I was wondering what other people have used for Tuning their sho. I'm personally look at the sct x4 cause so far from my understanding is that's what most people use for fords. I'm stock ATM besides a rough exhaust leak, but I have a cold air intake on the way and will hopefully be getting the Ford performance cat back exhaust and a set of cat-less downpipes. I'll also be getting the .26 gapped spark plugs and a 170° thermostat before slapping the down pipes on and will also be getting a set of boomba racing bov hopefully soon if the site works lol. But I'm mainly just wondering if this is a solid build plan and if gear head tuning tunes are good/worthwhile. Sorry for the long post lol
Tuning/beginning build list
- Thread starter MN SHO
- Start date
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Sweat thank you I appreciate it. I'll probably order that before I order my down pipes and exhaust so once those come in I can get the tune files for it and get it all done hopefully same day
SM105K
Streetlight Grand Prix Champ/ IG @fafomotorsports
Before you start modding, I would make sure your car is ready for mods.
I would read the first couple of posts in this thread. Fluid Changes, general repairs, ect.
SM105K's SHO BIBLE/BUILDS/LIFE
First things first. Thank you @SHOdded for helping me with the information below. His knowledge and experience with this platform is immense. What to expect: Post one: General knowledge of the SHO and what to expect. Post two: The Story of M, my SHO. I posted all of my mods, current mods...
shoforum.com
Second, I feel your mod list is just throwing money away honestly.
GH is good, I prefer AJP for tuning. The X4 is good, but if like a usable real time gauge that is more than a "tuner" get a LiveWire TS.
Unless you are upgrading turbos, the stock air box set up with a drop in K&N filter is the best route. It is ram air, sealed from engine bay heat, and flows more CFM than the stock turbos can process. Most "cold air" intakes are garbage, and pull directly from the hot engine bay. If you are looking for intake sounds then I get it, but you are leaving power on the table.
These cars sound like trash with a cat back. I would get the downpipes, remove the resonator and 3rd cat, and replace with a Magnaflow resonator. The car will breathe better, but not be raspy and sound like crap. You will need a tune revision for the catless downpipes.
A colder spark plug is good, as well at the .26 gap.
Unless you need to replace the thermostat....there is zero benefit to putting in a 170 t-stat. There is a lot information that is meh and the theory behind is interesting. I own a bunch of performance vehicles and live in an extreme climate (heat) and all run the stock t-stat. Take a gander why in the thread below. Then base your decision off what you think.
You are wasting your money with the Boomba BoVs. You can literally do that for less then 10 dollars. All you need is some Home Depot chair caps, and vent your factory BOVs to atmosphere. There is video in the first post about how to do it in the third thread I posted. It is super easy.
In post 1005 of this thread, I go over all the mods that I did to my SHO and how they affected everything.
SM105K's SHO BIBLE/BUILDS/LIFE
Glad to see you haven’t completely turned your back on the old girl! Impressive gains from that HPFP!
shoforum.com
In post 1006, if I were to do it again this is what I would do.
Welcome, and have fun.
NC13TPi
New Member
Great info here. To follow up on replacement areas, what are your thoughts on 2 to 300 laser precision gapped spark plugs? Is a .26 gap not achievable with the average hand or is this the way?Before you start modding, I would make sure your car is ready for mods.
I would read the first couple of posts in this thread. Fluid Changes, general repairs, ect.
SM105K's SHO BIBLE/BUILDS/LIFE
First things first. Thank you @SHOdded for helping me with the information below. His knowledge and experience with this platform is immense. What to expect: Post one: General knowledge of the SHO and what to expect. Post two: The Story of M, my SHO. I posted all of my mods, current mods...
Second, I feel your mod list is just throwing money away honestly.
GH is good, I prefer AJP for tuning. The X4 is good, but if like a usable real time gauge that is more than a "tuner" get a LiveWire TS.
Unless you are upgrading turbos, the stock air box set up with a drop in K&N filter is the best route. It is ram air, sealed from engine bay heat, and flows more CFM than the stock turbos can process. Most "cold air" intakes are garbage, and pull directly from the hot engine bay. If you are looking for intake sounds then I get it, but you are leaving power on the table.
These cars sound like trash with a cat back. I would get the downpipes, remove the resonator and 3rd cat, and replace with a Magnaflow resonator. The car will breathe better, but not be raspy and sound like crap. You will need a tune revision for the catless downpipes.
A colder spark plug is good, as well at the .26 gap.
Unless you need to replace the thermostat....there is zero benefit to putting in a 170 t-stat. There is a lot information that is meh and the theory behind is interesting. I own a bunch of performance vehicles and live in an extreme climate (heat) and all run the stock t-stat. Take a gander why in the thread below. Then base your decision off what you think.
You are wasting your money with the Boomba BoVs. You can literally do that for less then 10 dollars. All you need is some Home Depot chair caps, and vent your factory BOVs to atmosphere. There is video in the first post about how to do it in the third thread I posted. It is super easy.
In post 1005 of this thread, I go over all the mods that I did to my SHO and how they affected everything.
