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Modified N/A Explorers

to answer a few questions i saw...

when i said downpipe/ y pipe i wasn't aware of the turbocharged 3.5 upgrade, i was referring to the Y pipe that goes under the subframe. its squashed into a crappy square and then goes to a 2.25" flex pipe that was then mated to my 2.5" magnaflow exhaust. I had a local custom exhaust guy cut the pipe after each manifold and put in 2- 2" pipes that run under the subframe instead and then go into a 2.5" collector to remove the 2.25" restriction... the 2" pipes are not mandrel bent unfortunately (no one around here does that, and if they did it would cost a fortune) so there is one bend that takes it to around 1.8" X 2" on one of the pipes, but even if both pipes had that restriction, together they would still flow more air than the 2.5" exhaust they are going into, and the o2 sensors sticking into the pipe are probably more of a restriction so i don't think if they were mandrel i would see any more gains.

the 80mm is off a mustang GT, but the info on how to mate it to a v6 upper intake is somewhere on the v6 mustang forums, that is where i got the idea, since the engines are basically the same, that is also where i found out about porting the lower intake manifold... lone wolf is the company that does them but I'm just doing it myself, doesn't seem that complicated.

also no one makes headers for our 3.5 NA explorers, but magnaflow does make an aftermarket manifold/ higher flow cats, that looks better designed than the stock manifolds, and i did some porting to them on the top and smoothed out the bungs after the cats to provide more flow there. I'm not expecting header like gains but replacing the cats on my 3.6 impala lfx netted around 20whp/20wtq, in parts of the dyno curve, which was almost unbelievable and my tuner needed to add more fuel to the trims. They were metallic core i.e. higher flowing than what is available for the explorer, but i still hope for 10-15, especially with the better design of the manifold. That being said I don't have a before dyno, ill just be relying on the old butt dyno and weather or not more fuel is needed in the tune to make up for the better airflow. Also the magnaflow cats are $$$$ but i was able to get a really good deal on them through www.hottexhaust.com they may not be worth the $ only time will tell...
Sounds easy enough to fix that problem. Maybe I can get a friend of mine to add those 2" pipes for free I’m hoping. If not, I’m sure it won’t cost too much money. Thanks for all the info!
 



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guy that did it charged me $150 all labor, it was a lot of welding. gave me the pipe for free since it wasn't much, he used aluminumized steel, but i provided the 2" to 2.5" stainless Y (magnafow) and 2.5" stainless flex pipe (bear river converters) and i painted the welds with high heat primer and paint since they were not stainless. all in it was around $200
 






Thank you Will_P... this is great food for thought... my wife is gonna hate me....
 






Glad I could help :)
 












Its got some good rumble to it but very little drone. Only at a certain rpm and only bad going up hill... but i dont have the magnaflow manifold cats on yet so it may get louder... its my wifes car so i have to be careful... may end up putting a larger resonator on it if needed. The custom y definately added sound, not much to volume but more in just a rumbling sound
 






Does anyone know if the heavy duty alternator that’s in the Explorer interceptor will work on the 3.5?
 






Yes it fits. The 3.7 is a bore out 3.5. Accessories mount basically the same.
 






Yes it fits. The 3.7 is a bore out 3.5. Accessories mount basically the same.
I had talked to the dealership and they acted like they didn’t know what they were talking about. They did say it would probably void my warranty, but I have a feeling that it won’t. I like the idea of a beefier alternator just because you can add more accessories that require power.
 






Has anyone here done the 3rd brake light strobe to your explorers? I’m looking around, I just don’t know which one to get.
 






Does anyone know if the heavy duty alternator that’s in the Explorer interceptor will work on the 3.5?
Not sure about the 2015 but the alternator on my 2017 already is a 'heavy duty'.

Peter
 






I had talked to the dealership and they acted like they didn’t know what they were talking about. They did say it would probably void my warranty, but I have a feeling that it won’t. I like the idea of a beefier alternator just because you can add more accessories that require power.

I went down to my ford dealership and they had the 2014 limited alternator and the “heavy duty” from the interceptor use on hand. Side by side they are the same. The heavy duty in the limited vs the heavy duty of the interceptor is a difference of 15 amps. Which is by design cause of everything law enforcement puts in the vehicles.
As for the warranty if it scares you enough go buy the one from ford and use a ford part. That way if some some dumb reason the regulator goes out a fries the car they can’t squalk. Ford part! Ford part! You will be fine to change it. I wouldn’t hesitate. If mine dies before I sell my ex I will probably do that if nothing else for the stereo equipment I will be putting in there.
 






