Even coolant distribution...
Even coolant distribution and block stress were goals, so it's no accident the Coyote block deck looks symmetrical, with evenly spaced, identically shaped water passages and 10 evenly spaced 12mm cylinder-head bolt holes. The three large, rectangular holes in the valley are PCV passages; the three slightly smaller passages on the lower edge of the deck are oil-drainback passages.
So, while 90 percent of Ford engines will boast boost by 2013, having the Mustang GT engine make power the conventional way costs less and better fits its market. Furthermore, as we'll see later, the Coyote team found ways of gaining much of the EcoBoost fuel economy and efficiency gains with zero extra cost. We think a crisp, naturally aspirated revver like the Coyote was definitely the right call for the Mustang, and think it will remain a fresh alternative in an increasingly turbo world.
Speed was also a hallmark of Coyote development. By the time Coyote had been approved there were only two years in which to design and build it-a full year less than normal. And a looming deadline can focus your thinking.
Gary Liimatta noted, "For this engine the decisions were made very quickly ... We had a very strong technical team, a small team with strong leadership. I just wanted to emphasize that all of the decisions in this program were made quickly because we had a philosophy of, 'We have to hit 400 horse' ... that aligned all of our activity. Everything that supported 400 horse went in, and ... if it didn't support the goal it didn't make the cut. And so we were very quick and nimble."
The strategic heavy ribbing...
The strategic heavy ribbing gives strength with less weight. The deep-skirt block is a low-pressure precision sand-casting made with the latest specification aluminum and heat-treating. The latter were described as detail improvements.
Even so, the hands-on work can only be hurried so much. The rest came out of the engineers' hides. Months of overtime and weekends went into make this engine happen in a hurry. So if you ever meet a Coyote engineer, be sure to say thanks.
Regardless of budget or time constraints, to reach their goals the Coyote team knew they would need every wrench in the toolbox. Gary described the teams strategy: "The power targets we had for the engine weren't going to be achieved by not trying to cover just about everything we could cover to make horsepower. So we looked at every single element. We canvassed our colleagues on what they had done, did benchmarking of our competitors, looked at SAE papers, partnered with some of the guys that are running NASCAR teams. 'How do you make horsepower?' 'What are some of the areas you look for over and above the usual cams and valves and all that sort of thing?"
Because of the rapid time line-two years is smoking the tires on the design, and validation and tooling of a new engine-the Coyote team pioneered a consolidated design and testing procedure. Traditionally engine development is a linear, three-year process. The new engine is designed, computer modeled, built as a prototype and dyno tested. Then revised engines are built, put in vehicles and tested, and then the engine is refined yet again, calibrated and finally makes production.
Coyote engineers took the...
Coyote engineers took the cylinder liners as thin as they dared to gain maximum possible bore diameter. All bore honing must involve deck plates, they say. However, a thick 13mm block deck and rigid structure mean high cylinder pressures are no problem.
For Coyote there wasn't enough time to neatly lay out all the steps end-to-end. Luckily, computer modeling and rapid prototyping capabilities have grown so powerful that software can stand-in better for iron and aluminum than even two years ago. Therefore the initial design and computer modeling were telescoped on top of each other. Simultaneously, surrogate engines were built to test specific aspects of the new 5.0. Surrogate engines are running engines built from almost anything handy that sort of represent the final engine, but designed to test just one narrow aspect of the final engine. Real Frankenstein's monsters, surrogate engines did not represent the new engine in detail and had no future other than as development hacks.
EPD Supervisor Jeff Kolodziejczyk was the man with his hands on the surrogate engines. A snowmobile racer and two-stroke tuning specialist after hours, Jeff put his wrenching experience to use cobbling together and dynoing Four-Valve V-8s, mainly from GT500 parts.
"The surrogate level was my favorite level of the program," he explained. "I say that because we're basically all enthusiasts, we [the Coyote team] all have race backgrounds of one form or another and this was like, 'go ahead and do what you'd like to do at home. Look at aftermarket parts, use what parts you have, put it together as quickly as possible, demonstrate you can meet the functional objectives.'
Jeff had "some old spray-bore blocks laying around" at Ford and combined them with production GT500 heads. From the FRPP catalog, he selected the aggressive 4V High Lift Camshaft Kit and initially set the compression ratio at a low 9.66:1 "and walked it up from there." A deep-sump oil pan was built and it was off to the dyno.
Coyote blocks exhibit more...
Coyote blocks exhibit more ribbing and cross-hatching than previous modulars to improve rigidity. This is driven by noise and vibration reduction concerns. Extensive ribbing is visible here in the block valley and also along the upper edges of the block's side. The two pedestals with the machined tops are the knock-sensor mounts.
Wide, thick, straight pan...
Wide, thick, straight pan rails set the Coyote's lower block width, a dimension kept from the 4.6 to save big money on the machining line. The block's six oil drain-backs are visible here: the three rectangular holes just inside each pan rail.
Peering into the crankcase...
Peering into the crankcase of a production Coyote block shows the thick main webs, oval PCV ventilation ducts, and machined pads for the oil squirters. Hiding down in the shadows is a round bay-to-bay breathing hole in the center main webs. These approximately quarter-size holes are found in the number two, three, and four main bearing bulkheads.
Fed directly from the main...
Fed directly from the main oil galley, the piston-cooling oil jets bolt to the bottom of the block valley. Fabricated from tubing welded to flat plate, the ends of the squirt tubes are pinched to form an oil-misting nozzle. As you'd imagine, they just clear the piston skirt, rod, and crankshaft counterweights in the crowded Coyote crankcase. This early test block uses large, rectangular PCV vents.
Previous modulars use powdered-metal...
Previous modulars use powdered-metal main bearing caps, but the more highly stressed Coyote employs notably stronger nodular iron caps with larger bolts. The side attachment is simple, just the cap and bolt with no spacers. A "machined-in-place assembly," the main caps require careful retorquing to replicate the exact stresses in effect when they were machined.
Coyote Mustang cranks are...
Coyote Mustang cranks are beautiful, fully counterweighted forgings. Ford says full counterweighting was necessary almost the minute it upped the rpm and load from Three-Valve 4.6. Both main and rod journal dimensions are carryover from the 4.6; wider journals were not needed and would have increased drag. The dark-blue tint is from induction hardening.