SM105K's SHO BIBLE/BUILDS/LIFE
Glad to see you haven’t completely turned your back on the old girl! Impressive gains from that HPFP!
In post 1006, if I were to do it again this is what I would do.
Welcome, and have fun.
SM105K
Streetlight Grand Prix Champ/ IG @fafomotorsports
Let me stand corrected. The .026 gap (when I type .26 I mean 26 thousands) is 100% achievable with the average hand. You can buy a spark plug gapper tool and feeler gauges for pretty cheap off amazon. Personally I pull them out of the box, measure then with my feeler gauges. The are usually bigger say .035, I tap the strap on the ground to close it to my desired gap.
NC13TPi
New Member
Outstanding thanks. I was having a hard time justifying paying a marked up price on what appears to be ford mototcraft plugs that have the info removed off the plugs what can be done by the hand.
DadMobile
Worlds 3rd least slowest Ecoboost SHO
AJP? He just runs old GH files.
This guide is overkill and waste of time and money. Changing your ptu oil is great idea for any SHO but you don’t need to follow SMK’s “bible”. It’s like maintenance fear mongering.Before you start modding, I would make sure your car is ready for mods.
I would read the first couple of posts in this thread. Fluid Changes, general repairs, ect.
SM105K's SHO BIBLE/BUILDS/LIFE
First things first. Thank you @SHOdded for helping me with the information below. His knowledge and experience with this platform is immense. What to expect: Post one: General knowledge of the SHO and what to expect. Post two: The Story of M, my SHO. I posted all of my mods, current mods...
Second, I feel your mod list is just throwing money away honestly.
GH is good, I prefer AJP for tuning. The X4 is good, but if like a usable real time gauge that is more than a "tuner" get a LiveWire TS.
Unless you are upgrading turbos, the stock air box set up with a drop in K&N filter is the best route. It is ram air, sealed from engine bay heat, and flows more CFM than the stock turbos can process. Most "cold air" intakes are garbage, and pull directly from the hot engine bay. If you are looking for intake sounds then I get it, but you are leaving power on the table.
These cars sound like trash with a cat back. I would get the downpipes, remove the resonator and 3rd cat, and replace with a Magnaflow resonator. The car will breathe better, but not be raspy and sound like crap. You will need a tune revision for the catless downpipes.
A colder spark plug is good, as well at the .26 gap.
Unless you need to replace the thermostat....there is zero benefit to putting in a 170 t-stat. There is a lot information that is meh and the theory behind is interesting. I own a bunch of performance vehicles and live in an extreme climate (heat) and all run the stock t-stat. Take a gander why in the thread below. Then base your decision off what you think.
You are wasting your money with the Boomba BoVs. You can literally do that for less then 10 dollars. All you need is some Home Depot chair caps, and vent your factory BOVs to atmosphere. There is video in the first post about how to do it in the third thread I posted. It is super easy.
In post 1005 of this thread, I go over all the mods that I did to my SHO and how they affected everything.
SM105K's SHO BIBLE/BUILDS/LIFE
Glad to see you haven’t completely turned your back on the old girl! Impressive gains from that HPFP!
In post 1006, if I were to do it again this is what I would do.
Welcome, and have fun.
SM105K
Streetlight Grand Prix Champ/ IG @fafomotorsports
I said in the thread that this is what I personally did. I did that because I was FBO (minus upgraded turbos) on a hot E30 tune, in an extreme climate. No where did I say that, "This Is The Way" for everyone.
If you actually read it, you would see other numbers mixed within the thread.
For the tuned and normal SHO driver, below I believe is pretty reasonable.
Oil: Every 5k
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Pennzoil-Ultra-Platinum-Full-Synthetic-5W-30-Motor-Oil-5-Quart/55291206 $26.99 for 5 quart just, and $8.89 for a single quart.
a Motorcraft Oil Filter $13.74
Coolant: Every 30k
Motorcraft Yellow Coolant $38, add couple more dollars for a couple gallons of distilled water.
Trans Fluid: 5 out and 5 in every 10K
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Automati...CON-LV-Pack-of-2/1135555047?classType=REGULAR
Mercon LV $70 dollars for 6 quarts.
PTU: 20k
Redline Lightweight Shockproof $26.99 The PTU uses 18 oz of fluid. So you will have some left over.
RDU: 30k
Redline Lightweight Shockproof $26.99 The RDU uses 28 oz of fluid.
I picked Walmart for my pricing. They usually have the best price, and they will deliver it to your door.
Also I did all of the work on my SHO with basic hand tools, so I am not factoring shop labor. If you don't have the ability to work on your own stuff then your experience with vary.
Let's assume people drive on average 12k miles a year. I will break it down by year because I am bored at work.
Oil Change: $49 x 2.5 changes: $122.5 a year
Coolant: $45 initial investment / 2.5 years for 30k miles: $18 a year after
Trans Fluid: $70 a year or roughly $5.83 +\- every 1000 miles at the 12k mark.
