Catted Down Pipe Tunes

[Ecto1]

I have a catted DP to install but will not until my warranty is up since I am pretty certain a dealer will void any powertrain warranty if one is installed.

BD

As I read the Moss/Magnuson act the downpipe should have ZERO impact on your warranty. That's the theory part anyway. In practice, who knows.

I don't think my dealer would even question it. Even though my car was beyond the warranty period when I bought it I don't think it would be an issue if the warranty period was still valid. I have a pretty good relationship with my local dealer so I'm sure there'd be no problems.

I would discuss the downpipe with the dealer (service manager ideally) and see what their reaction is. If you have a good dealer and a good relationship I suspect it won't be a problem. Just a thought.

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[Ecto1]

I'm also old school and when I purchased my 1st Mustang, I immediately went out and got a set of headers! So I'm not surprised the downpipe and exhaust, plus blow off valves are popular.
Over on mustang ecoboost net, we're chatted about the topic and pretty much agree that the Intercooler is the most important, and for the price, a high flow air filter plus 91/93 octane fuel is a good starting point.
From what other members of the forum have stated, the factory ECU has the ability to learn and safety make adjustments and increase power without an aftermarket tuner.
However, I like my handheld turner for data logging troubleshooting. So for me, if I started over, I'd probably get some sort of data logger (tuning device) and record a base log and track and record every mod independently. Just to make sure you're moving in the right direction.

PS,: I do agree with your statement about making sure you can move air out, before you bring more air in. And as for the high flow air filter... All the data I've seen, has been collected under lab conditions. You may want to search for someone who did a real life test and log.

You might want to read this post before you go down the intake rabbit hole...

https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/threads/performance-intake-cais-etc-debate.181555/

 

[Buldawg76]

As I read the Moss/Magnuson act the downpipe should have ZERO impact on your warranty. That's the theory part anyway. In practice, who knows.

I don't think my dealer would even question it. Even though my car was beyond the warranty period when I bought it I don't think it would be an issue if the warranty period was still valid. I have a pretty good relationship with my local dealer so I'm sure there'd be no problems.

I would discuss the downpipe with the dealer (service manager ideally) and see what their reaction is. If you have a good dealer and a good relationship I suspect it won't be a problem. Just a thought.

I have a very good relationship with my dealer's entire management personnel. The issue is not so much the dealer but ford corporate themselves since they have the ultimate end decision on what will and won't be covered under warranty. My dealer service manager told me that while he would not necessarily have an issue with most mods, if there is a major failure such as a head gasket or lower end breakage then ford scrutinizes then claim very closely and may even send a field engineer out to inspect the car before approving the claim. It is then out of the dealers' hands on whether its approved or not.

It happens more than most realize.

BD

 

[SnowFox]

I'm lost in downpipe land. Help. I've read that if I install a catted downpipe that I MUST also have a custom ECU tune. Without the custom tune the engine will run poorly, if at all, and will set tons of error codes (DTCs). But ... on the americanmuscle.com website they discuss downpipes and claim that a custom tune is NOT necessary with an aftermarket catted downpipe. The car will run fine but the performance will not be optimized.

So what's the truth? Can I really install a COBB or Mishi or Borla catted downpipe without a custom tune? Or without a COBB Access Port tune? Or will the car be useless without some sort of modified tune?

I understand that a custom tune will improve the performance of the car but the question is can I drive the car trouble free with a catted downpipe without the tune?

I made a thread regarding this about my DP install with a cat. I go over how the car performed with just using preloaded tunes on the AP. It should address some questions. I didn't mention there but I will mention now. Car ran just fine on a stock tune

https://www.mustangecoboost.net/thr...-with-ap-stage-2-and-3-map.25403/#post-270295

Like other noted CAI, Intercooler upgrade, and exhaust should proceed any DP.

Note: some COBB ap have a stage 3 tune. Some don't. Stage 3 is meant for a downpipe. Weather that be for a cated or catless dp I never found out. But it didn't matter in the end.

And I just now saw this thread is from August but I took the time to find my link and wrote this...so I'm posting it anyway! Maybe it will help others.

 

[Ecto1]

I made a thread regarding this about my DP install with a cat. I go over how the car performed with just using preloaded tunes on the AP. It should address some questions. I didn't mention there but I will mention now. Car ran just fine on a stock tune

https://www.mustangecoboost.net/thr...-with-ap-stage-2-and-3-map.25403/#post-270295

Like other noted CAI, Intercooler upgrade, and exhaust should proceed any DP.

Note: some COBB ap have a stage 3 tune. Some don't. Stage 3 is meant for a downpipe. Weather that be for a cated or catless dp I never found out. But it didn't matter in the end.

And I just now saw this thread is from August but I took the time to find my link and wrote this...so I'm posting it anyway! Maybe it will help others.

