2023 Maverick Ecoboost, AWD, 4k street build

[yamahaSHO]

We've had our Maverick for nearly 9 months and although I am not supposed to think of it as any sort of project as it's my wife's vehicle.... Yeah...

We picked it up at the end of August of 2023 after waiting just under a year for it. We did not event get to test drive it prior to ordering as the dealerships did not have one to do so. Since my daughter was coming of driving age, the plan was to give her my wife's CR-V and get my wife a new vehicle. My wife actually did not want to give up her CR-V as she really liked it and found it comfortable. Fast forward to the day we picked it up and went on the first test drive, my wife was instantly happy with the seats, which was a win (she also loved the dash and the orange accents). Married guys... You know...


This is what we arrived to at the dealership as they awaited for us:

I arrived with a trailer as I wanted to clear bra the rest of what Ford did not offer before putting it on the road:

Back home with my 22 Ranger. The wife liked the color so much, she wanted the same. That just means I have one less color of touch-up paint to keep around. I did put some pre-cut clear bra on around this time, but I don't have any pictures that would actually show anything. I used a better material than the OEM, which is nice as it is hydrophobic. The OEM clear bra applied on the Maverick was not as well done as my Ranger. My Ranger has the clear wrapped around panels and the Maverick does not, which has gaps. Oh well... Merica?!

In less than 200 miles, I put a tune on it. I had an AccessPort on the shelf since I am a Cobb ProTuner and I just couldn't resist. I started with an OTS tune for the engine and transmission, but I have since been working out my own engine and transmission tunes.

Around the same time, I had Line-X done (I removed all the hooks, grommets, and such prior to spraying... I did have to tap out threads to reinstall):

Then covered it up with a Bakflip MX-4:

Other things added were Husky floor mats, LED's, and ceramic coating. We're currently just under 7k miles and I've changed the oil twice. The first change was with OEM oil and an FL-400S and the second change, which was a week ago, is with Motul 300v 5w40 with an FL-400S. I did take a sample of the original fill and just sent off a sample for the second OEM oil swapped in. During the second oil change, I did notice a very small oil leak at the front of the motor that worked its way to the pan underside. I did not locate the leak, but I cleaned it up and will monitor. When I find the leak, I will fix it myself.

Blackstone recommends a longer oil change, but they base that off of TBN... The viscosity reductions tells me it was time to change (my Ranger was the same on the original oil).

At the current moment, I am working on a transmission tune. The Cobb OTS was better than OEM, but I wanted it to feel more like my tuned 10R80 on my Ranger. I did notice a torque converter interaction on my original tune, which showed on the Cobb tune as well, so I've been going through the software in extent (and referencing maps in HP Tuners, which has some of this stuff defined better and I've done a fair amount of work with). I have a change that I want to try tomorrow. The biggest thing I found on my tune, OEM, and Cobb is what appears to be the torque converter doing work in 4th gear. It did not surprise me on the OEM tune (which I barely remember) or the Cobb tune, but when supposedly removed the ability of the torque converter to lock in gear 1-4, I saw the same behavior in 4th gear, which has the torque converter still managing between slip and lock.

I also noticed some tables missing in Cobb's software and e-mailed support about it. Here shortly, some new table should be available to make some more adjustments that I would normally make.

I do dislike the OEM, non-Sync stereo, so I have started purchasing Sync 3 parts to build a harness for and add Sync 3 to the truck.


Other than that, I have been eyeing some Bronco Sport take-off wheels as I am not a fan of the XLT wheels. My wife thinks it isn't needed, but meh... I actually enjoy driving the truck. I think I have as many miles on it as my wife. We've got 7 vehicles, so we don't pile on miles all that quickly.


I am currently working with a customer now for an E30 tune and some transmission tune testing. I didn't test out any E30 tuning on our vehicle because my wife would not be particularly happy with having to mix fuels at the pump. I have considered upgrading the intercooler, but I am not sure how much I want to trim anything to make it fit. I did to and intercooler upgrade on my Ranger, but it did not require trimming. The recent intercooler upgrade on my Saturn Sky redline did require some shaving on the baffling behind the intercooler, but I was okay with that.

Sponsored

 

[colinl]

is the motul 5w40 a typo, or if not what's your rationale for increasing viscosity? I don't recall anyone else talking about 40 weight, but if it's done in other ecoboost tuning communities I wouldn't know.

good call on sync3 upgrade. it should be painless, unlike sync4a, and I think a worthwhile upgrade.

 

[yamahaSHO]

No, not a typo. I don't like running "resource conserving" oils as they are thin and thin out pretty quickly, as my oil sample showed. My Ford oil reminder said the oil wasn't even at 50% usage. Motul 300v is a great all around stout oil that handles higher loads as well as has plenty of additives to use for a street vehicle, which I've done a lot of oil sampling with on many vehicles. I currently run the same oil on my Ranger, S2000, and Saturn Sky Redline... as well as my power washer and Hustler zero turn. Both of those run at WOT for a long time without cooling, and the power washer doesn't even have a filter.

