turbo, and my Torque app was showing 20psi max boost. Next I replaced the stock muffler with a Walker BTM muffler (21470 - $52 on Amazon). Now I have essentially a straight pipe that's not loud. A bit more power gain too.
Last thing was to buy a used SCT Flash Tuner from Franchi Motorsports on Ebay. $306 shipped. Comes preloaded with a few different tunes. I installed the 65hp towing tune w/ CT Lockup and WHOA - what a difference. Bus is no longer a pig on the highway, engine runs smoother and trans works better. Torque app shows lower trans temps. YUGE inprovement. Also, the SCT allows you the option of disabling the EGR, for no CEL on the dash.
So, if you do what I did, you won't spend alot and you'll probably be pretty happy with the result.
https://www.amazon.com/Walker-21470-Muffler/dp/B0017LWGMQ
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Unlocked-SCT-X4-7015-tuner-programmer-for-Ford-with-preloaded-SCT-tunes-/253106366421?vxp=mtr
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