It would probably be worth an edit or addendum to your downpipe thread to add that the car ran A-OK on the stock tune with the catted downpipe. And what year/HPP option car you have. I assume this means that there were no check engine lights or DTCs as well but it would be worth adding this info too. And did you have to block off or add a defouler to the downstream O2 sensor? That way the thread would be complete for any future downpipe wanabees.

Thx again for enlightening us all.

 

[Buldawg76]

I made a thread regarding this about my DP install with a cat. I go over how the car performed with just using preloaded tunes on the AP. It should address some questions. I didn't mention there but I will mention now. Car ran just fine on a stock tune

https://www.mustangecoboost.net/thr...-with-ap-stage-2-and-3-map.25403/#post-270295

Like other noted CAI, Intercooler upgrade, and exhaust should proceed any DP.

Note: some COBB ap have a stage 3 tune. Some don't. Stage 3 is meant for a downpipe. Weather that be for a cated or catless dp I never found out. But it didn't matter in the end.

And I just now saw this thread is from August but I took the time to find my link and wrote this...so I'm posting it anyway! Maybe it will help others.

I left a post in the thread you linked to about your experience with a catted DP asking some questions. Here is the post from that thread, if you can answer the questions, it would be much appreciated.

" I know this is an old thread but was wondering if you can give any updates on how your car ran after you removed the exhaust restriction but before you had it custom tuned and of course after custom tuned and who you had tune it? "

Interested in any further info you can share.

BD

 

[Coyote Chase]

I made a thread regarding this about my DP install with a cat. I go over how the car performed with just using preloaded tunes on the AP. It should address some questions. I didn't mention there but I will mention now. Car ran just fine on a stock tune

https://www.mustangecoboost.net/thr...-with-ap-stage-2-and-3-map.25403/#post-270295

Like other noted CAI, Intercooler upgrade, and exhaust should proceed any DP.

Note: some COBB ap have a stage 3 tune. Some don't. Stage 3 is meant for a downpipe. Weather that be for a cated or catless dp I never found out. But it didn't matter in the end.

And I just now saw this thread is from August but I took the time to find my link and wrote this...so I'm posting it anyway! Maybe it will help others.

I started the 2020 NMRA race season with a factory stock motor and OEM tune. I collected information and learned about how our Ecoboost behaved. Next I upgraded my intake and Intercooler and loaded the stage 2 OTS tune and collect more data. Then I built my own catted down pipe and loaded map 3 with disappointing results.
I contacted tech support and the guy explained that works best; with there down pipe which includes a high flow 200 cell catalytic converter. I found a cheap pipe on eBay and purchased a 200 cell high flow cat and reloaded the stage 3 ots tune.
Over the race season, I was able to reduce my 1/4 ET from 13.40 to 13.01 using this combination.
I even went a step farther and while still running the stage 3 ots tune, experimented w/ mixing fuel; 93 octane pump and canned VP ethanol, which put me into the very high 12s!
If you aren't making simaler progress, your car may not be running as it should and you should do a little troubleshooting and maintenance/repair, before taking your car to a professional tuner.
I've learned that the average Turner is not a good mechanical troubleshooter, and rightfully so, thier job is to tune, not repair.

 

[SnowFox]

It would probably be worth an edit or addendum to your downpipe thread to add that the car ran A-OK on the stock tune with the catted downpipe. And what year/HPP option car you have. I assume this means that there were no check engine lights or DTCs as well but it would be worth adding this info too. And did you have to block off or add a defouler to the downstream O2 sensor? That way the thread would be complete for any future downpipe wanabees.

Thx again for enlightening us all.

Good idea. I will do this tonight when I get out of the woods and trust my signal more.

 

[SnowFox]

I started the 2020 NMRA race season with a factory stock motor and OEM tune. I collected information and learned about how our Ecoboost behaved. Next I upgraded my intake and Intercooler and loaded the stage 2 OTS tune and collect more data. Then I built my own catted down pipe and loaded map 3 with disappointing results.
I contacted tech support and the guy explained that works best; with there down pipe which includes a high flow 200 cell catalytic converter. I found a cheap pipe on eBay and purchased a 200 cell high flow cat and reloaded the stage 3 ots tune.
Over the race season, I was able to reduce my 1/4 ET from 13.40 to 13.01 using this combination.
I even went a step farther and while still running the stage 3 ots tune, experimented w/ mixing fuel; 93 octane pump and canned VP ethanol, which put me into the very high 12s!
If you aren't making simaler progress, your car may not be running as it should and you should do a little troubleshooting and maintenance/repair, before taking your car to a professional tuner.
I've learned that the average Turner is not a good mechanical troubleshooter, and rightfully so, thier job is to tune, not repair.

Mine is a 200 cell and liked noted ran like garbage on the 3 ots. Glad yours worked out. I'll try mine again who knows maybe something else was messing with it.

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