I'll follow up with more oil sampling, which will tell me if I picked a good oil for the application, which is the important part.

 

[tkammen270]

Awesome stuff so far. I use Pennzoil Euro 5W40 in my truck with FL910S filters. Why the FL400S filters?

If you ever have the transmission tune for sale I would love to try it in my truck. I've had my truck tuned with the Cobb OTS engine and trans tune for almost 30k miles and it's been great. I saw the trans tune was a huge improvement from stock.

 

[Montana]

is the motul 5w40 a typo, or if not what's your rationale for increasing viscosity? I don't recall anyone else talking about 40 weight, but if it's done in other ecoboost tuning communities I wouldn't know.

good call on sync3 upgrade. it should be painless, unlike sync4a, and I think a worthwhile upgrade.

Yup. 5W30 is plenty. I saw a lot of folks doing this to the tritons and guess what ends up happening...

Motul is good oil too. No real good reason to switch viscosities. Tolerances are not designed for 40W and neither is the pump. Curious to know how much pressure is lost.

 

[yamahaSHO]

Yup. 5W30 is plenty. I saw a lot of folks doing this to the tritons and guess what ends up happening...

Motul is good oil too. No real good reason to switch viscosities. Tolerances are not designed for 40W and neither is the pump. Curious to know how much pressure is lost.

I see people say this stuff all the time, then you go look at the same engine being used in Europe and the oil spec is thicker (or hell, the same engine being used in a different vehicle here in the states). The pump wasn't designed for any specific weight of oil and technically thicker oil raises pressure, not the other way around.

The oil sample will tell me if the selection was an appropriate move. I've been doing this for a little while, so it's not a blind move.

Go watch this guy a little bit. I've met the guy a few times and have taken one of his classes. You choose oil based on application and usage.

https://youtube.com/@themotoroilgeek?si=4jKun0-IFSdlL0RC

 

[Montana]

I see people say this stuff all the time, then you go look at the same engine being used in Europe and the oil spec is thicker (or hell, the same ending being used in a different vehicle here in the states). The pump wasn't designed for any specific weight of oil and technically thicker oil raises pressure, not the other way around.

The oil sample will tell me if the selection was an appropriate move. I've been doing this for a little while, so it's not a blind move.

Go watch this guy a little bit. I've met the guy a few times and have taken one of his classes. You choose oil based on application and usage.

https://youtube.com/@themotoroilgeek?si=4jKun0-IFSdlL0RC

Correct on the oil pressure. My mistake. Higher pressure at less volume.

 

[Boosted]

I see people say this stuff all the time, then you go look at the same engine being used in Europe and the oil spec is thicker (or hell, the same engine being used in a different vehicle here in the states). The pump wasn't designed for any specific weight of oil and technically thicker oil raises pressure, not the other way around.

The oil sample will tell me if the selection was an appropriate move. I've been doing this for a little while, so it's not a blind move.

Go watch this guy a little bit. I've met the guy a few times and have taken one of his classes. You choose oil based on application and usage.

https://youtube.com/@themotoroilgeek?si=4jKun0-IFSdlL0RC

Very nice and I like your thinking. What Spark Plug are you running? I’m looking for 1 syep colder but knot sure brand etc

 

[yamahaSHO]

Very nice and I like your thinking. What Spark Plug are you running? I’m looking for 1 syep colder but knot sure brand etc

I am using the stock plugs. I don't think I'll push this a point where a cooler plug will be needed.

 

[yamahaSHO]

Awesome stuff so far. I use Pennzoil Euro 5W40 in my truck with FL910S filters. Why the FL400S filters?

If you ever have the transmission tune for sale I would love to try it in my truck. I've had my truck tuned with the Cobb OTS engine and trans tune for almost 30k miles and it's been great. I saw the trans tune was a huge improvement from stock.

Sorry, I missed your post. The FL400S is bigger and filters a bit better.

https://www.ranger5g.com/forum/threads/yamahashos-street-truck.23944/post-667112


I have one person testing it out now with an E30 tune to give feedback and help me tailor it to what people might like (I'm still testing out changes on our vehicle as well). I have a racing buddy lined up to try it as well. I tried the Cobb OTS and thought it was much better than OEM, but there were some things I wanted to behave differently, as well as increase pressures. I found some missing items that I requested be added as well, which should actually make a pretty big improvement in what I want to do after they software is updated.

On my 22 Ranger, I could not stand the way the transmission behaved, so I did that almost immediately... I haven't even touched the engine, but it's much more enjoyable to drive now. I do have a quick comparison, which is WOT, but left is OEM and right is mine (you can see shifts are crisper and quicker):

This is the feedback I got today on the tune being tested on a Maverick:

I did notice some differences right away, but it wasn't nearly as much difference as when I installed the cobb street transmission tune compared to stock. it was more subtle. I think it's less clunky at low speed, and coasting in general. it seems like it holds gears longer at part throttle acceleration also, revving a bit higher.