I installed the Magnaflow Cats a couple weeks ago. Got a hold of livernois and they actually have a revised tune for high flow cats on the 3.5 N/A, so I flashed it with the tune as well. Here are some thoughts:

1st, the cats are a great design, but i was very disappointing with the quality of the construction. On the 2nd and 3rd pipe that enter into the larger main pipe, they stuck in pretty far, so I spent literally hours and hours with an air grinder and then tedious work with hand files, because the dremel wouldn't fit all the way in to remove all I could of the smaller primary pipe that was sticking in the larger collector pipe. The middle one i was able to get 100% of the restriction removed and probably 80-90% on the 3rd, which should be fine because the collector pipe is 2.25" and on pipe after the cat is 2". I also ground down the o2 bung after the cat to remove that restriction, and used drilled out spark plug non-foulers to back the o2 sensors out so they wont restrict airflow or read too rich (livernois said this was fine to do). Finally the plate that holds the Y-pipe to the rear cat had to have the bolt holes drilled out, because magnaflow put bolts in that have a piece that sticks down and contacts the plate and causes an exhaust leak. I would have complained to high heaven had I paid full price for these, but I have a dealer account at hottexhaust and was able to use their 25% off coupon on top of that. So I got the cat back and cats VERY discounted... Im not sure it I was supposed to to that, so I figured I would just keep my mouth shut and deal with it, but if I paid the insane $700+ a piece they are asking for the cats you can bet they would be making me a 2nd set...

I didn't take any pics of the install, but can give some tips. I thought that maybe I needed to remove the upper intake to get to the rear bolts so I took it off, but that was not needed. The front manifold is easy to get to from under the car and easy to take out. The rear one you need very long extensions and flex sockets and you can get all of the bolts off, but it is not for the faint of heart. But then getting the damn thing out is almost impossible, I spent hours twisting and turning it and thinking I was going to have to drop the cradle just to get it out, but finally, by some miracle, it managed to just barely squeeze out, it has to be at a perfect angle and ****ed just right to come out, don't ask me how it came out, I really don't know. The magnaflow rear cat went in much easier thank God.

Got it all back together and it runs great, definite increase in power. Didn't notice much sound at first, but now its a little louder, not bad overall, but there is bad drone at certain RPMs going up hill... wife doesn't love it so I may put on another resonator on the cat back to quiet it down. All in all I'm glad I did it, as this thing feels very quick for what it is, but Im not sure it would be worth it to most considering the asking price on the cats and the difficulty of the install.
 






Has anyone here heard of or done an e85 conversion? If so, how did you do it? I’ve been in touch with livernois to see if they have any e85 tunes on the NA explorers, but am still waiting on a reply.
 






My XLT...
bfDOdey.jpg


Livernois tune, Pedal Commander throttle enhancer, MGP caliper covers, red wheel center caps, red/black emblems, rear bumper protector, Husky Liners cargo area liner, LED puddle lights.
How do you like the tune? What kinda horse power you’re getting out of it?
 












Sometime the cosmetic things have to be created by user I haven’t really seen anything just terribly sic. The ex is not really a sporty statement vehicle like others. So you kind of have to make vision of your own...like mine. Not blue like yours but it can get the idea across. I have the same intake. Noisey *******. But throttle raps quickly with it. I think I am gonna make a cold air box for it to see if it will quiet down some. And the exhaust is coming soon too. At some point the n/a 3.5 just wont be a performance monster the eco boost sport models are, but they aren’t as wimpy as some think they are.

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Which push bars are those?
 






The ported upper and lower intake has made a huge difference.
 









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Im a long time lurker 1st time poster on here, but i have quite a few mods done or being done that no one else has that I have seen so here are some ideas:

K@N intake- done
80mm Mustang TB ( have to drill new holes for it to fit, search on V6 mustang forums to find how)- done
Magnaflow Cat back- done
Custom 2"- 2.5" down pipe/flex pipe to replace ****ty stock unit- done
Livernois 91 octane tune- done

in the works i have the magnaflow HF cats ready to install in a couple days, required a bit of porting/cleaning up on the inside

also have a 2nd lower intake manifold that I am in the process of porting (again search v6 mustang forums for more info)

finally will be lightly port matching the upper manifold to match the TB etc.

then i will try to get to a dyno to get a dyno run file to send to livernois to have any updates made that are needed to the tune.

i don't think anyone else has an 80mm TB on their NA explorer... it helped a bit,

the downpipe/y pipe replacement seemed to help more but only in combination with the already larger 2.5" magnaflow cat back. 2.25" exhaust is criminally small for a 300 hp v6

I deleted resonator and stock mufflers, I ran 2.5" from flat pipe to rear added single series 44 Flowmaster, K&N intake, I use to hear my intake until I deleted the ****ty stock mufflers, I wish I can run Downpipes, I will add Livernois tune as soon as I can afford it.
What do you recommend?
 






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