PTU: $26.99 initial investment for a 1.66 year investment: $16.87 a year after
RDU: $26.99 initial investment for 2.5 year investment: $10.80 a year after
$122.5+$45+$82+$27+$27 = $303.50. This is with the initial investment to follow this program with modern pricing.
$303.50/12 = $25.29 a month if you change the fluids every year. Since people wont do annual fluid changes, that yearly will price will actually drop from $303.50 a year to $257.83 a year or $21.48 a month because of the coolant, PTU, and RDU overlap.
So on average with modern pricing $280.66 a year or $24.38 a month or $0.75 cents a day is pretty reasonable for a twin turbo, awd, performance sedan that you can work on with basic tools.
SM105K
Streetlight Grand Prix Champ/ IG @fafomotorsports
Also, lets address your maintenance fear mongering with my "extreme maintenance intervals with modern pricing......
Directly from my thread:
Future Fluid Maintenance:
At 70K miles I starting following this schedule until the car left under new ownership.
Oil and Trans Fluids will be changed at the same time, along with the PTU and RDU.
Oil: every 3k miles (Castrol Edge with either a Motorcraft or Mobil 1 filter)
Trans Fluid: every 9k miles 5 quarts out, 5 new quarts in. (Mercon LV)
Brake Fluid: every 10K miles. Changed at 69K
PTU Fluid: every 10k miles (Redline Lightweight Shockproof Fluid) Changed at 112K.
RDU Fluid: every 40k miles (Redline Lightweight Shockproof Fluid) Changed at 69K
Coolant: Every Year. 50/50 mix. Changed at 98K
Batteries: My SHO kills batteries every two years like clockwork. I replaced the battery that came with it 9/19, then 10/21 and now 8/23. Yes they are AGM.
This may seem extreme. however it is not really expensive. I buy my oil and filter from Walmart. Castrol Edge is good and less than $40 bucks with a Motorcraft filter. A case of Mercon LV is pretty cheap on Amazon. Redline is cheap (21 bucks on Amazon for quart bottles).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Towards the end I switched from Gold Bottle Castrol Edge to Pennzoil Ultra Platinum. I change my oil in all of my E30 cars at 3k miles regardless. This is because of oil dilution from the E30 fuel and because it is cheap.
Obviously all prices have gone up so I will be using modern pricing to do redo this using the 12k miles average from above. .
Oil Change: $49 x 4 changes: $196 a year
Coolant: $45 x 1 change: $45 a year
Trans Fluid: $70 a year or roughly $5.83 +\- every 1000 miles at the 12k mark: $81.66 a year
PTU: $26.99 x 2 changes : $54 a year (it is actually cheaper but I have to buy 2 bottles)
RDU: $26.99 initial investment for 2.5 year investment: $10.80 a year after
$196+$45+$81.66+$54+27= $406.66 a year or $33.88 a month for extreme fluid maintenance "fear mongering" is actually pretty cheap in the long run for a twin turbo, awd, performance sedan that you can work on with basic tools.
By all means, people will do what they do, but when you get hit is a $2 to 5k bill for take your pick of (Transmission, PTU, RDU, timing chain, water pump) replacement for a car worth $10 to $15k now...... the $280 - $406.66 for fluid insurance seems really reasonable IMHO.
Oil protects the timing chains, guides, and tensioners.
Coolant protects and lubricates the internal water pump.
Clean Transmission fluid protects and lubricates the transmission.
New Fluid protects the lubricates the PTU from baking and and controlling thermal runaway from use and exhaust heat.
RDU is probably the least of our problems, but every 30 to 40k miles for $27.00 is literally a no brainer.
Even doing extreme maintenance will not guarantee failures, however they will provide just that more protection.
So take that for whatever it's worth, and do what you need to do. I don't own anybody's car and if they want to take my advice and follow it, it certainly wont hurt.
For reference, my Merc's oil changes start at $290. I have to have a certified repair/service center do all services, because that is the stipulation of my extended warranty. That single oil change is roughly a single year of a moderate SHO fluid program for context.
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SM105K
Streetlight Grand Prix Champ/ IG @fafomotorsports
Since you are a direct representative of GH, I will not be goad into the tuning squabble. I have always stated that I recommend both GH and AJP tunes for SHO owners. Both have their pros and cons, but I personally prefer AJP.
And lets be real here, every tuner runs every other tuner's tunes in some regard. That being said, he just runs old GH files isn't completely true either.
Keep on, keeping on man.
Chuck Johnson
Member
Question...Is the Redline Lightweight Shockproof still a good choice..the reason i ask is that on the Redline website, it is no longer listed as a option for the SHO
SM105K
Streetlight Grand Prix Champ/ IG @fafomotorsports
Honestly don't I know if it ever was listed on Redline. Years back, SHO owners switched to RL LWSP. The end result was great. I personally ran it in my personal SHO in the PTU and RDU for over 40K miles before I sold it with zero issues. Most of the big high horsepower SHOs owners on here switched to LWSP as well. I haven't seen any regrets or failures personally.
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