 

[yamahaSHO]

Did some more testing with the transmission tune. Overall, it's good, but had an issue where though even though I didn't overlap the upshift/downshift shifting schedules, it wanted to hunt a little at light throttle when going from 8th gear down to 7th. I've addressed that and tested it and it seems to have fixed it. I have sent it out to person testing for him to asses.

I do look forward to Cobb updating new tables as I have some more work I'd like to put into the transmission. I may also have an 'issue' that I might need to consult with Cobb about because I can't find any tables that are introducing a behavior in a particular gear that is present in OEM and Cobb tunes.

I did adjust the active shutter behavior as I always thought the intercooler/IAT delta to ambient was high... With a small change, it seems to have brought down the IAT's, which is a plus. The OEM intercooler doesn't seem all that bad and as much as I'd love to have an aftermarket intercooler, I'm not really wanting to cut up the bumper to get one in. This is coming from someone that has upgraded the intercooler on nearly everything I've had. One of the things I learned from tuning a lot of Subarus, the OEM intercooler isn't always bad, as long as it doesn't blow apart. Every single upgraded intercooler I tested on the dyno (top mount) with a Subaru, the OEM had much, much better recovery. That said, I will stick with the OEM intercooler as long as I see fit... Again, this is my wife's vehicle, so...

I'll do a little more testing on the shutter control as I have logged a large increase in temperatures at WOT, but I want to see if using the shutters more proactively, rather than reactively, will help with IAT's.

 

[colinl]

I like the sound of that. In many ecoboost communities, people just physically remove the shutters (and leave the actuator plugged into the harness) but to me that fails a basic premise: Ford clearly put the time and engineering into them for a reason.

Shutter closed is better for quickly warming the engine and less drag for sustained highway cruising, which of course is in vacuum or low boost much of the time unless you're ascending. But I don't think any other Maverick tuner has considered how to make them better for performance driving, without simply just removing them.

 

[Limeymav]

i like to see your E30 results, but think the IC will hold you back somewhat, i have the Hybrid But went down this Rabbit hole with my Focus st, there were zillions of intercoolers availiable for the st, as ford is renowned for there small plastic ones, biggest gains for me were IC & Downpipe combined with the e30, still ran very good on 93 though, but the gains on E30 were like 25 hp 45 ftlbs

 

[yamahaSHO]

i like to see your E30 results, but think the IC will hold you back somewhat, i have the Hybrid But went down this Rabbit hole with my Focus st, there were zillions of intercoolers availiable for the st, as ford is renowned for there small plastic ones, biggest gains for me were IC & Downpipe combined with the e30, still ran very good on 93 though, but the gains on E30 were like 25 hp 45 ftlbs

I'm not doing the E30 tune for our Maverick.. Only because the wife would not be thrilled in having to mix fuels or changing maps. I can't even get her to reset the Trip.

I am aware of the small intercoolers of years ago. The Maverick one doesn't look as bad as you may read, IMO. The size isn't bad and the upgraded ones do add mass (retention) and do not look to add anymore/much frontal area. When I replaced the intercooler on my Ranger... I'll be honest, I probably didn't need to. The OEM one was of decent size and had good recovery. I do agree, plastic endcaps are not ideal. I'm not saying the aftermarket units aren't better, I'm just not sure I'll feel the need to replace the one on our Maverick.

Ranger OEM:

The replacement Mountune is nice... It added volume, but also added mass. It did replace the restrictive charge pipes, which was a plus.

I would be a bit more interested in changing the intercooler on the Maverick if there were a way to do it without cutting/removing stuff.



I recently replaced the intercooler on my Sky Redline... I mainly did it because they OEM units like to blow apart and I AutoX this thing, so it sees boost regularly. I did find the OEM unit to probably be the lightest weight out of any OEM I've dealt with. Even at its size, it was lighter than an OEM STi intercooler. I wasn't expecting to see huge improvements in charge cooling, but this one probably was the best gain out of any car I've owned and upgraded the intercooler.

At the top of 3rd gear on a 2-3 WOT pull, OEM was +20F delta over ambient.

Same pull with the upgraded unit, charge temps matched ambient.

We'll see how it goes. I am more interested in getting things sorted on the transmission. It makes it more enjoyable to drive.

 

[Limeymav]

your buddy is going to dyno E30 though correct, some people believe HP is compounding, and they will see 350 hp from few boltons & a tune on these things, i used Stratified & alan @ edge, but most i saw on my focus st was just shy of 280, These 8 speeds make a ton of difference in getting down the road though good luck with The tuning

Sponsored