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Just thought id let the cat out of the bag and go through my FMIC mod on the 2003 120 Prado.
Have been toying with this for a bit particularly after i go my camper, the old girl has done 253,000kms when this mod was done and prior to that at 250,000kms i did the 3" turbo back exhaust straight through. First thing i did notice with the change of the exhaust was the extra 500rpm other than the noise but with that i felt a lot more heat through the trans tunnel on my left leg due to the 3" being closer to the tunnel.
Did a bit of research over christmas and read a lot of write ups on this forum and other to see if this FMIC mod is worth it and well i have an end gain just to have a solid strong tow and off road Prado.
Was going down the path of alloy bends, silicone hoses, and a lot of D.I.Y effort and hours, decided not to as i really wanted a solid result in the end.
Chose a local performance shop he happened to have had a Prado in the past with the same engine and knew what i was after, he hadn't done the FMIC mod but did do the exhaust and a fully programmed UNI-Chip to get good gains.
To save a bit of coin/time on this mod i fitted the intercooler in the front, now don't laugh but i used a FG XR6 Turbo intercooler good size good flow and good mounts and sourced it through a Ford Turbo upgrade shop, to be honest it goes in the front pretty well and if it can handle their horse power it will be fine for the Prado.
Dropped the Prado off to Brett for the day and let him go to work, they did a base run on the Dyno before anything was started then went to work.
Popped past after work to check it out and all i can say is welding is an art. its been done out of a thin S/Steel but its the bends and angles to link everything up plus the neat installation of the sensors too. They worked around the A/C lines and they have not moved i just made a new bracket to allow for the pipe to run clear.
Next day was called up around lunch to be told all done, went round after work - 1.5 days 2 Dyno runs later i have my FMIC all plumbed up and was very impressed. Brett and his guys have never done this to a Prado before and you'd think otherwise, now for the performance well i wouldn't say i have gained nor lost any power or torque the boost was adjusted and went from 9 to 10 to compensate for the extra pipe i don't feel i have any lag but and for the extra obstruction in the front the radiator temp may have raised slightly.
What i can say is after a run from Yarra Valley to Nagambi i lifted the bonnet and over all the pipe work i could comfortable touch and grab and the outlet of the intercooler was cold so inlet temps are reduced thus the EGT's also reduced as the trans tunnel heat was hardly noticiable by my left leg. I was towing the Jayco Camper whilst on our way to echuca on this run and was pleased, it travels at 100kph - 120kph and seems to sustain this much more easier than before and engine temps do drop though when you back off down hill quite a bit which was good to see.
So just a little insight to what i have done hopefully the pics will show a lot more and if you need any more info drop us a line.
Thanks, Trav.
Have been toying with this for a bit particularly after i go my camper, the old girl has done 253,000kms when this mod was done and prior to that at 250,000kms i did the 3" turbo back exhaust straight through. First thing i did notice with the change of the exhaust was the extra 500rpm other than the noise but with that i felt a lot more heat through the trans tunnel on my left leg due to the 3" being closer to the tunnel.
Did a bit of research over christmas and read a lot of write ups on this forum and other to see if this FMIC mod is worth it and well i have an end gain just to have a solid strong tow and off road Prado.
Was going down the path of alloy bends, silicone hoses, and a lot of D.I.Y effort and hours, decided not to as i really wanted a solid result in the end.
Chose a local performance shop he happened to have had a Prado in the past with the same engine and knew what i was after, he hadn't done the FMIC mod but did do the exhaust and a fully programmed UNI-Chip to get good gains.
To save a bit of coin/time on this mod i fitted the intercooler in the front, now don't laugh but i used a FG XR6 Turbo intercooler good size good flow and good mounts and sourced it through a Ford Turbo upgrade shop, to be honest it goes in the front pretty well and if it can handle their horse power it will be fine for the Prado.
Dropped the Prado off to Brett for the day and let him go to work, they did a base run on the Dyno before anything was started then went to work.
Popped past after work to check it out and all i can say is welding is an art. its been done out of a thin S/Steel but its the bends and angles to link everything up plus the neat installation of the sensors too. They worked around the A/C lines and they have not moved i just made a new bracket to allow for the pipe to run clear.
Next day was called up around lunch to be told all done, went round after work - 1.5 days 2 Dyno runs later i have my FMIC all plumbed up and was very impressed. Brett and his guys have never done this to a Prado before and you'd think otherwise, now for the performance well i wouldn't say i have gained nor lost any power or torque the boost was adjusted and went from 9 to 10 to compensate for the extra pipe i don't feel i have any lag but and for the extra obstruction in the front the radiator temp may have raised slightly.
What i can say is after a run from Yarra Valley to Nagambi i lifted the bonnet and over all the pipe work i could comfortable touch and grab and the outlet of the intercooler was cold so inlet temps are reduced thus the EGT's also reduced as the trans tunnel heat was hardly noticiable by my left leg. I was towing the Jayco Camper whilst on our way to echuca on this run and was pleased, it travels at 100kph - 120kph and seems to sustain this much more easier than before and engine temps do drop though when you back off down hill quite a bit which was good to see.
So just a little insight to what i have done hopefully the pics will show a lot more and if you need any more info drop us a line.
Thanks, Trav.
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